MY MUSIC AND DANCE!!!!!

Colombian Dances are part of the richness of the Colombian and Latin American folklore. Are as varied and as diverse backgrounds who come to distinguish each of the geographical regions of Colombia, Colombian culture becoming one of the richest in the world.  

 Moreover Folklore is the epitome of all manifestations of popular culture and therefore includes legends, stories, dances, traditions, music and many different artistic expressions.

 Without the music instruments this could not be possible to bring to life and created all these rhythms, and enjoy sounds happened.  Colombia music is presence in the different zones in varied forms give a historical and cultural richness, originating the variety of instruments such as the accordion, maracas, guacharaca, tambor, organo, arpa, and guitarra

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_EKN5MIJQY&feature=player_embedded

 The Colombian Cumbia dance is the archetype of Atlantic coastal music and symbolizes Colombian music for the rest of the world. It was created by the mixing of native melodies and African rhythms. It is played with Caribbean coast gaitas drums, maracas and guacharaca. Moreover mapale an African origin dance chiefly on to the Atlantic coast of Colombian and on the banks of the Magdalena River. Mapale with its fast rhythm and constant clapping, it has a marked playful quality. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VBanDiEAG24&feature=related

Fandango also is a dance left as a descendant to Joropo, dancing well known in the eastern plains. Joropo music is a fast rhythm that predominates on the Eastern plains and it is accompanied by singing and corridos.  Nevertheless joropo is performed with cuatro, harp and capachos.

          

  In Colombia now at days a well known popular rhythms is the Vallenato, which is originated from the Caribbean coast and its name comes from "Valledupar" (Valley of Upar) the place of its birth. Furthermore it is played with accordion, drum and guacharaca, this kind of music consists of 4 basic rhythms paseo, son , merengue and puya. Paseo is divided into two rhythms slow is romantic and fast is rarely, from time to time it can be confused with the merengue. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpPSMA_Lf-s

 Merengue is a native rhythm of the Dominican Republic and it is the only West Indian rhythm.  It is very popular in the Caribbean region of Colombia such as Magdalena department and the surrounding area. Another kind of music is the Son which is a relatively slow rhythm of African origin with native influence, and one of its characteristics is the use of the bass accordion.  Last but not least I want to talk about my favorite one when I am doing dance presentations the Puya. The Puya is a fast and complex rhythm that creates a joyful atmosphere. Puya is originated in the Magdalena department.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx-SS8F5YW0

SINGERS

Since I was a little girl I did not only grew up listening to traditional music, but also the new artists of today, which they carry their roots and background into their songs.

The important and known singers of Colombia are the following Shakira, Carlos Vives, Fonseca, Jorge Celedon, Juanes and many other more.  

Shakira was born and raised in Barranquilla (Northern Colombia) she is a songwriter, musician record producer and an outstanding dancer. Moreover Shakira released two albums and had relative success in Colombia and Latin America. In 2001 release into the English speaking world with the Laundry Service, since then she has won two Grammy Awards, seven Latin Grammy Awards, and has been Golden Globe-nominated.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUT5rEU6pqM&feature=player_embedded

The next singer that I want to talk about is my mother favorite one composer and actor Carlos Vives. He was born in Santa Marta Magdalena and winner of three Latin Grammy award Carlos Vives is known for his coastal folk tunes and vallenato.

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbmetUFYoPQ&feature=player_embedded

Fonseca is a Colombian singer from Bogota and is national phenomenon for his style and mix of traditional vallenato and cumbia rhythms.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcxvZTSGesg&feature=player_embedded

The next singer that I want to talk about is Juanes my favorite one. Juanes was born in Medellin Colombia he is recognized and worldwide known for his passion songs of romantic and social struggle in Colombia. Juanes is also known for his guitarist and songwriter skills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8a4Tckeu1I

 

 Jorge Celedon grew up listening to Alejo Duran, who became a major influence. At a very young age, he began singing along with his uncle, Daniel Celedon, and soon made his first record, "El Drama Provinciano." Singer Jean Carlo Centeno performed with him in Binomio de Oro, a vallenato-oriented outfit. In 1988, the promising artist left that band to pursue a solo career. Accordionist Jimmy Zambrano joined him to make his debut album, titled Romantico Como Yo, featuring the hit single "No Te Olvidaré" composed by Iván Calderón y Drago Bonacich.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_qaoOZ1Wgc&feature=player_embedded
 

 Fanny Lu, Colombian music’s latest newcomer brings a blend of Latin sounds that fuse Caribbean music, Merengue, Vallenato and pop.  She was born in Cali and began her performing career back in 1994 as host of a television show in her native Colombia.  Even though her love for music flourished at a very early age, it was only after she worked as a TV actress and producer, as well as radio broadcaster, that she decided to take on her first musical project in 2005, titled “Lagrimas Calidas”. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBXx1pPXjds&feature=player_embedded

COLOMBIAN PEOPLE

                                                                                                    

Colombia with over thirty million people has the second largest population of all South American countries. The population is made up mainly of people of three different origins about 60 percent are the mixed blood Mestizos.  The next largest group is the whites with 20 percent of the population are the descendants of Spaniard and other Europeans who settled in Colombia. About 18 percent of the mulatto’s population is the descendants of the Africans brought in the nineteenth century from Senegal and the Congo .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_VUGdmFdHg&feature=player_embedded

 Today the descendants of the African slave are located in the cities of the Caribbean coast and in the sugar land of Cauca.  The generic structures of four Creole are the following costeno, Blanco, Romano and sanmartinero (Central America and Southern Mexico).

Since Colombia has coastline on the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean, this magnificent location has become a crossroads of multiple cultural trends such as the Mesoamerican zone, circum, Andean, Amazonian and peaceful. Moreover when European conquerors arrived, they found advanced indigenous cultures and isolated groups with basic agricultural systems as feeding, hunting and fishing.

 The largest groups that remain in Colombia all this years were the guajiro.  The guajiro are the largest tribal group in Colombia, numbering about sixty thousand. They live in the barren salty desert of the Guajira Peninsula, where for most of the year the temperature is over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. (26.6 degrees Celsius) and it only rains in one or two months.

Throughout the year, there are many festivals and carnivals. Most of these carnivals are to celebrate religious traditions, the other ones to celebrate the Colombian culture as for example Barranquilla’s Carnival of Black and Whites, the Independence Day every 20th of July, the Holy week and Christmas. During Christmas my family sets up the pesebre. The pesebre is a nativity scene it consist of animals, shepherds, angels, Mary, Joseph, the Three Kings and the baby Jesus.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnbTbcR4yEw&feature=player_embedded#at=25

MY CULTURE

I was born in Cali Colombia the City of Salsa!! Valle del Cauca. Cali is Colombia third largest city and is located in the southwestern region of Colombian Andean cordillera. Moreover  Cali is known for its riches archaeological area, as well as culturally diverse.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LifAe7YxwH8&feature=related

 On February 15, 1819, Francisco de Miranda designed the name of the new world Republic of Colombia. Which  means land of Christopher Columbus. The Republic of Colombia is located on the northwestern tip of South America, between two coastlines on both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

Thanks to its geographical position Colombia has stretch the Amazon River in the Colombian Amazonia called "Patria de Tres Mares”. Moreover Colombia share borders with Venezuela to the east, Panama to the northwest, southeast Brazil, Peru and southern Ecuador.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXtvGsYS0UM

Colombian Regions

Colombia is a country of colorful, exciting contrasts such as the mountains ranges with peaks over 18,000 feet, snow capped volcanoes, deep valleys, and vast flat grasslands called llanos.

 I cannot forget to mention  one of the kind music which contains different genres such as traditional and modern music in consistent with the features of each region. Many traditional music styles have their own dances which have African origins. The styles of the music vary from region to region from the Pacific to Caribbean and Andean regions.





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEyGURlxtZE&feature=player_embedded

Our Goods

 Colombia has a tropical climate hot and humid. The varied geography presents a range of climatic zones. Rain in most of the territory divided into two periods March to May and September to December.

Moreover Colombia is the leading distributor in Esmeraldas, varieties of flowers, in the quality of coffee, in the variety of palms, the production of bamboo, in  3500 species a variety of orchids, and with more of 1815 species in exotic birds .

Colombian cuisine varies by region but there are some dishes that can be tasted anywhere in the country. The cuisine is heavily influenced by the original community of Colombia.
In the Chocó region is richer in fish from rivers and sea, due to its extensive network of rivers where you live an interesting variety of fish. Their costs, the most beautiful coves and bays of Colombia, support the growth of the seafood dishes that are the staple food of indigenous people and like to serve with plantain and cassava. It also has exotic fruits like the borojó and almirajó, great tasting, with nice drinks are prepared.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5_smZV7Csw&feature=player_embedded#at=18

Juan Valdez is one of the most familiar faces in the advertising world, his moustache, sombrero, poncho and his faithful mule, Lana. This character was created in 1959 and is representing  the National Federation of coffee grower of Colombia found in 1926. 

 

                                           Works Cited                                                   

“Colombian Music.” Variety of music.13 Dec.2010.

                       http://web.li.gatech.edu/~rdrury/special/colombia/colombia_music/index.html

“Colombian Music.” Colombia. SA 2010. 13 Dec. 2010.

                         http://www.colombia-sa.com/musica/musica-in.html

“This is Colombia.” Music and Dance. 2010. 13 Dec. 2010.
http://www.thisiscolombia.net/p/music-dance.html

“Colombia.” National Geographic. 1996-2010. 13 Dec. 2010.

                        http://worldmusic.nationalgeographic.com/view/page.basic/country/content.country/colombia_48

“Bogota Colombia.” New World Encyclopedia Online. 13 Dec. 2010.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Bogota,_Colombia

Morrison, Marion. Enchantment of the World Colombia. Childrens Press: Chicago, 1990.