One cannot evoke Argentinian folklore without mentioning the poetry of its texts, and the immense influence of Mercedes Sosa and her powerful voice, like that of the poetics of the words of Atahualpa Yupanki and the incomparable virtuosity of her guitar.

Guitara, bombo y violin, play a chacarera to take us on a flight of joy and joy. Hitting the ground and connecting to mother earth, letting the skirts fly away in the wind, in swirls raising the dust, in rhythm, between earth and sky, folklore lets the soul of the people speak, connects beings to the beat of their heart, whose Bombo resounds in unison (Folk = popular, Lore = knowledge of the people).

The zamba finds all its singularity in the simplicity of its movements, and the unique and complex expression that each dancer can create with the pañuelo. The moment of a dance, without words, just looks, intentions, restraints, the subtle expression of desire in the encounter, a suspension during which time stretches out, and that we would like to retain again... This is the magic of the zamba.

Each folk dance (and there are dozens of them) is an expression, an energy, a story that is told, a story inscribed in a unique moment, that of a couple of dancers, that of a people.

 

But, above all, folklore is alive. It vibrates in sharing, in the happiness of celebrating and being together. We meet in the Pena, around the asado, the fire that nourishes bellies and warms hearts, and we dance, Chacarera, Gato, Escondido, Zamba… until the end of the night.

 

The chacarera, like other folk dances, is much more than a “seduction” dance, as it is usually described. It is the expression of a culture, resulting from the fusion of three cultures: the conquistadors (Spanish colonization and European immigration), the original peoples and the Africans (to whom folklore owes the appearance of the Bombo Legüero, traditional percussion folklore).

Over time and different practices, it has forged an identity specific to Argentina, resulting from all these influences.

Today, the whole country lives to the rhythm of folklore. It is a music, a dance and a poetry, always in evolution.

In the 1950s, it was a real “boom”. Folklore becomes the main genre of popular music national in the same way as the tango.

Perhaps these few words on folklore make you think of tango, you who are dancers. Tango is also folklore, and the diversity and richness of the latter is just as immense as that of tango. I invite you to let yourself be carried away to this discovery, to see beyond, to let go and dance!!

 

Frederique Mirande