Musica Llanera: How to dance Joropo

If you ever wondered how people in the Llanos dance a traditional joropo then here is your answer.

The word "joropo" originally meant "a party" but has come to mean both the traditional music of harp, maracas and cuatro played in the vast prairies of Venezuela and Colombia known as Los Llanos and also the dance - a kind of waltz that works up to a series of faster and faster twists of the woman and a cockroach-stomping display by the man that echoes the frisky footwork of a young colt or a fighting cock.

These dances still take place in Los Llanos at town fairs, village fetes and house parties and are very much a part of Llanos life.

Sadly, I have no information on who the dancers are or where the event took place but it's a great video, despite the unnecessary camera tricks.

Tambor Urbano - Tambores

The Afro-Venezuelan drum music of the coast gets a high-energy pop twist in the capable hands of Hector Silvera and his group Tambor Urbano, who tour the country's beaches in this video. The band was formed in 1988 by Silvera and friends from Catia in Caracas who wanted to explore their Afro-Venezuelan roots. It is still one of the best party bands in Caracas and distills the essence of tambores traditions from several places along the coast into a fiesta-friendly cocktail of mad dance beats.

Tambores in Chuao

This is a good introduction to Venezuelan tambores music. The two guys on the ground are playing cumaco drums made from hollowed avocado tree trunks with deer or cowhide skins. Behind them are two other drummers playing on the trunks with hard sticks called "palillos" or "laures" that give the distinctive taca-ta-taca-ta sound that drives the dancing. The singer or cantor is accompanied by a chorus, as is typical with Afro-Caribbean call and response drum music. The male dancers try and get as close as they can to the muchachitas, while the ladies spin away to avoid them. Anybody, male or female, can cut in at any time and take over. Tambores is popular in all the old plantation towns along the coast and harks back to slave days. Chuao is a historic plantation where Venezuela's finest cocoa beans are produced. It is reached by sea from Choroni .

Read the article - Chuao: In Search of World's Finest Cocoa Beans
Read the article - Choroni: Tambores, guarapita and midnight dips