Spanish Students Perform Latinoamerica Dances

Learning a language not only requires the acquisition of words and grammatical rules, learning a language goes further. To learn a language it is also necessary to learn the culture. The student must understand how the native feels, how they behave, and how they live. The Spanish department at PBS fervently believes in this philosophy and has included learning about culture in its curriculum.

Spanish 1 student have carried out a variety of projects, some of which are about Spanish-speaking countries and others are about culture, especially its music and dance. The students learned the differences between folk dances and contemporary dances and part of this project was learning the dances and doing a group demonstration of them.

Raspa – Mexican Dance

Raspa or Jarabe tapatio originated in Veracruz, an important port city facing the Gulf of Mexico. The melody is a fusion of traditional Mexican folk music, but the dance was created with a mix of Aztec, Spanish, Mayan and European dance movements. For this dance the women generally wear colorful costumes of green, red and white. However, we chose dresses that were a little more stylized, such as burgundy skirts and black tops. The men wore black colors too.

Cumbia – Colombian Dance

Cumbia is a traditional dance, and the music is very typical. This dance is influenced by African, Indigenous and European musical traditions. For this dance, the traditional costume consists of small red and white checkered skirts and blouses, although they also wear white dresses with red ribbons and floral arrangements in their hair, which is what our students wore.

Merengue – Dominican Republic

The Dominican origin. This dance is a ballroom dance, our students wore purple dresses and the men wore black outfits.

Salsa – Cuba

Salsa is a dance that first emerged in Cuba at the beginning of the 20th century, shaped by different cultural trends from Spain, Africa and the Caribbean. The dance arises from the popular melodies of Spain and the instruments of Africa and Cuba. For this dance the students wore red salsa dresses and the men wore black outfits.

These types of activities are crucial to a full understanding of a culture and language. PBS students leave this course with an appreciation for the people who speak the language they’ve studied.