Joropo Research Paper

Joropo is the national dance of Venezuela as of the mid-twentieth century thanks to dictator Perez Jimenez. It is a folk couple dance that can also be performed by a fully female group. The women wear brightly colored dresses with large, flowing skirts as is similar to much of the attire worn in traditional latin dances. The men wear a button up shirt (typically white or black), with matching pants (typically khaki or black, respectively), and a wide brimmed hat. The female does many spins and twirls, while the man holds her hand for balance and stomps his feet to the rhythm of the song. It is a party dance designed to reflect the everyday life of the rural, creole people in the Colombian/Venezuelan outskirts. The female spinning is meant to …show more content…
A recent study found “professionals and middle managers were white Venezuelans, but labourers were recruited from black and mixed-race sectors.” Despite the tension between those who claim to be Afro-Venezuelans and those who are not in this minority, a large number of people in this area have African bloodlines in their ancestry. Historically, there were numerous mixes between the Europeans and the Africans. When there was not enough Spanish women for the conquistadors, many of these Spanish men married indigenous or black women. The children of these matches were called mestizos and mestizaje is now a common phrase used to describe the merging of two different things. Creole people (or criollos) and their culture is a good example of this. Creole refers to either Europeans (in this case, Spaniards) or Africans who were born in South America. These people are not natives to South America but neither are they purely foreign. Joropo is creole music but it is from Africans who are viewed as lesser, as opposed to the Spaniards who are viewed more …show more content…
The dance represents the daily lives of the people which includes a male and female presence, therefore acknowledging the importance of a maternal influence. It keeps this traditional meaning of the dance which means it was only appropriated among racial classes and not gender standards. The dance can be performed as a group of solely females as well. This allows them to display their own independence. While this seems more like superiority than equality, there are other aspects that prove the dance is mutually beneficial to each sex when performed together. Although the dance can be performed without men, for the females to do the flashy turns and spins that are a large part of the dance, it is necessary to have the male presence to stay on rhythm but more importantly, keep them balanced. The same goes for the guys. The stomping can get considerably intense and jumping can be involved (as is shown in the earlier picture) which makes it helpful for them to have a person to hold on to, even if only by a hand. A feminist group in Venezuela hosted a workshop for school children to teach them gender equality and offered Joropo lessons as a fun way to teach these