To Do: Learn to Dance (Part one of many more!)

Well since this blog is called Ella Baila it’s about time I write about dancing! And this weekend’s dancing was certainly noteworthy enough.  After enjoying the Vallenato music of Dia de la Mujer so much, my fellow English teachers decided to take me out to a local Vallenato club, Villanueva, to work on my skills. So here is my five minute rundown on everything you need to know about going to a Parranda Vallenata (Vallenato dance party):

From Left to Right: Sory, Me, Julie, Pilar, and Yudy. All MD English teachers!

1. Vallenato is the Colombian version of country music, but don’t hold that against it! The name roughly translates to “born in the valley” and is a little folksy (but with a Latin flare of course).  It has a stigma of being enjoyed by a lower class and is not as classy as Salsa music. I actually like Vallenato a little better at this point. Mainly because Salsa is hard and there is this constant competition to see who is the BEST Salsa dancer. (Spoiler alert: They all live in Cali, another city in Colombia, so not even the Bogotanos can compete.) Let’s just say this is Colombian music even white people can dance to. 

2. The instruments central to making Vallento’s bumpin beats are the accordion and the guacharaca. The guacharaca is a large metal cheese grater looking thing that is artistically scraped with a wooden spoon-like thing. It sounds much better than its description. And don't think Polka when you hear accordion. I promise its much cooler than that. There is also a cool metal drum that has its origins in African music. Vallenato is a beautiful blend of music from around the world.

3. New vocabulary lesson for looking like a local at the clubs: “Vueltica!” means little spin to the beats. A popular dance move. “Ay hombe!” is shouted by anyone that’s feeling good. Don’t confuse this with “azucar!” (sugar) that is yelled during salsa. A rookie mistake I made once or twice.  “Epa” is said when you’re feeling good during any type of dance. I’ll stick to the epas for now. 

4. When you are the only gringa (a popular nickname for Americans or anyone that doesn’t look Latino) at the Parranda Vallenato  you may be thrown on stage to take pictures with the band while they are in the middle of playing… multiple times. 

Mid-song, big stage, very embarrassing. But you can see the guacharaca in the back left!

5. The song of the evening was “Santo Cachon.” To say someone is having an affair or living a double life is to say they have horns, or “tiene cachos.” The song is catchy and I always enjoy songs with hand gestures (Stephen Kellogg, anyone?) 

 

 

 

Here we all are doing the "cachos"

 

6. For further listening, check out Carlos Vives, the most famous (Grammy award winning) Vallenato singer. Here is his song "Carito". Think "Hot for Teacher" Colombian style about his English Teacher. One of the lines of the song is "ella era una miss de Boston." Clearly, he is talking about me. Trust me, it's worth the 3 minutes and 30 seconds.