Cumbia in Mexican Culture Essay - 1955 Words

Cumbia serves as a unifier of Mexican people, especially families, and serves as a sociocultural outlet for celebration and upholds cultural traditions. A main theme of Mexican culture is togetherness of the family, and many celebrations create a community and place for family involvement. Celebrating together creates and maintains bonds and is an outlet for expression sharing commonalities such as cultural thoughts and ideas. Solidifying a connection in the community with people that listen to cumbia strengthens the culture and forms unity. Mexican cumbia is a significant aspect of Mexican identity and produces a gateway environment for embracing heritage and reflects a highly family and community oriented culture. Cumbia originated in†¦show more content†¦The main aspects that have changed: the instrumentation, the style, the tempo, and the dance movements. The time signatures of the two types of cumbias are the start of where the change begins. The basics of Colombian cumbia are described as, â€Å"Its essential elements, the tambor drums and enormous gaita flutes, combine to give the music a rolling, infectious 2/4 beat†¦ (Morales 253) .† In Mexico, â€Å"the cumbia is a very popular modern dance in 4/4 from Colombia†¦ (Nevin 137)† Jackie Garcia, born in Mexico but raised in the United States, says when listening to the two types she can tell them apart by the speed of the music. â€Å"The Colombian cumbia and Mexican cumbia are different because the Colombian cumbia goes a lot faster. It’s marked faster by the tempo compared to the Mexican one (Garcia, Jackie).† Not only has the tempo changed but also the instrumentation which leads to a style variation, from very rhythmically based feel to a lighter, smoother feel. â€Å"The Colombian music is heavy on the tambora, a type of drum, while the Mexican style emphasizes trumpets and horns (Wisner 65)† With the style change also brings a difference in dance technique. The Colombian cumbia was heavily influenced by the African and indigenous peoples, giving the dance focus in the hips, with a swaying movement. The Mexican dance may get confused with other genres such as salsa, because the main aspect of theShow MoreRelatedLatin And The United States891 Words   |  4 Pagesin the U.S.A There have been many negative comments about Latinos in the past and till this day. Even though Latinos are a growing community are still criticized for apparently: not doing anything productive for the states, coming from a different culture and not being able to succeed in life. Latinos are brought down for all the wrong reason and by those who have no knowledge of what and who Latinos really are. Other races that have not interacted with Latinos before or do not approve of them to beRead MoreMexican Wedding Ceremony774 Words   |  4 PagesMexican Wedding I was fifteen years old when I first saw a wedding ceremony in Mexico. 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