Folk dance of Mexico

Folk dance of Mexico (ballet folklórico) covers a wide range of Mexican dance forms. Folk dance, despite modernization and other social efforts, has survived.

Mexico’s modern folk dance tradition is a blending of elements from its Indigenous, African and European heritage. Before the arrival of the Spanish, indigenous dance developed with strong ties to the religious practices. For the Aztecs, there were two levels of dance, one for the common people, often related to the agricultural cycle and those for the elite. After the Conquest, the Spanish initially worked to eradicate indigenous dances, considering them “too pagan” and succeeded with a number of forms, especially those associated with the priest and ruling classes. However, they were unable to eradicate the more popular forms, especially in the rural and more inaccessible regions of New Spain. Instead, evangelizers worked to adapt dances to Christianity, giving them new meanings. For this reason, most of these dances have suffered at least some modification since the pre Hispanic era.

Dance evolved drastically from 1520 to 1750, mostly among low class indigenous, mestizos and Afromexican descendents. One of the first adaptations was allowing the indigenous to continue dances with religious aspects but in homage to the Virgin Mary or other Catholic personage. One of the first areas to begin innovation was Tlaxcala, were dances to reenact the Conquest are traced. In addition, a number of European dances, music and instruments were introduced including Moros y cristianos (a mock battle between Moors and Christians brought t the central states), Los Archos, Las Escadas, Los Machetes, El Paloteo, Las Cintas and Los Doce Pares. Other European dances include La Zambra, La Zarabanda, La Contradanza, seguidillas, fandangos, huapangos, jotas, boleros, zambras and zapateados. In some cases, these dances were modified or given entirely new choreography in Mexico. Most of the traditional dances performed today took on their forms during the colonial period but they were not firmly part of Mexican identity until after the Mexican War of Independence when it received its first surge in popularity. For example, the jarabe dance of Jalisco, became a political tool to evoke feelings of patriotism and “liberty.” In fact, this dance became intricately linked to the independence movement, causing it to be called the Jarabe Mexicano. Its popularity led to interest in other Mexican traditional dances, especially those danced to son music.

...
Wikipedia