Punta

Punta
Stylistic origins	West African, and Kalinago (Carib) music
Cultural origins	Late 18th century Garifuna music in Honduras, Guatemala, Belize
Typical instruments	Garifuna drums, sisera (shekere), conchshell, turtleshell snare, saxophone, electric guitar, bass guitar, synthesizers, congas, drumset
Regional scenes
Belizean Punta - Guatemalan Punta - Honduran Punta
Other topics
Garifuna music - Paranda music

Punta is a Garifuna music and dance style performed at celebrations and festive occasions. (Garifuna music and dance was created by the Garifuna people of present-day St. Vincent and Dominica.)

The best known traditional dance in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala, and parts of Nicaragua is Punta (called banguity), before the arrival of the Garifuna people in Punta Gorda, Roatan, Honduras on April 12 of 1797. The first album record of traditional punta music was released originally on 1955 in Honduras by Stone record, a Belizean record company. Sambunango made famous by Gatos Bravos of Honduras, released in 1987, it's known as the first commercially produced punta music song from Honduras. The most famous song of punta music is Sopa De Caracol made famous by Banda Blanca, The song was originally written be Belizean singer Hernan "Chico" Ramos, and translated into Spanish by Banda Blanca. It's mostly popular in Honduras, where it comes from.

Contemporary punta arose in the last thirty years of the twentieth century in Belize, while the earliest notions of the punta dance precede the coming together of the West African tribes and the Amerindian tribes of the Caribbean in the 17th century The diaspora of Garinagu people, commonly called the "Garifuna Nation", dates back to their origins of the amalgamation of West African slaves and the Arawak and Carib Amerindians. Punta is used to reaffirm and express the struggle felt by those of the indigenous population's common heritage through cultural art forms, such as dance and music and to highlight their strong sense of endurance. Besides Belize, punta also has a following in Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Southern Mexico and the United States.

Lyrics may be in Garifuna, Kriol, English or Spanish. However, most songs are performed in the indigenous Awarak and Carib-based languages of the Garinagu and are often simply contemporary adaptations of traditional Garifuna songs. Being the most popular dance in Garifuna culture, punta can be performed at wakes, holidays, parties, ancestral celebrations, and other social events. Punta is iconic of Garifuna ethnicity and modernity, and can be seen as a poetic folk art that connects older cultures and rhythms with new sound.Chumba and hunguhungu, circular dances in triple rhythm, are often combined with punta.

...
Wikipedia