The national dance of Colombia. It is said to have been the favourite of Símon Bolívar, Colombia's independence leader (1824). Early references identify it with the Bunde, a dance of African origin. In the 19th century Colombian national composers wrote bambucos and pasillos, leading popular music into a ‘golden age’. Originally a serenading song for the solo voice, the modern bambuco is most often sung in duet or parallel 3rds, with strummed accompaniment on tiple (small 12-string guitar), guitar and bandola (flat-backed lute). A courting or pursuit dance, characterized by delicate toe-dancing by both male and female, it has a specific choreography with variations, involving eight possible basic steps: (i) invitación: invitation to the dance; (ii) ochos: dancing in a figure-of-eight pattern; (iii) codos: dancing with elbows touching; (iv) coquetos: ‘flirtatious’ steps when the man attempts to steal a kiss from the woman; (v) perseguida: dancing in a circle, the man pursues the woman; (vi) pañuelo: handkerchief waving while dancing; (vii) arrodillada: the woman dances in a circle around the kneeling man; (viii) abrazo: the man places his right hand on the woman's waist, dances her back to her original starting position. The song texts, often regarded as melancholy, use an octosyllabic décima verse or other poetic form, frequently with descending melodies and dramatic modulations through predominantly minor keys, oscillating hemiola rhythms 3/4, 6/8. Texts typically revolve around archetypal subjects often with a gendered chauvinistic viewpoint, including the extolling of a woman's beauty, her desirability, idyllic love, the pain of thwarted love, pride in being Colombian or coming from a particular region. Other texts comment on current events, make philosophical statements about everyday life and the struggles of the peasantry and people. Social change since the late 1940s has inspired certain bambucos de protesta. Examination of choreography, song texts, vocal styles, instrumentation and musical function shows a degree of inherent Hispanic influence. The urban bambuco has rural counterparts called the sanjuanero and the rajaleña which exhibit more pronounced African traits. It shares many features with the Chilean cueca and the Peruvian marinera.
WILLIAM GRADANTE/R