Mexican hat dance

celebrations in Los Angeles, 1952. The word jarabe (from Arabic xarab), meaning "syrup", denotes the combination of various Mexican musics (sones) and dances (zapateados). The word Tapatío meaning "someone or something from Guadalajara" is the demonym of the city of Guadalajara in Jalisco and reflects the origin of this particular jarabe. There is some dispute as to the jarabe tapatío's authenticity as folk dance. Music researcher Nicolás Puentes Macías from Zacatecas states that true jarabes are almost extinct in Mexico, found today only in small fractions of Zacatecas and Jalisco, and that the jarabe tapatío is really a form of a dance called "tonadilla". In addition to this, the dance's origins are also somewhat disputed, either being wholly indigenous or Hispanic in nature Shortly after that performance, the jarabe was banned by colonial and religious authorities "under the severe penalties of excommunication, some ducats of penalty and lots of stripes, to any person that compose or sing or dance" Most Notably, Fernando de Fuentes's 1936 Allá en el Rancho Grande (Over on the Big Ranch) features a musical number and dance scene where the actors perform the Jarabe tapatío. Camera angles throughout the performance showcase he dancers skill first off, but the delight, pleasure and astonishment in the crowd as they watch the nationalistic dance. The jarabe remained in vogue in Mexico until about 1930, especially in Mexico City. It remains taught in nearly every grade school in Mexico. == Performance ==

. The dance represents the courtship of a man and a woman, with the woman first rejecting the man's advances, then eventually accepting them. The blouse and skirt combination is named after a woman from India who came to Mexico on the Manila Galleon to work as a servant in the early 19th century. Her Asian dress was copied and then adapted in the State of Puebla, with the skirt now heavily embroidered and otherwise decorated with patriotic images. The traditional outfit for men is that of the charro, generally heavily decorated in silver trim. The music played to accompany the dance was written to be danced to and is played either by mariachi bands or by bands playing only string instruments such as various types of guitars, harps and violin. == Contemporary adaptations ==

Within Mexican communities in the US, troops of Jarabe tapatío performers are becoming more and more common. Dancers are presented with opportunities to reconnect and engage with their Mexican heritage and/or citizenship abroad through the performance of the dance. and as a polyphonic ringtone on Nokia mobile phones in the 1990s and 2000s A jarabe also appears in Aaron Copland's ballet Billy the Kid, played in time, the tune on a solo trumpet (with orchestral accompaniment). File:Jarabe... (8696931793).jpg|El jarabe tapatío starts the dance by dancing around a sombrero. File:Los Jaliscienses.jpg|Jarabe Tapatío dancers File:BalletaztlanOttawaJarabeOCt2015.jpg|Folkloric Ballet Aztlan performing Jarabe Tapatio. File:Tradicionalranchero.JPG|Mexicans dancing jarabe tapatío in Guadalajara, Mexico. == References ==