Tag Archives: Dancing

Another installment of “Mexicans dancing”

Posted on by cottonkandydiamonds

Time for another segment of “Mexicans dancing” ,yay!!  Alrighty, this time around we’re talking about, Duranguense dancing! (pronounced Doo-rahn-gehn- seh)

Before we begin, in case you missed the last Mexicans Dancing, this section of the blog was created in light of something I once saw on TV , on “The George Lopez” show to be exact. The star of the show dissed his own people & culture, saying that Mexicans can’t dance, and that the only dance they have is around a hat. That his wife could dance like no ones’ business because she was Cuban.  As I said before,  Au contrare pally!  Yes, quite contrary to such ignorant beliefs, Mexicans love to dance & Mexican culture has lot’s of popular dances that are non folkloric. Dancing is HUGE with Mexicans.  It’s a very popular pass time that’s near & dear for both  Mexicans , Mexican Americans, and Mexican all over the world. Mexicans have dance fever & are proud of the dancing styles unique to our culture.  Proud of dance styles that originated in our country & proud of  the new fusion counterparts created and enjoyed by us from those that haven’t. Many young kids would rather go to clubs that play traditional and modern Mexican dance music instead of going to regular clubs  that play hip hop, pop etc.  Going to a place where they can  dance  Hispanic rhythms, that is what clubbing means to them. It’s not only the kids though, some married couples love dancing so much that  they have date nights so they can go dancing. Mexicans most definitely do dance, and weddings, and Quinceañeras attest to that.

Duranguense Club doing a demo at School

Duranguense Contest: This dance team got really creative with their choreography

What is Duranguense ?

The term duranguense refers to the people from Durango, Mexico. Duranguense began and was formed in Chicago, Illinois. Grupo Montéz de Durango were believed to be the very first to begin the movement. Some people consider Chicago to be the capital of Duranguense Bandas since it is so popular among the people in Chicago and a large amount of Durango natives live in this area. Teenagers are forming new Duranguense bands like never before, playing at night clubs,weddings, Quinceñeras, and family get togethers. A group of immigrants from Durango started a Duranguense group called Patrulla 81; from there it started to expand into other states and Mexico. Most Duranguense bands have been founded by Mexican-American immigrants in the United States.It was not until the early 2000s Grupo Montéz de Durango, one of the best-known Duranguense bands, topped the Latin music charts. Their CD, De Durango a Chicago, was a best-seller and had been a top 10 music bestseller in Chicago on Amazon.com. Patrulla 81′s hits ¿Cómo Pude Enamorarme de Ti? Un exito cover antes cantado por los liricos de teran, and No Aprendí a Olvidarwere also hugely successful hits on regional Mexican radio stations. – SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duranguense

Duranguese how to Video

Techno Duranguense?

Duranguense is not only about dancing, it’s about fashion. It seems like no respectable Duranguense fan would dare hit the dance floor with out the proper attire. What’s cool about this dance, I think… Is the way the couple gets really close together, but also dances  far apart &  jams on their own.  Also the basic movements, the way you’re not dancing in a preset figure or straight line yet you have to keep the beat so that it looks good. So, this is how  SOME Mexicans : party, unwind, socialize, have fun. For some, this is:  how guys meet girls,this is  how you make friends, this is a hobby, this is a passion.  If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard people, especially those who are not Hispanic comment on how salsa, tango… etc are so sexy and romantic and how they want to learn those dances. But, there’s other kinds of dances that are really cool too, yet don’t get much attention.  I mean guys can you imagine dancing with a sexy cow girl in tight jeans? lol  Girls can you imagine dancing up close and personal with a very masculine cowboy.

*LAST BUT NOT LEAST: I’d like to close by saying, I’m not the ultimate definitive source on this or any other subject. If you’re interested in learning more, awesome ! Feel free to look into the subject, research it and get more info. There is never just one side or point of view to anything.  I say this, because I’m imagining someone commenting “That’s not real Duranguense dancing. ”  “Or what horrible examples of what Duranguense is”, or that’ s not Mexican etc… so I’ll save you the trouble. Also some people might stereotype and say ALL Mexicans like this,dress like this, dance like this .  It’s  ALWAYS  ridiculous to stereotype, first of all, and second of all not true.  This kind of music is kinda like what country music is to some in the U.S. some hate it some think it’s corny, but hey different folks different strokes.

Interested in learning more about Durangense  Here’s a short list of DURANGUENSE ARTISTS:

Grab your Partner!!

Posted on by cottonkandydiamonds

Today’s post is about Mexicans and DANCING !! So grab your partner! Cuz  it’s the weekend & it’s time to unwind & have some fun! In my last post I wrote about how George Lopez once dissed his own people & culture saying that Mexicans really can’t dance, and that the only dance they have is around a hat.  As I said before,  Au contrare pally! Mexicans love to dance & Mexico has lot’s of popular dances that are not folkloric. Dancing is HUGE with Mexicans, it’s a very popular pass time that’s near & dear for both native Mexicans , Mexican Americans, and all Mexicans abroad. Mexicans love dancing and are proud of the dancing styles that come from Mexico. Many young kids would rather go to clubs that play traditional and modern Mexican dance music instead of going to regular clubs that just play pop, techno, & hip hop. For some people dancing is like more than just a pass time, it’s an obsession. They go dancing religiously, take classes, enter competitions, and form clubs. Some girls are so into dancing that they refuse to date guys who don’t dance. And it’s not only the young kids either, many parents love to dance at family parties or still make time to go out dancing during their free time.  Being Friday night, I bet there’s a bunch of people going out to dance tonight just like in these videos. Hope they have a blast, those crazy kids =)  Later on I’d like to post more info about the different types of Mexican dances, but today I wanna share some simple videos.  Today’s dance rhythm is = Mexican Cumbias

A group of  young Mexicans who participated in a Cumbia exhibition that took place in France =) Yay way to represent guys!!

A Mexican young man teaching a Ukrainian young lady how dance Cumbia.

The vid description on this one said, “Me & my girlfriend. It was raining , couldn’t go out, and so we decided to dance.”  They really used their indoor time wisely lol they recorded and posted more vids of different Mex dance styles  they had fun with that day. oh that will come in handy =) Anyway I like this couple, good synergy.

Advanced cumbia moves

Older adult couples dancing during a Cumbia session that took place in “El Palacio de Bellas Artes”= The famous “Palace of Fine Arts”, Cultural Center in Mexico DF

LMAO . Just two guys goofing around dancing Cumbia

Just to get ya dancing

Posted on by cottonkandydiamonds

This song is : fun, upbeat, & infections. Makes ya wanna dance. It is “banda” music. Banda music is a really popular genre with Mexican’s. Just like boybands or rappers might be a big deal and there’s a whole bunch of groups here in the U.S. it’s the same thing in Mexico with bandas.  What is banda music exactly? Banda is a brass-based form of traditional Mexican music. Bandas play a wide variety of songs, including rancheras, corridos, cumbias, baladas. Banda music is a melting pot of traditions and rhythms. It is composed of : Traditional Mexican rhythms , German polka, some Latin American style flavors, and even some Jazz influence , just to name a few. Mexico has adapted all these styles and made music all its own, the unique Banda flavor!  This type of music celebrates the culture of the mountain ranges and desserts, which are areas that have a very cowboy kinda history.

This song is called : El Mechon. The Band’s name is : Banda Sinaloense MS de Sergio Lizarraga. Meaning, Sergio Lizarraga’s MS band from Sinaloa(Sianloa is one of the 31Mexican States located in the northwestern part of the country). LOL it’s a long name, I know…. but there’s a reason behind that. Bandas are groups that are around for years and years. Once founded they are kept alive by passing on the torch to new members. In order to preserve the history and pride of the band a good name must be chosen, and often times in honor of its founder, his name is included in the band’s name. The song’s name means ” The Lock of hair” it’s talking about a guy who wants to look cool will he travels and parties, so he wants to change his image by using something that’s become popular, instead of dying your hair you use a hair clip with dyed hair extensions. LOL & basically that’s what the whole song’s about.  It’s just fun and random like that.

This song was a big dance hit recently, as many banda songs are. Each year a new song is chosen as the dance hit of the season, because it gets big either in the dance clubs, or at parties, especially weddings and Quinceañeras. Often times the songs come a long with a special dance, so the “something” dance will be a trend for the year that a specific song was popular.

Honest truth, this song got on my nerves in the beginning, but my mom & brother love it. They kept playing it and singing it, I kept hearing it on the radion, and on TV… and well in the end it just grew on me.