Folk Songs of Puerto Rico / Va

Folk Songs of Puerto Rico / Va

It's all about cultural roots: On this record, the presence of the decima (a ballad-like song form often philosophical in nature) and the pasodoble (a fast Spanish dance that introduces a bull fight and the entrance of the bull fighters) reflects the cultural association of the majority Puerto Ricans to their Spanish colonial past. A plena (humorous, satirical song of the "common man") is distinctly Puerto Rican. A guaracha (an old-fashioned Afro-Cuban street dance) ties Puerto Ricans to their Afro-Caribbean heritage.