Music, dance and storytelling

Songs, dances, theatre, epic poetry and oral history.

Music, dance and storytelling traditions are the performances that a community passes down by ear, eye and heart: the epic poem recited by a griot, the dance in a circle at a wedding, the shadow play of Java, the ballad of a village, the lullaby of a grandmother. They carry history, law and humour in forms that people can remember. Many are linked to festivals and rites, and many are on UNESCO's lists of intangible heritage. Here they are gathered by country, with notes on who performs them and when.

Songs and dances of the people

Folk music and dance are community property: they are learnt by joining in, not by lessons, and they change a little with every generation. Circle dances, line dances and couple dances accompany harvests and weddings, and instruments such as the drum, the fiddle, the pipe and the lute are made locally. In many places, there are separate songs for work, for love, for mourning and for children, and each has its own time and place.

Stories and theatre

Oral storytelling holds a society's memory: epics, myths, fables, proverbs and riddles told by elders. Some become formal theatre, such as kabuki and noh in Japan, wayang in Indonesia, the mumming plays of Britain or the Ramlila of India, which retells the Ramayana in a month of evenings. These forms often depend on one master teaching one student, and communities and governments now support them to keep them alive.

About this page

Written by the EveryParampara desk with AI assistance. Background on Music, dance and storytelling (kind of tradition). Customs differ from place to place and family to family. If this is your tradition and we have it wrong, tell us.

🇺🇾 Montevideo, UruguayNostalgia NightNoche de la Nostalgia Uruguay's nationwide retro music and dance celebration held every 24 AugustFestival 🇧🇷 BrazilBaião A syncopated folk rhythm and partnered dance from northeastern BrazilPerformance

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilRio CarnivalCarnaval do Rio de Janeiro Five days of samba parades, costumes and street parties in Rio, ending at LentFestival

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 5 moreMoko Jumbie A stilt-walking tradition from the Caribbean that blends African heritage with local carnival celebrations.Performance

🇦🇷 Santiago del Estero, Argentina and 1 moreChacarera A partner dance and folk music genre from Argentina's north-west, known for its distinctive rhythm and courtship steps.Performance

🇧🇴 Oruro, Bolivia and 3 moreMorenada A Bolivian folk dance featuring heavy masks and rattling instruments, performed in festivals across the Andes.Performance

🇧🇷 Recife, Brazil and 1 moreMaracatu A set of Afro-Brazilian performance traditions from Pernambuco and Ceará featuring drumming, dance, and royal pageantry.Performance 🇱🇨 Saint Lucia and 1 moreJounen Kwéyòl A day of Creole food, music and dress in Saint Lucia and Dominica, kept each OctoberFestival · Feasts and festival meals

🇧🇷 São Paulo, BrazilMaculelê An Afro-Brazilian stick dance from Bahia that blends rhythm, mock combat, and song.Performance

🇧🇷 BrazilForró Music, dance and party from Brazil's Northeast, with accordion, triangle and zabumba drumPerformance

🇵🇷 Ponce, Puerto RicoVejigante A masked folkloric character in Puerto Rican festivals, wearing ornate masks and performing a role of mischief or resistFestival

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilJongo A nightlong dance and music gathering kept by Afro-Brazilian communities in the southeast of Brazil.Performance

🇧🇧 BarbadosTuk band A Barbadian musical ensemble with costumed figures that blends African drumming and British military traditions.Performance

🇧🇴 Potosí, BoliviaTinku A ritual combat and dance from northern Potosí, Bolivia, honoring Pachamama through ceremonial fighting and performance.Festival

🇭🇳 Honduras and 4 morePunta A lively dance and music style of the Garifuna people, celebrated in Central America and the Caribbean.Performance

🇵🇾 ParaguayParaguayan harp Paraguay's national harp, strung with 32 to 46 strings and plucked with long fingernailsPerformance

🇭🇹 Haiti and 1 moreRara A Haitian street music of bamboo trumpets and drums, played in the Easter seasonPerformance 🇧🇸 Nassau, BahamasRake-and-scrape A traditional Bahamian music style featuring saws, guitars and drums.Performance

🇧🇷 Belém, BrazilCarimbó A dance and music genre from the Amazon region of Brazil, centered around a wooden drum.Performance

🇨🇺 CubaAbakuá An Afro-Cuban initiatory brotherhood rooted in West African sacred traditionsSpiritual 🇩🇲 Dominica and 4 moreBéléBèlè A Caribbean drum, call-and-response song, and courtship dance traditionPerformance

🇨🇱 Santiago, Chile and 3 moreCueca A courtship dance of Chile and the Andes where partners trace circles with handkerchiefs to mimic a rooster and hen.Performance

🇵🇷 San Juan, Puerto Rico and 1 moreBomba A Puerto Rican music and dance tradition where the drummer follows the dancer in a rhythmic dialogue.Performance 🇦🇷 Córdoba, ArgentinaCuarteto An upbeat partner dance and music tradition born in Córdoba, ArgentinaPerformance

🇵🇷 Ponce, Puerto Rico and 1 morePlena Puerto Rican folk songs and dance sharing community news with rhythmic frame drumsPerformance 🇦🇷 Salta, Argentina and 3 moreZamba A graceful Argentine couple dance of circling steps and fluttering white handkerchiefsPerformance

🇧🇷 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilCapoeira An Afro-Brazilian martial art and musical game played inside a circleGame 🇧🇿 Dangriga, Belize and 4 morePunta rock A fast-paced Garifuna dance music mixing traditional percussion with electric guitarsPerformance

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreSteelpan A tuned percussion tradition forged from industrial steel containers in TrinidadPerformance

🇨🇴 Barranquilla, ColombiaBarranquilla CarnivalCarnaval de Barranquilla A four-day street festival of music, masquerade and dance in coastal ColombiaFestival

🇧🇴 Oruro, BoliviaCarnival of OruroEl carnaval de Oruro A Bolivian festival of masked pilgrimage dances honoring the Virgin of the MineshaftFestival

🇨🇴 Pasto, ColombiaBlacks and Whites' CarnivalCarnaval de Negros y Blancos A week of street games, parades and music held every January in Pasto, ColombiaFestival

🇯🇲 Kingston, Jamaica and 5 moreReggae A Jamaican music of the late 1960s: a slow beat, a deep bass line and Rastafari rootsPerformance

🇩🇴 Santiago, Dominican Republic and 3 moreMerengue A fast-paced folk dance and music tradition born in the Dominican RepublicPerformance

🇬🇾 Georgetown, GuyanaMashramani Guyana's national republic celebration filled with street pageantry, music and dance.Festival 🇹🇹 Port of Spain, Trinidad and TobagoCanboulay An early Trinidadian celebration that shaped modern Carnival and calypso musicFestival

🇨🇺 Remedios, CubaParrandas Central Cuban street festivals featuring district rumba music, floats and fireworksFestival

🇺🇾 Montevideo, Uruguay and 3 moreMurga A lively Carnival musical theatre of chorus, percussion and social satirePerformance

🇨🇺 Santiago de Cuba, CubaCarnival of Santiago de CubaCarnaval A summer street celebration of percussion troupes, dancing, and parades in eastern CubaFestival

🇧🇴 Oruro, Bolivia and 3 moreDiabladaDanza de los Diablos An Andean masked dance depicting a battle between devils and the Archangel MichaelPerformance

🇹🇹 Trinidad and Tobago and 3 moreHosay An Indo-Caribbean Muharram commemoration with ornate floats, drumming and processionsSpiritual · Fasting and breaking the fast

🇯🇲 Montego Bay, JamaicaReggae Sumfest An annual week-long reggae and dancehall music festival in Montego Bay, JamaicaFestival

🇨🇴 Cali, ColombiaCali FairLa Feria de Cali A six-day Colombian celebration of salsa music, street parades, and regional cultureFestival

🇭🇹 Port-au-Prince, HaitiHaitian CarnivalKanaval Haiti's annual street festival of music, satirical plays and costumed paradesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs

🇹🇹 Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago Carnival An annual festival of street parades, masquerade bands, steelpan music and danceFestival

🇧🇷 Recife, BrazilFrevo A fast, brass-driven dance and music of Recife's Carnival, danced with a small umbrellaPerformance

🇵🇪 Trujillo, PeruMarinera A courtship dance from Peru's coast, with handkerchiefs and bare feetPerformance

🇺🇾 Uruguay and 3 moreTango A social partner dance of the Río de la Plata, improvised step by stepPerformance

Photo credits on this page

The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.

Barranquilla Carnival: el heraldo, Public domain, source
Trinidad and Tobago Carnival: Jean-Marc /Jo BeLo/Jhon-John, CC BY 2.0, source
Carnival of Oruro: Pame82s, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Haitian Carnival: User:Doron, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cali Fair: Jyon, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Reggae Sumfest: Psycler who is also known as AlfredMoya.com for Jamaica MAX, CC BY 3.0, source
Hosay: Julius Eduard Muller, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Forró: As fotos da Virada!, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Diablada: Elemaki, CC BY 3.0, source
Carnival of Santiago de Cuba: Christian Pirkl, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Murga: Mediared, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Parrandas: Juan ramon colina, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Paraguayan harp: Romina Santarelli, CC BY 2.0, source
Rara: Lombinodr Alfonso Lomba, CC BY 3.0, source
Mashramani: King sheik at English Wikipedia, Public domain, source
Merengue: Unknown author, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Cueca: Manuel Antonio Caro, Public domain, source
Bomba: TechyLibrarian, CC BY 4.0, source
Plena: Raylaur15, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Capoeira: Augustus Earle, Public domain, source
Steelpan: Shanel, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Abakuá: M. Puente, Public domain, source
Reggae: Thesupermat, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
Carimbó: Palácio do Planalto, CC BY 2.0, source
Punta: Pitxiquin, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Tinku: CassandraW1, CC BY 2.0, source
Tuk band: Ronaldwalcott, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Jongo: Vanessa Freitas, Public domain, source
Vejigante: Oscar Rohena, CC BY 2.0, source
Maculelê: Joel Zimmer, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
Maracatu: Prefeitura de Olinda, CC BY 2.0, source
Morenada: Alfredobi, CC BY 3.0, source
Chacarera: Pflatau, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
Moko Jumbie: COD Newsroom, CC BY 2.0, source
Rio Carnival: Sergio Luiz, CC BY 2.0, source
Frevo: Prefeitura de Olinda, CC BY 2.0, source
Marinera: Tomas Sobek, CC BY 2.0, source
Tango: carlos luque, CC BY 2.5, source
Blacks and Whites' Carnival: camiloAndres, CC BY 2.0, source