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EveryParampara

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.

RegionSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaEast AsiaCentral Asia and the CaucasusMiddle EastNorth AfricaSub-Saharan AfricaEuropeNorth AmericaLatin America and the CaribbeanOceania
MealBreakfastLunchDinnerSupperTea-time and snacking customsTea, coffee and drinking ceremoniesSweets given and sharedFeasts and festival mealsFasting and breaking the fast
🇧🇲 Hamilton, BermudaGombey A Bermudian masquerade of dance and drumming with African and British rootsPerformance 🇺🇸 Boise, United States and 3 moreBasque festivalEuskal jaiak Gatherings of dance, sport and food that keep Basque culture alive far from homeFestival 🇺🇸 Fairbanks, United States and 2 moreWorld Eskimo-Indian Olympics An annual Arctic gathering of traditional survival games, athletics, and cultural artsGame 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesKrewe Carnival clubs that stage parades, balls, and pageantry along the Gulf CoastFestival 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 2 moreSalsa A lively Latin partner dance rooted in Afro-Caribbean rhythms and social dance traditionsPerformance 🇺🇸 New York, United StatesVillage Halloween Parade An annual costumed puppetry march through Greenwich Village on Halloween nightFestival 🇲🇽 MexicoDanza de los ViejitosT'arche Uarakua A Purépecha masked dance honouring the sun and the four elements in MichoacánPerformance 🇺🇸 Raven's Roost, United StatesStomp dance A ceremonial night dance kept by Eastern Woodland tribes in the United States and Oklahoma.Performance · Dinner 🇺🇸 United StatesGrass dance A fast-paced men's pow wow dance from the Northern Great Plains featuring sweeping movements and bright fringe regalia.Performance 🇺🇸 United StatesFancy dance A fast-paced, athletic Indigenous dance kept at powwows across North America and beyond.Performance 🇺🇸 Honolulu, United StatesLei Day A statewide celebration in Hawaii honoring the art of lei making and the aloha spirit.Festival 🇺🇸 United StatesJingle dress A healing dance and regalia worn by First Nations women at pow wows across North America.Performance 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesSecond line A New Orleans parade where clubs march and a crowd dances along behind the bandFestival 🇲🇽 Guadalajara, Mexico and 1 moreMariachi A Mexican string and trumpet music tradition featuring charro attire and communal singing.Performance 🇲🇽 Oaxaca, Mexico and 1 moreGuelaguetza An annual Oaxacan festival of indigenous dance, music, costumes and communal sharingFestival 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesMardi Gras Indians A New Orleans carnival tradition where Black revelers wear elaborate Native American-inspired suits to honor historical Festival 🇲🇽 Guadalajara, MexicoMexican hat danceJarabe tapatío Mexico's national courtship dance, in which a dancer's steps circle the brim of a hatPerformance 🇲🇽 Mazatlán, MexicoCarnival of MazatlánCarnaval de Mazatlán An annual five-day festival of parades, fireworks, poetry and dance in coastal MexicoFestival 🇨🇦 Montreal, CanadaMontreal International Jazz FestivalFestival international de Jazz de Montréal A ten-day summer jazz festival filling downtown Montreal with free and ticketed concertsPerformance 🇲🇽 Mexico City, MexicoPassion Play of Iztapalapa A community passion play staged across Iztapalapa during Holy WeekSpiritual 🇺🇸 New York City, United StatesWest Indian Day Parade A lively Caribbean street procession held every September in Brooklyn, New YorkFestival 🇺🇸 United States and 2 morePowwow A communal gathering of dancing, singing and fellowship across Native North AmericaFestival 🇺🇸 New York, United States and 5 moreKlezmerקלעזמער An Ashkenazi Jewish instrumental tradition of lively dance tunes and ritual melodiesPerformance 🇺🇸 New Orleans, United StatesJazz funeral A New Orleans funeral march led by brass music, moving from mourning to joyful danceRite of passage 🇨🇦 Canada and 2 moreMummering A festive midwinter custom of disguised visits, music and playful guessing gamesFestival · Tea-time and snacking customs 🇺🇸 Philadelphia, United StatesMummers Parade An annual New Year's Day street parade in Philadelphia featuring music and costumed clubsFestival 🇺🇸 Hilo, United StatesMerrie Monarch Festival A spring week of hula in Hilo, closing with three nights of competitionFestival 🇲🇽 Veracruz, Mexico and 3 moreBaile folklórico Staged folk dances of Mexico and Central America, with regional dress and mariachi musicPerformance 🇲🇽 Papantla, Mexico and 1 moreDanza de los Voladores A Mesoamerican rite of dance and rope, flown from a tall pole to ask for rainSpiritual 🇲🇽 Tlayacapan, MexicoChinelos Masked dancers from Morelos who spoof colonial manners at CarnivalPerformance 🇺🇸 United StatesOld time fiddle An American string band style played for dancing, kept alive through local contests and family teaching.Performance 🇨🇦 Edmonton, CanadaGrand North American Old Time Fiddle Championship An annual summer fiddle tournament and community gathering in Alberta, CanadaPerformance

Photo credits on this page

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

The weekly EveryParampara

Every week: one tradition from somewhere new, what is being celebrated around the world this week, and one idea explained.