The Mexican Hat Dance

The Mexican Hat dance has always been a fun way to pass time at fiestas for Cinco de Mayo. Called jarape tapatí o in Spanish, it is a folk dance that tells a tale of love and courtship. When most people hear the phrase "Mexican hat dance" they think of someone dancing around a sombrero. However, the traditional dance takes place between one or more couples, one would assume, to tell the love story.

The music of the dance is a mix of Mexican folk music and was composed in the 19th century by Jesús González Rubio, a professor of music in Guadalajara, Mexico, which incidentally ties into the second word of the Mexican phrase for the Mexican Hat Dance; tapatí o means "coming from Guadalajara, Jalsico". Jarape is a sort of dance or can be translated to mean "elixir". It was originally choreographed by Felipa Lopez to help celebrate and remember the successful end of the Mexican Revolution, which was considered to have ended around 1920.

The history goes that the dance gained popularity in 1919 when Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova visited Mexico and fell in love with the dance as well as the culture and the costumes of Mexico at the time. She incorporated the dance and cosutmes into her routine and it became a regular as well as popular part of her performances. In fact, it became so popular and well known that in 1924, the Secretary of Education José Vasconcelos declared it the national dance of Mexico, making it so important that it was required to be taught in school.

What is perhaps the most engaging thing about the dance is that it does tell a story. The costumes reflect the rich Mexican history. The men wear what is called a charro suit, which is a three-piece suit consisting of a vest, jacket, and pants with silver buttons sewn along the seams. The women meanwhile are adorned in china poblana outfit; a white blouse adorned with such things as ornate embroidery, beads, and silk with a skirt that is designed with geometric and floral shapes.

Then the dancing starts. The man starts out by dancing what is called a zapateado and this is basically a sequence of tapping and stamping in a choreographed way to show his manliness to the woman. The woman is then impressed by this but the man has become a barracho (inebriate) and is shooed away by the woman for his foolishness.

The man then throws his hat to the ground as the tension begins to build between the couple. When the woman bends to pick it up, he kicks his leg over her head, thus conquering her. The couple then dances together in unison to a military tune referred to as a diana, which is meant to symbolize that they are now one. The dance ends with the couple kissing (whether real or not is up to the couple I would suppose) behind the sombrero.

This dance has so much pride, culture, and history in it of the Mexican people. More than just a simple routine of someone dancing around a sombrero, because of its history and rise to popularity thanks to the involvement of Pavlova, today it keeps on being a way that the Mexican celebrate their heritage when they have celebrations for Cinco de Mayo or any other holiday that helps to celebrate cultures.

Works Cited:

1) Wikipedia--Mexican Hat Dance

2) The Mexican Folkloric Dance Company of Chicago

3) Ehow: How to Do the Mexican Hat Dance