2023/05/01 by Samuel Robles · 1 voice
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Theater, Performance, and Music History #Cuban History and Society #Spanish Literature and Culture Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/s0261143023000326
openalex publication_date 2023/05/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/05/21
Abstract In this article, I explore the processes of cultural dialogue through which European and Caribbean dances such as the waltz, the pasillo, the polka, and the danzón became tributaries of Panamanian típico. These genres, particularly the thriving danzón culture in Panama, contributed in various degrees to the shaping of típico as local performers adopted, adapted and reinterpreted rhythms and melodic material from the context of existing musical traditions. Expanding on recent research, I show how this cultural dialogue developed into a platform for innovation from which típico emerges as a distinct genre in the mid 20th century, a reinterpretation of the dance repertoire known as danzón–cumbia by composers which I collectively call the Azuero School. I examine how this repertoire and its performance practice became channels for discontinuous cultural dialogue, experimentation and reinterpretation of multiple influences in a context of political and social change in Panama.