Caporales: Difference between revisions

| genre = [[Traditional dance]], [[BolivianFolk dance]]

The '''Caporales''' is a traditional [[boliviansBolivia|Bolivian]] dance originated in ''Barrio[[Yungas ChijiniRoad|Los delYungas Granof Poder'' in [[La Paz|La Paz City]]. The Caporales dance were created and presented to the public for the first time in [[1969]] by the Estrada Pacheco brothers, who were inspired in the 'character of the 'Caporal'', thiswho character wasis the overseer of the black slaves in [[Los Yungas (historical region)|Los Yungas]] and was usually mixed race, wore boots and held a whip, a dance that belongs to the region of the [[Yungas]], Bolivia.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9750175/spanisch/caporales.htm |title=Danzas autóctonas de Bolivia |work=unet.univie.ac.at |accessdate=2009-10-22 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222053509/http://www.unet.univie.ac.at/~a9750175/spanisch/caporales.htm |archivedate=2012-02-22 }}</ref> The dance, however, has a prominent religious aspect. One supposedly dances for the Virgin of Socavón (patroness of miners) and promises to dance for three years of one's life. Caporal or caporales today is a folklore dance very popular in the festivities of not only Bolivia, but also [[Argentina]], [[Chile]], [[Peru]], [[Spain]] and the United States.

There are many groups founded in USA that participate and spread the Caporales dance, such as F.F.C.C. Universitarios San Simón Sucre Rhode Island, Alma Boliviana,Renacer Boliviano,Sangre Boliviana, Centralistas San Miguel Virginia, Orgullo Boliviano, San Simon Universitartios Virginia, Fraternidad Folklorica Cultural Ruphay VA, Kantuta Ballet Folklorico de Bolivia and much more. A male caporal dress depicts an old Spanish military guard (overseer of slaves). Wearing heeled boots bearing large bells known as "cascabeles", a male dancer carries a hat in his left hand and a whip in his right (sometimes). Even some girls will dance in a male role, as girls used to be relegated to wearing extremely short skirts and do less impressive steps; some may refer to them as "chinas" (literally: ''[[Indigenous peoples of the Americas#Bolivia|indigenous American women]]'') or "machas" (literally: ''women''). A female caporal dress consists of a minidress (representing a peasant woman) with matching panties (representing a newborn infant), skin-color pantyhose, fancy high-heeled shoes, and a round top hat (resembling a traditional Bolivian bowler hat) pinned to her hair. The style and colors of the dress are maintained the same for both the men and women of a certain group, but can vary drastically between groups. Men and women usually dance separately in a progressive march style dance. Caporales is a dance where youone jumpjumps a lot and is very active in this way.

The dance is often mistaken for [[Saya (artform)|Saya]] music, a confusion partly due to popular Caporales song texts like the ones composed by the popular Bolivian group "Los Kjarkas"; this group makes many Bolivian songs. Also, this is due to an international ballet version of Saya Caporal being danced as "Modern Saya" (see Afro-Bolivian Saya). However, caporales derive from 'Saya': as the 'caporal' was a character in 'saya' when the Caporales dance was created in the late 1960s by the Estrada Pacheco family, they claimed to have been inspired by the performance of some Afro-Bolivian dancers from the [[Los Yungas (historical]] region)|Los Yungas]]. The music is clearly of both African and European origin and the bit of the drums are the steps of the mixture of 'saya' and 'tundiquinegritos'. The costumes in caporales were of modern European origin. The rhythm is slightly different from the 'Saya'. This dance became one of the most popular dances in Bolivia, especially appreciated by young people of the middle and upper class who identified themselves with 'the caporal' and the macho antics of the dance, they form huge Caporales groups for Bolivian Carnival, Gran Poder and other "entradas".

[[Category:Afro-BolivianAfrican diaspora in Bolivia]]

[[Category:BolivianEuropean culturediaspora in Bolivia]]