La Raspa & El Jarabe Tapatío / Mexican Hat Dance
Mexican folk dance is an amazing genre. The outfits. The violins. The quick rhythmic steps. The twirling. The trumpets. The outfits(!!) Today we are celebrating Mexican folk song and dance with our Song Of The Week, “La Raspa / El Jarabe Tapatío!"
On The Music Class's Dolphin Collection this summer, we combined parts of two famous Mexican folk songs - “La Raspa” and "El Jarabe Tapatío." The first part of TMC's Mexican folk dance medley is from La Raspa! Please enjoy these adorable babies dancing to La Raspa below. 🥹
The second part of TMC's Mexican mash-up is from El Jarabe Tapatío, also known as the Mexican Hat Dance! It's called the Mexican Hat Dance because of its iconic outfits and choreography. The men dress as "charros" (Mexican horse-riders) with ornate, wide-brimmed sombreros (hats). During one part of the dance, they place their sombreros on the ground and dance around them with their partners. You can see this part of the choreography at 1:20 in the video below!
Now that you have seen some real Mexican hat dancing, please enjoy TMC's somewhat sillier version below - where everyone is wearing lots of different hats! Can you hear the melody from "La Raspa" when everyone is kicking? Can you hear the melody from "El Jarabe Tapatío" when we are dancing in a big circle and twirling? Go find your twirliest dress, biggest hat, and clickiest shoes to dance along. 💃🏻