Regional dances

Each region of Mexico has dances that identify it. The jarabe tapatío is the typical dance of Jalisco, performed in charro suits and china poblana dresses; the danza de los viejitos (dance of the old men), in which dancers humorously imitate stooped old men, comes from Michoacán, from the Purépecha region around Lake Pátzcuaro; the danza del venado (deer dance) is a ceremonial dance of the Yaqui and Mayo peoples of Sonora; and the jarana is the typical dance of Yucatán.

In the Yucatecan jarana the music sometimes stops and a dancer calls out “¡Bomba!” to recite a bomba: a short, often humorous or romantic rhyme. In Oaxaca, the Flor de Piña dance from the Tuxtepec region is one of the best known at the Guelaguetza. For the exam, what matters is matching each dance to its state.