Bolivian symbol, dance
There are thousands of places on the world, worth visiting, and there will be many of those reminding you some other places, but this one here is so divers, with peaks, mountains, treks, jungles and wild beauty spread all over the country, Bolivia. One of the most stunning countries in South America, with incredible believe in God and strong traditions, with more than 30 influences of other cultures that have been ruling the country through the centuries, Bolivia is at risk to lose one of many languages or cultures within our lifetime, it’s a place, where you can still enjoy a laid-back attitude in remote Guarani communities, which are changing incredibly slow, letting the rest of the world still soak up the old time’s atmosphere traditions and believes.You will find everything in this country, extremely rich, terribly poor, educated and underprivileged, every stereotype, it will be a lifetime experience. You will so enjoy the “fashion” here, it’s so Bolivian, women wear Pollera, a skirt, that was originally Spanish, the colonial authorities forced them to wear it, back then it was force, nowadays, it has become a symbol of pride being indigenous. Than you will see hats everywhere, bowler hat, which is adapted from British, imagine, that the hat can indicate a woman’s marital status and aspirations. Sadly for men, there is no hat, just homemade cotton trousers and brightly coloured panchos.
As they have so many traditions, events are Must in this country, there won’t be lazy month in year, for example in November is held, International African-Bolivian Saya festival, elders in Bolivia still remember and perform dances rooted in their African cultural heritage, back from times, when they were a part of a small Bolivian community worked under a form of slavery that persisted until the 1950s. Once you watch the dance and listen to their music, it’s hard to not move in the rhythm, there is definitely a feeling with it, the drum beats, the lyrics, that’s the emotional counterpart of the music.
These are people who have suffered so much, with many things taken away from them,and for the outsider will be always hard to understand the true meaning of their music and dance. Here in Bolivia these two things have so bog importance as Apple as a symbol for America, it’s dance for them. They all have worked so hard in their lives, to have so little, but Saya always was, is and always will remain somethings theirs , that no one will never be able to take away from them…
