Dance, in addition to being an art, is also an expression that contains stories and traditions. In the Colombian case, in each region we find different artistic expressions that have been influenced by the different communities and cultures of the many that make up the country. In Colombia, the variety of dances can be classified by the regions into which our national territory is divided.

Colombia is divided into 6 regions, characterized by their geographical differences and distinctive natural landscapes. These are the Caribbean, Pacific, Andean, Orinoco, Amazon and, finally, the Insular regions.
In the Pacific region you can find dances such as: the abozao, the jota chocoana, the curralo, the bunde and the contradanza. On the Caribbean coast, there is the well-known Mapalé, as well as others such as Ullerengue, Cumbia, Porro and Vallenato. In the Andean region, the genera bambuco, orbellino, and guabina are popular. At the same time, in the Orinoquía region there are the popular joropo and the galerón. And finally, in the Amazon region we find the dances called bëtsknaté and the offering dance.

Each of these dances is a representation of the cultural diversity that is part of Colombia. In the case of Mapalé, its origin dates back to colonial times: with the African slaves brought to the new world, a form of struggle emerged to safeguard their traditions through the sounds of the drums; In turn, it is said that many of the Africans, when finishing their work, went to the river and watched the fishing; The movements of the fish caught their attention, but one in particular, called Cathorops Mapale. His way of moving out of the water became inspiration to create the steps of this popular dance. In turn, another of the steps was created from the little movement that the slaves had due to the shackles that were tied to their legs.

On the other hand, when talking about the dances of the Andean region, things change a lot. Being in the central part of the country, these dances had a greater influence from Spanish culture, their costumes and steps are much softer, and the sounds have an obvious mix of indigenous and black cultures. Usually these dances are a representation of the man's courtship of the woman, very similar to the European dance 'El chotis'.

the spanish school Nueva Lengua is located in four cities in Colombia: Bogotá, Cartagena, Medellín and Ibagué, and in each of them weekly dance classes are organized for our Spanish students, who have the opportunity to complement their language learning with cultural experiences like this one. The dances practiced range from the most traditional, such as cumbia or bullerengue, to the most current rhythms, such as salsa caleña or bachata.