Coladeira
- Dance
- Music
Although some academics cite the galope as a possible origin of the coladeira, and others the taca, an old tap dance, it seems to have emerged spontaneously in the second quarter of the 20th Century for the residents of Mindelo to dance.
At a certain point in time (which it seems nobody can pinpoint), the endless dances of S. Vicente (there is still a tradition of dances that go on till morning) became a little monotonous, although the guests did not stop dancing. People started to ask for the musicians playing stringed instruments (violin, cavaquinho and fiddle) to introduce a “contratempo” (backbeat) to reinvigorate the dance.
It was a jump from the morna to the coladeira, and the rhythm became, as Manuel Ferreira explained “so lively and exciting that our participation is entirely physical”. It must have been during this period, some time during the 1930’s, that a different way to dance the morna appeared, known as estrimbolca, which was danced in short quick steps, measured and traced with a grace that few people have preserved. This genre was initially known as morna-coladeira.
In the 60’s the coladeira spread rapidly to all the islands and came to dominate dances, throughout the country and among the diaspora.
As well as the change in rhythm, the coladeira also touched on themes of social satire, which was sometimes very scathing, found in finaçon (Santiago) and curcutiçon (Fogo).
In Brava, where it took longest to become established, the coladeira is known as colinha.
The coladeira took on Caribbean influences in the 1980’s, particularly from the French Antilles, and the sub-genre of coladeira-zouk appeared, which practically took over from traditional music as the most popular music among young Cape Verdeans.
Although some academics cite the galope as a possible origin of the coladeira, and others the taca, an old tap dance, it seems to have emerged spontaneously in the second quarter of the 20th Century for the residents of Mindelo to dance.
At a certain point in time (which it seems nobody can pinpoint), the endless dances of S. Vicente (there is still a tradition of dances that go on till morning) became a little monotonous, although the guests did not stop dancing. People started to ask for the musicians playing stringed instruments (violin, cavaquinho and fiddle) to introduce a “contratempo” (backbeat) to reinvigorate the dance.
It was a jump from the morna to the coladeira, and the rhythm became, as Manuel Ferreira explained “so lively and exciting that our participation is entirely physical”. It must have been during this period, some time during the 1930’s, that a different way to dance the morna appeared, known as estrimbolca, which was danced in short quick steps, measured and traced with a grace that few people have preserved. This genre was initially known as morna-coladeira.
In the 60’s the coladeira spread rapidly to all the islands and came to dominate dances, throughout the country and among the diaspora.
As well as the change in rhythm, the coladeira also touched on themes of social satire, which was sometimes very scathing, found in finaçon (Santiago) and curcutiçon (Fogo).
In Brava, where it took longest to become established, the coladeira is known as colinha.
The coladeira took on Caribbean influences in the 1980’s, particularly from the French Antilles, and the sub-genre of coladeira-zouk appeared, which practically took over from traditional music as the most popular music among young Cape Verdeans.
