Son Jarocho in the preschool curriculum

This is our dear friend Pablo Campechano Gorgonio, of Santiago Tuxtla in Veracruz state, Mexico. He is the maker of our son jarocho instruments and is a wonderful teacher, singer and guardian of his roots culture. This is at a fandango in his town. Son Jarocho is a Mexican folk music style with its own family of instruments, which features zapateado (foot dancing) as the main percussion instrument, improvised call and response vocals and is notable for being a very inclusive musical culture which is easily accessible for little children. The little girl in the foreground is waiting for her turn to hop up on stage and dance. When I was first introduced to Son Jarocho it reminded me so much of the music I performed as a child growing up in the Shenandoah Valley in Luray, Va. I used to be part of a couple of clogging groups. We would perform on Skyline Drive a few times a year for tourists and for festivals and local celebrations. Every culture has it's folk traditions. Though the rhythms are somewhat different, the form is the same, a family of folk instruments, free style verse improvisation, foot percussion and traditional garb. Over the years, I have learned various styles of clogging, tapping, stepping, Zapateado (Mexico) and Zapateo (Peru). We plan to introduce some of these basic foot work styles and rhythms to the children.