Costa Rican Folklore Dance and Early Childhood Education

Costa Rican Folklore

Folklore and Creative Movement Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria during her formative years.  

As a dance and early childhood educator, the importance of Costa Rican folklore dance as a formative part of the child’s experience is undeniable from both research and field observation perspectives.

From a dance education perspective, for the Costa Rican child in the early years, folklore dance is an important part of an embodied education rendering national and cultural experience since early childhood.

Through the rite of passage of dressing in typical attire, dancing to folklore music, and following traditional choreography, the Costa Rican child steps into the dancing feet of generations of Costa Ricans who danced before . Through the dance experience, Costa Rican children capture their shared historic identity.

From a socio-affective perspective, Costa Rican dance offers a collective and enthusiastic experience through the guttural awakening of musical passion shared in a group dance.

Furthermore, in moments of national unrest, democratic questioning of identity and patriotic crisis, as will exist in contemporary and future history: folklore dance allows a common, peaceful search of this common identity found in the silence of the dancer in the rhythmic nature of collective dance. Costa Rican children that dance together will find further social interactions less challenging and more natural. Costa Rican folklore dance is danced in groups, and usually paired up with a dance partner.

From a developmental experience for preschool children, the complexity of the gross motor experience is extraordinary. The chorographic patterns of folklore dance organise its dancers in geometric patterns such as circles, diagonals and lines.  Dancers will dance side by side and at times will mirror each other. The nature of such movement leads to great challenges to children in the early years that are working on development of laterality, maturity of their vestibular system, and proprioception (Connell and McCarthy, 2014).  Folklore dance choreography through its patterns and movement, provide experiences that allow the brain to explore such challenges through the body.  Through the physical challenges of Costa Rican folklore dance, early years students will explore body and spatial awareness, developing a sense of body subconscious.

Costa Rican Preschool Amazonas Typical Dance.  

Jethro Desanti in his early childhood.  Dancing in pairs.

From a historic perspective, Costa Rican folklore dance reunites national mixed cultural heritage.  Appreciating folklore dance at national patriotic celebrations, the audience will see a variety of female dancers with a variety of colourful dresses with flower and lace depending on the province represented, and gentlemen with hats or countrymen attire for the male dancers.

Folklore Dancer and Dance Teacher Valeria Chavarria

Folklore Dancer and Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria

Male campesino typical dress.
Jethro Desanti Preschool years

Folklore dance is lively and light on the dancer’s feet.  Dancing on a low demi point, on the balls of the feet or flat footed, wearing sandals or leather shoes.  Long necks and strong backs characterize a fluid and soft dance.  The music represents different cultural and historic moments, musical groups from pre-colonial, colonial and mixed-immigrant heritage.    The instruments range from the marimba to the guitar, often accompanied with singing to the folkloric dance (Molina and Palmer, 2011). 

Folklore dance teacher Valeria Chavarria is a young dancer and dance teacher of folklore and creative movement dance for preschool and elementary school children in both public and private schools in Costa Rica.  With eleven years’ experience in folklore dance, she was a great participant for this research study and was generous to lend her time for an interview.  Valeria was a folklore dancer for the troupe Batsú Folkloric Projection.  She represented Costa Rican folklore dance both nationally and internationally.  

Folklore Dancer and Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria and Dancer Dylan Alvarado Fernandez

From her international dance experience, she analyses that contemplating the work of international dance troupes, some countries held their folklore dance to extraordinary high esteem.  She further questioned, “why not us?”

Valeria further explained, “the richness of folklore dance escapes most Costa Ricans, the details of dance style, clothing garments and musical interpretation vary greatly from one province to another.  There is so much to learn still.”

Demonstrating such diverse complexity:

Costa Rican Folklore

Folklore and Creative Movement Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria during her formative years.  

Costa Rican Folklore

Folklore and Creative Movement Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria during her formative years.  

 Costa Rican Folklore

Folklore and Creative Movement Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria during her formative years.

  

 Costa Rican Indigineous Folklore

Folklore and Creative Movement Dance Teacher 

Valeria Chavarria during her formative years

Regarding cultural identity and national pride, she insisted once again, “Why is it that in Costa Rica we are not proud as dancers are in other countries of their folklore?”  Her pedagogical vision is of extending and democratising the dance experience for all students.  Thus, allowing the student to gain further cultural appreciation and hands on learning into their own dance traditions and complex national identity.

Valeria suspects that our identity as a developing nation and former Spanish colony weakens our self-image as a nation as we yearn for the commodities and stability of modern, globalised society.  Perhaps she is right, in our quest to seek to progress and become citizens of the world we may forget to look back and understand our roots and cultural grounding.  

Yet perhaps, as Valeria believes, greater exposure and experience of Costa Rican dance in all its richness and complexity could lead to prouder Costa Ricans.  Costa Ricans with greater sensitivity of the cultural complexity that informs our history and shapes our modernity.  

Rethinking Valeria’s words and appreciating the great pride of the international community for folklore, and of the need for cultural awareness and uniqueness in an increasingly homogeneous international community as nations struggle to conform but at the same time seek nationalism, one wonders indeed: Why not us?  Why not greater folklore dance education in our Costa Rican preschools and schools?  Why not, indeed?

             About Valeria Chavarria

                                                                Folklore Dancer and Dance Teacher 

 During my school years, I was part of a group of typical Costa Rican Folklore called Batsù Folkloric Projection. Over the years I also trained in Ballet, Jazz, Hip Hop, Latin Rhythms and Ballroom.

I have attended several national and international art festivals such as the “Festicers Les Enfants du Monde” in France and the FEA in Costa Rica, also dance competitions, congresses and presentations in various theatres in our country.

My goal is to bring art to as many children and young people as possible, teach them that through music and dance people can acquire discipline and motivation; they can express different feelings and above all, show them that they can, in a physical and mental way, develop many skills. It would be a tool from which they can balance their lives and find a way to cope with difficult situations.

-Valeria