User:Paul Farren
--Paul Farren 17:59, 25 June 2006 (UTC)Main subject: ARGENTINA Sub-heading: Culture...Music. The national dance of Argentina is not, as most people believe, the Tango (which emanates from a small dockland district of Buenos Aires called La Boca), but "La Zamba". In Argentine Spanish, this is pronounced exactly like "Samba", but could not be more different in every way: musically, temperamentally, in the steps of the dance and in the costume. It has six beats to the bar and is very majestic. It is danced by couples who circle each other waving white handkerchiefs very elegantly. Zambas are composed about every kind of subject, ranging from some whose lyrics celebrate people or events from Argentine history, to those which describe the beauty of a region or of its women; there are zambas of political protest and even one called "Aerolineas Argentinas". (Try to imagine a popular song called "British Airways"!) The drum called bombo legŭero (which is referred to in this encyclopaedia) is prominent in the playing of the zamba. To hear examples, you can log onto