Tamborito (Little Drum) is the most popular folk dance, danced by women and women dressed in typical costumes. It is a contagious rhythm that makes everybody dances, because the interlocking and call/response lyrics, followed by the drum beat, mix the feelings and emotions of being Panamanian or a foreigner in loved of Panama. No one can resist it and must be danced.

Like most typical dances in Latin America, it is said to have originated in the Negro slave dance as a pray to the Gods. During the gathering at the plantations or near gold mines, this pray was sung and danced to beat of drums, bonfires and weeping. Homesick for Africa, slaves acted out tribal wars, courtships and also mimicked the behavior of their abusing masters.

But as time passed by, the dance changed due to the Mestizo´s (Spanish born in America) aroused, because they didn´t consider themselves as Spanish nor Americans, but they had both heritage and they incorporated the negro slave into the Spanish dance in the ballrooms by watching the Creole patios at fiesta and carnival time. There they saw it and introduced it to their own homes and it became part of them and that´s how Tamborito was born.

There are certain elements involved in this amazing dance such as African drum rhythms, coquetry, deception, faith, love and death, jealousy, pleasure, eroticism and even sex.

Although the Tamborito is milder that Congo Dance, there are some love-making movements that are quite lascivious but in a very smooth way.

Women Role

The tamborito is led by a Cantalante, a female lead singer, who is backed by a clapping chorus (the “estribillo”).

Women have a very important role in Tamborito, because they create the flirtatious movements that make men react in a very gently courtship and retreating figures. They interact in the dance at the pace of women, following the lyrics of the song. While a few women dance, others sing and clap, leading the chorus so the dancers represent the message with body language.

At some point similar to leading singer of the black dance from the black communities of the northern coast in Costa Arriba, which includes Portobelo, province of Colón.

The most luxurious costume is worn by the woman. It is called “La Pollera” the Panamanian National Dress, which is voluptuous in spite of its ruffles, accompanied by gold chains, medallions, and coins, and the elaborate combs, hair ornaments and earrings were the product of craftsmen working with native pearls and gold.

For decades “La Pollera” was a plebeian garment. In the 1880s Country women and lower-class city dwellers wore a simple version of the dress for everyday and an embroidered, lace-trimmed one on fiesta occasions. But high class women started to feel that this dress was a symbol of our Spanish heritage due to the similarity with Spanish typical skirts and could be up scaled for them also.

The Tamborito is danced in couples and each pair continues to dance for an unspecified time, taking into consideration those who must take their turn.

Sticky Lyrics

“Panameño, Panameño (Panamanian Panamanian)Panameño, vida mía (Panamanian, my life)

Yo quiero que tú me lleves (I want you to take me)

Al tambor de la alegría (To the drum of joy).

The idea of these catchy lyrics within a Tamborito is to make everybody sing it without having to memorize much. The Cantador Adelante (first singer) starts the song. The rest of the women sing the estribillo (refrain), carrying the beat with their handclapping.

Themes vary from political issues with some spicy proverbs to love songs or simply by expressing joy. The refrain of the chorus is unchanging, but each Tonada has its special one.

Tamborito is a dance that comprehends many circumstances through the life of Panamá as nation, before it was accepted as one.  It is not just a dance, is a culture speaking on its own.

These lyrics are known by all Panamanians, representing the most popular sonnet in the folkloric music.