Musica tropical or tropical music (Spanish: Música tropical) is a broad term for vocal and instrumental music with "tropical" flavor usually associated with the Afro-Caribbean music. It is part of an even broader category of Latin music. Usually it is an upbeat dance music, but also includes ballads. It features complex, syncopated rhythms and draws from traditional music forms. Its sound is based on traditional percussion and string musical instruments, such as timbales, congas, bongo, the tres, but can also incorporate other instruments and advanced machinery, such as synthesizers and drum machines.
The term "tropical" is commonly used as a music format by Latin music radio stations. Among the most popular tropical styles are salsa, merengue, cumbia, and bachata.
Barranquilla's Carnaval (Spanish: Carnaval de Barranquilla) is a carnival with traditions that date back to the 19th century. It takes place for four days preceding Ash Wednesday. During hh the carnival the city of Barranquilla's normal activities are paralyzed because the city gets busy with street dances, musical and masquerade parades. Barranquilla's Carnival is reputed for being second in size to Rio's. The Barranquilla Carnival includes dances like the Spanish paloteo, African congo and indigenous mico y micas. Many styles of Colombian music are also performed, most prominently cumbia, and instruments include drums and wind ensembles. The Carnival of Barranquilla was proclaimed by UNESCO, in November 2003, as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, during Olga Lucia Rodriquez carnival queen year.
The Carnaval Itself: Barranquilla's Carnaval is a Colombian feast exposed to the world. The feast contains a mixture of cumbia, porro, mapale, gaita, chandé, puya, fandango, and fantásticos merecumbés. These are examples of many styles of colombian music. It is a feast that gathers up tradition based on the creativity of the Colombian people, and it is expressed by various forms of dancing, by means of music, by different forms of art works, by the wearing of different costumes, and by the way of celebrating. The Carnaval of Barranquilla is unique because of its cultural diversity and because it is a feast where the people are the main protagonists. Every dance, every folkloric group, and every custom play different roles to make the feast the best show on earth.
Diversity of the Carnaval: The Carnaval of Barranquilla is multicultural, diverse, and rich in different cultural expressions. Its dancing and dancing expressions, just like its music, is gathered from every city of the Caribbean part of Colombia. The Carnaval's diversity can be categorized in seven different blocks: Traditional dances or folkloric dances; dances relation or manifestation dances; special dances or choreographic dances; Comparsas (a form of live music), with which the choreography of mmm dances and creativity of dances are expressed; Comedies, which are traditional and folkloric popular theater, where oral expression is its primary characteristic; Litany, which are traditional groups that sing along a choir; and last but not least the customs. These can be individual, or collectives, structural, and dramatic.
