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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe Guna dance that is seen in capital\ncity is known as \u201cGammu\nBurwi\u201d, it is also called \u201cNoga Gobbe\u201d but this last name is not used much. \u201cThe dance\nthat has been transforming over time, adapting to the new realities of society;\nstill maintains a lot of the spiritual, religious and ceremonial essence of the\nGuna dance,\u201d according to Magister Diguar Sapi, Choreographer of the National\nBallet of the Ministry of Culture of Panama, a scholar and researcher of this\ndance and who is also an expert in the contemporary dance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Brief Context<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n There are hundreds of Guna\u00b4s dances that\nseek to create a connection between them and mother nature. Its oldest\nchoreographies are reserved for ceremonies or special rites that are loaded\nwith a lot of spirituality, which is why they are unknown to most Panamanians\nas tourists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n These ancient expressions evoke the\nmovements of nature such as the air, river, sea, birds and other animals. It\nshould not be taken – as a reference, because the other dances are of rites in\nceremonies that are carried out in the Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tradition with\nAdaptations<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As part of the interest of making Guna culture\nmore widely known, the Guna dance has undergone certain transformations, always\npreserving that spirit of resistance towards the oppressive system that is\nreflected in the symbolism of its movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A Guna dance group with more than 30 years\nof experience is the \u201cUSKALU\u201d,\nmade up of 50 Guna migrants living in capital city. Its members strive to\nstrengthen, highlight and revitalize the Kuna traditions through dance. It is\nmade up of children, youth and adults under the coordination of its director,\nSoguiguili Diaz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Guna photographer Gilberto Alemancia,\nknown for his work internationally, is the one who provides the photos that\nillustrate this article. He also takes photos of the work carried out by the\ndance group “USKALU”, who have performed in places of international\nprojection such as the Panama Convention Center in Amador. He has also\ncooperated with them in the play “Nabba” in the indigenous theater.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Alemancia stressed that according to the\ntradition transmitted by his grandparents, the importance of instruments in the\nGuna\u00b4s dances stands out. “It is believed that flutes are not simple\nobjects, have spirits because it transmit messages”, information in a text\nprovided by the dance group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Love for the Guna\nLegacy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Teacher Sapi emphasized \u201cthe importance of\nrecognizing that the Guna dance is not what we see in the city. In order to\nsurvive and be shown to the public, the \u201cGammu Burwi\u201d had to undergo adaptations to become\npart of the national culture\u201d. In turn, he commented that the true Guna dance\nis so ceremonial that it could not be performed on a daily basis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other facts that Sapi stressed is that\nboth the Mola and the Guna dance in the city have been a symbol of identity,\nresistance and defense of their culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Photos courtesy: Gilberto Alemancia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Among most indigenous dances that can be seen in Panama, the most reserved in terms of its origins, meaning and symbolism is the Guna dance. The cultural expressions that we see in tourist places do not always amalgamate everything that the traditions of the natives entail. Such is the case of the Guna dance, which […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3229"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3555,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3229\/revisions\/3555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.thevisitorpanama.info\/esp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/2-1.jpg\")
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