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With salsa and Colombian cumbia often dominating the charts, Panama's own popular music has had to struggle to survive. A distinctive vocal style dominates the music, which is said to derive from Sevillians of African descent who arrived in the early 16th century. The most important native instrument is the mejorana , a five-stringed guitar used to play songs called torrentes .

A folk dance called tamborito is very popular. Danced by men and women in costumes, the tamborito is led by a cantalante, a female lead singer, who is backed by a clapping chorus that sings four-line stanzas of copla (a lyrical form related to Spanish poetry ) as well as three drums. A somewhat similar genre called congo is popular among the black communities of the eastern coast; it distinguished by using upright drums and wild, lascivious movements and lyrics. Jamaican immigrants have brought mentoMento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced reggae music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box a large mbira in the shape of a box that can be sa and calypsoCalypso is a style of Afro- Caribbean music which originated in the British and French colonial islands of the Caribbean at about the start of the 20th century' it is an especially integral part of Trinidadian music. The roots of the genre lay in the arri music as well. Closely related to its more well-known Colombian cousin, Panamanian cumbia ( cumbia panameña ), especially amanojã and atravesao styles, are domestically popular. Another important music is punto and the salon dance s like pasillo , danza and contradanza .

References

• Broadbank, Robin and Nigel Gallop. "Dancing Between the Oceans". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 477-480. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. BooksEnthsiast.com