Danzon Evenings

Danzon arrived in Veracruz from Cuba in the late nineteenth century and never left. The music is orchestral and stately - danzonera bands with clarinets, brass, timbales and guiro - and the dance is its perfect partner: couples in formal dress, the men often in guayabera and panama hat, the women in flowing skirts with a fan, moving in small, precise squares with an upright carriage, then pausing motionless during the melodic breaks in a convention that outsiders find startling and dancers treat as the heart of the form. Veracruz keeps the tradition alive in public: on set evenings, orchestras play in the zocalo under the portales and at Parque Zamora, and dancers of every age - many well past seventy, some remarkably good - fill the paving while the rest of the city drinks coffee and watches. Nobody charges, nobody performs; it is a social dance held in the street. Beginners are welcomed if they ask politely and accept correction. The city's Carnival and its danzon festivals expand the same scene to full volume.

What you actually see

• The danzonera - orchestra playing under the arcades.
• The formal couples - fans, guayaberas and squared footwork.
• The pauses - dancers standing still through the breaks.
• The audience - the zocalo's cafes watching over coffee.

When to go

Evenings on the scheduled days - ask locally, as nights vary through the year. Carnival season brings the largest crowds and the loudest music.

Honest expectations

This is a social gathering, not a show - photograph respectfully and ask before filming individuals. Nights are humid year-round. The zocalo's cafes charge tourist prices for the view; the dancing is free.

Nearby

San Juan de Ulua's fortress, the malecon and Veracruz's coffee houses surround the square.