The chilena is a
Mexican
Mexican may refer to:
Mexico and its culture
*Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America
** People
*** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants
*** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
musical genre from the
Costa Chica coastal regions of the Mexican states of
Guerrero and
Oaxaca, although its influence also reaches other nearby regions.
[Román Pérez Monfort, ''La música y el baile de "La Chilena" en la costa oaxaqueña''. Oaxaca: Proveedora Escolar n.d.] Its origins lie in the
cueca
Cueca () is a family of musical styles and associated dances from Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia. In Chile, the cueca holds the status of national dance, where it was officially declared as such by the Pinochet dictatorship on September 18, 1979 ...
of
Chile, whence its name. The ''cueca'' is a dance that was brought by Chilean sailors in 1822 and later by Chilean immigrants between 1848 and 1855, during the height of the
California Gold Rush
The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...
. They passed through the ports of
Acapulco
Acapulco de Juárez (), commonly called Acapulco ( , also , nah, Acapolco), is a city and major seaport in the state of Guerrero on the Pacific Coast of Mexico, south of Mexico City. Acapulco is located on a deep, semicircular bay and has bee ...
in
Guerrero and
Puerto Ángel,
Huatulco, and
Puerto Escondido in Oaxaca.
Mexican styles of music
References
{{Mexico-stub