In this English-language talkshow hosted by Zaidee Stavely, we explore the innovative impact that women are bringing to the son jarocho tradition, and how California women have learned from the culture of fandango in Veracruz, brought it back to California and made it their own.

The music that filled San Francisco’s Brava Theater during the 6th annual Son Jarocho Festival was clearly from the port of Veracruz on Mexico’s Gulf Coast, with its distinctive jarana, harp, jawbone percussion, and zapateado, the beat kept by dancers on a wooden platform called a tarima. But this music is also Californian now… it’s played up and down the state at fandango parties, marches, and in living rooms. In this English-language feature, Zaidee Stavely reports that women, especially, are innovating son jarocho on both sides of the border.