ABSTRACT
Kuna compositions and choreographies unfold according to musical principles that predate European contact. The Kuna are famous for their ability to modernize their lives, reflecting the world around them in ways that preserve and maintain what is uniquely theirs. As a display of knowledge and artistic skill, they weave foreign elements into their traditional music. Men who have worked on foreign ships relay stories of their travels; these are woven into lullabies and historical chants. Kuna groups that have danced in festivals in Panama, Latin America, North America, and Europe bring back foreign styles of dancing that are imitated in Kuna choreographic sequences, as in “The Way Americans Dance,” which depicts square-dance figures. The cultural cohesion and adaptability of the Kuna people are related to their historical dispersion over a wide geographical area.
