Culture
Geographically Nicaragua is divided into three regions, the Pacific, the Atlantic, and the Central Zones. These divisions influence different cultural expressions. The traditional folkloric dances of each region are well-known. Each department of the country has its own dances, myths, and legends. The dances generally convey stories and the dancers’ clothing is very elaborate with details specific to each region.
Music
The music of the Pacific Zone is unmistakable. In the department of Masaya, the marimba accompanies the representative folkloric dances, such as those of “The Güegüense or the Macho Raton,” that on many occassions are accompanied by guitars and maracas.
In the Northern Zone, mostly in Matagalpa, Esteli, and Jinotega, the people dance to the sound of the guitar, mandolins, small guitars, and accordians, instruments that play in the most famous polkas, mazurkas, and jamaquellos.
“Chiceros” are very popular Nicaraguan folklore music groups that play at important events. The instruments that give the music its distinctive sound are the drums, big bass drum, and the symbols.
The Atlantic Coast is characterized by its own type of afro-caribbean music, called the “Palo de Mayo,” (May Pole) which has a very intense rhythm and inspires erotic dance.
Several musical pieces that are representative of Nicaragua are the “Mora Limpia,” “Alforja Campesina,” “Son Tus Perjumenes Mujer,” and “El Nandaimeño.”
Among the most talented Nicaraguan singers are the brothers Carlos and Luis Enrique Mejia Godoy. Listening to their songs is a great way to learn popular Nicaraguan phrases, customs and traditions, and historic events.
Other outstanding composers and singers are Camilo Zapata, Otto de la Rocha, Norma Helena Gadea, Salvador y Katia Cardenal, Philip Montalván, Erwin Krüger, José de la Cruz Mena, and Jorge Isaac Carvallo.
Dance
Dance is also a very important aspect of Nicaraguan culture and reflects in great measure the customs of the Mestizo people.
Many cities have their own typical dances. For example, in Massaya they dance the “Son Nica,” which is played on the guitar and the marimba; in Carazo, they dance the “Toro Guaco” and the “El Güegüense or Macho Ratón”; in Managua, they dance the “Baile de la Vaca,” mainly during the festival of the patron saint Domingo; in the north, they dance the polka, influenced by European immigrants; and on the Caribbean side, they dance the sensual “Palo de Mayo” (May Pole).
Among the most famous dances are the “Baile de Las Negras,” the “Baile de Las Inditas,” “El Viejo y La Vieja,” “El Mate Amargo,” El Torovenado,” and the “El Güegüense or Macho Ratón.”
Art
Nicaragua has a history with many ups and downs, and this turbulence has influenced the arts. Artisan products abound in specific zones. In the archipelago of Solentiname in Lake Nicaragua, they have created their own style called “primitivista” in the bosom of the communities founded by the poet and political critic Ernesto Cardenal.
Although you can find other craftwork in many areas of the country, the city with the most excellent artisan crafts is Masaya (the city of flowers).
Artisan pieces of northern Nicaragua have their own styles. The black ceramics of Matagalpa and Jinotega, for instance, are easily recognizable because this style exists in only three Central American countries. In Esteli, you can find clay pottery molded into different forms and figures.
Poetry
One of the great figures in Nicaraguan poetry is Ruben Dario, who brought many innovations to the poetic style. He is called the “Father of Modernism,” a movement of great importance in Latin America in the latter years of the 19th Century.
Other great contributions to Nicaraguan poetry were made during the Post-Modern movement, by Leon poets Azarías H. Pallais, Alfonso Cortés, and Salomón de la Selva. Following the Post-Modern movement, there was a surge in Granada called the “Movement of the Vanguard” led by José Coronel Urtecho, Pablo Antonio Cuadra, Manolo Cuadra, and Joaquín Pasos.
Nicaragua has many outstanding poets, like Daisy Zamora, Michele Najlis, Vidaluz Meneses, Julio Valle Castillo, Claribel Alegría, Julio Cabrales, and the renowned poet, writer, and sculptor Ernesto Cardenal.
Literature
Nicaragua boasts a literary work regarded as the “Masterpiece of Oral Patrimony and Immaterial of Humanity” called “El Güegüense or Macho Ratón,” which reflects, in the manner of musical theatrical works, a satire by the indigenous people of the conquering Spaniard.
Among the Nicaraguan novelists most well-known in modern Latin American literature are Sergio Ramírez who wrote “Divine Punishment,” “Margarita, How Beautiful the Sea,” and “Adiós Muchachos, A Remembrance of the Sandanistan Revolution,” and the writer and poet Gioconda Belli who has written “The Woman Inhabited,” “The Country Under My Skin,” and the “The Scroll of Seduction.”