Cumbia is an elegant and vibrant Latin American musical style that originates from the Caribbean region of Colombia. Traditional Cumbia is considered to be representative of Colombia along with Vallenato, Bambuco and Pasillo.
In the Cumbia, Spanish, African and Indigenous influences are visible. Seduction and flirtatiousness is portrayed by the dancers through playful behaviour in which many smiles and looks are exchanged between the dancers. It is not surprising that Cumbia began as a courtship dance among the African slave population in Colombia. The Cumbia was later mixed with European instruments and musical characteristics becoming very popular in the Andean region and the Southern Cone and in the early 1980s it even gained more popularity in these regions than the Salsa.