Video
"Mujer Borinqueña" by Miguel Santiago Diaz of Ecos de Borinquen
Traditional Puerto Rican
jíbaro music is often improvised, sung poetry. At the core of the traditional song repertoire are the seis (in which the song form is based on six lines) and the aguinaldo (which is based on a decimal, or ten-line stanza). The
aguinaldo is well-suited for detailed lyrical narratives of Puerto Rican history and culture and Biblical stories. Here Miquel Santiago-Diaz, founder of Ecos de Borinquen and one-time Puerto Rican national
trovador (troubadour, or singer of
seis and
aguinaldo) demonstrates the
aguinaldo style from the town of Orocovis with "Mujer Borinqueña," a song extolling the virtues of a Puerto Rican woman.