El Pueblo Canta performs highland carranguera dance music. They also play other traditional Andean Highland genres including carrangas, guabinas, torbellinos, and bambucos. Their songs are full of regional poetry, proverbs, rhymes, and anecdotes about rural Andean life. Álvaro Suesca, a renowned song writer and composer, has directed the group for twenty three years. Members of the group also build traditional percussion instruments such as the quiribillos and la carraca del burro, a donkey rattle. Dancers Laura Díaz and Jorge Alberto Rodríguez have performed with El Pueblo Canta in several national folk festivals. Their repertoire includes torbellino, guabina, rumba criolla, and rumba carranguera. Jorge’s grandmother was known as the queen of torbellino.
"The people sing because they have/ many things to sing about. Long live he who shares his song. And long live the people’s song."
Artists:
- Álvaro Suesca Acuña, director, song writer, composer, musician (requinto), instrument maker
- Laura Jeannette Alba Díaz, dancer
- Jorge Alberto Rodríguez Sanabria, dancer
- Giovanni Suárez Torres, musician (small percussion), instrument maker
- Danny Leonel Suesca Niño, musician (guitar, cane flute)
- Edixon Julián Suesca Niño, musician (small percussion), instrument maker
- Eduardo Vega Guerrero, musician (tiple), instrument maker
