Mariachi trivia

Did you know?

Mariachi trajes differ from the traditional charro clothing in two major ways: no gun and no sash. The presence of these indicates the wearer can rope, ride and shoot.
Indian Justo Rodríquez Nixen invented the vihuela using an armadillo shell.
The galas, groups of decorative buttons running down the outside seams of a mariachi's pants, are threaded together with a cord tied at each end. If one goes, they all go!
The first guitarrons had animal gut for strings.
In the '40s and '50s, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán appeared in more than 200 motion pictures.
Junko Seki, from Japan, has toured the U.S. with her mariachi performance.
Tatiana Bolanos, 9, has become the youngest ranchera singer to sign with Sony International.
About dance ... There is a difference between danzas and bailes. Danzas are indigenous (pre-Hispanic, non-European) and usually religious. Bailes are contemporary and non-religious.