The penes is a form of Portuguese folk dance, namely in the Algarve region. The origin of the dance itself is unclear and believed older, although it gained popularity in the 1800s. The name derives from ''correr'', ''to run'' which partly describes this type of dance. The dance was performed in a round (''dança de roda'') in the open air. The oldest musical instruments recorded were small

flute The flute is a family of classical music instrument in the woodwind group. Like all woodwinds, flutes are aerophones, meaning they make sound by vibrating a column of air. However, unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is a reedless ...

s or fifes (''pífaro'') and

harmonica The harmonica, also known as a French harp or mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used worldwide in many musical genres, notably in blues, American folk music, classical music, jazz, country, and rock. The many types of harmonica inclu ...

s, (''harmónica'') until the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

was implemented and dominated ever since. Corridinho has left a legacy and is still popular in some former Portuguese colonies like Goa, Daman and Diu, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Mangalore in India and a small part of

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

(Sri Lanka) where it is called '' Baila''. In Macau China, it is known as Portuguese-Macaense folk dance. The ''

Branyo The Branyo is a form of dance from Malaysia traditionally danced by the original Portuguese colonists of Malacca and their present-day descendants in Malaysia. It is a development of the Portuguese folk dance corridinho from the Algarve. B ...

'', a folk dance of the Kristang people in Malaysia, derives from the Corridinho, and further developed into the popular Malay '' Joget'' dance. In Portugal today, the dance is mainly found in the southern region of Faro in the Algarve and is often performed by the ''ranchos folcloricos'' (folk groups) as part of the municipality’s tourist attraction. The corridinho is considered a product of history and performance that represent Algarvian contexts (e.g. Algarve life depicted in plain sound and loud talking). It is

dance Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoir ...

d by couples who always move together. They form a circle with the girls inside and the boys on the outside. By rotating the circle, the pairs move side by side. Corridinho is composed of three parts: o corrido, o rodado e an escovinha (the run, the rotation, and cropped). The "Run" starts with a circle, made up of pairs of men and women. When the music starts, the pairs begin to spin. To start the "Rotation", the beat gets more lively and intense, the pairs begin to perform a "fast-paced waltz". When said is done, the dancers return to their original positions and can either end there or continue. The "Cropped" is a shorter version of the dance done again after a complete round cycle. Although bearing some resemblance to the

polka Polka is a dance and genre of dance music originating in nineteenth-century Bohemia, now part of the Czech Republic. Though associated with Czech culture, polka is popular throughout Europe and the Americas. History Etymology The term ...

and

mazurka The mazurka (Polish: ''mazur'' Polish ball dance, one of the five Polish national dances and ''mazurek'' Polish folk dance') is a Polish musical form based on stylised folk dances in triple meter, usually at a lively tempo, with character de ...

, corridinho is a very traditional Portuguese dance where people challenge each other’s fitness and enjoy social entertainment in groups.

References

Portuguese folk dances Circle dances {{Portugal-stub