We continue wending our way through the list of Colombian (or “Colombian”) phrases, and today we wend not on tiptoe, not in a sprint, but in a dance. We’ll even give this post a soundtrack, just for the heck of it. When that one ends, you can finish reading the post and leave your comment while shaking to this one or this one. Oh man, such good music for breaking it down.
5. Baila como un trompo (Knew it. Not uniquely Colombian.)
Literal translation: he/she dances like a top
Translation: he/she is a great dancer
Meaning: to be a great dancer, to be light on your feet, to be a twinkle toes
I think I’ve mentioned a few times that I love to dance. No, really, love to dance. Adore it. Salsa, cha-cha-cha, cumbia, porro, bachata, and merengue. Plus the little bit I know of tango (mostly faking and letting skilled friends glide me around). I don’t think there’s anything I enjoy more. And obviously I’m obsessed with Spanish, especially Spanish of the Colombian persuasion. So, ahem, that makes me uniquely qualified to comment on today’s phrase. Not really, but it does speak my language and matches my groove. Let’s boogie!
Someone who dances like a top is obviously smooth, fluid, and has it going on. Also, they can just go on and on, totally in their element as they whip out dance after dance, azotando baldosa. The bailar como un trompo phrase is a great visual. I admit that sometimes I forget if it’s trompo or trompa. Dancing like an elephant’s trunk just wouldn’t be the same, though! Actually, though, a top is called a trompa in some places, as well as a thousand other names. Here in Colombia, it’s a trompo or a pirinola, which is a variation.
Oh, you know what I just learned? A trompo isn’t just any old top. It’s a top with a string attached to it, also known as a whipping top. This type of top is apparently common throughout Latin America. I’d never heard of or seen one, but I can imagine them. Like a cross between a top and a yo-yo. A stringless top is a peonza, and you can also say that someone dances like a peonza. I’ve been told that skilled top-spinners can make their tops spin the most incredible and intricate figures. I’m now imagining tops doing figure skating-type moves: triple axels and overhead lifts. So, we’re not talking just any old top here, and now you see that we’re not talking any old dancer.
This phrase is not uniquely Colombian by a long shot, but what else is new? Maybe it’s used more here (because many Colombians, especially Caleños, are incredible dancers), but the phrase is definitely used throughout Latin America. Here’s Elaine dancing like a top that’s spun out of control.
I’m sure we have natural ways of expressing this in English, but I just can’t think of them. Because I would never actually say the phrases above, that someone’s light on their feet or that they’re a twinkle toes. How would you say that someone’s an amazing dancer? Maybe compare them to Fred Astaire or Michael Jackson? I guess the most recent ode to a great dancer in pop culture was Maroon 5’s Moves Like Jagger. So, I’m sticking with that: bailar como un trompo means to bust a move like the iconic Mick Jagger. And that’s that!
Also, just as a side note, don’t be beguiled into believing the overgeneralization that all Latins love to dance or are great dancers. Although personally I do have this stereotype to thank for getting me into dancing–I started dancing the summer before I moved to Colombia because I thought that I’d be a dweeb with no social life if I came here and was a wallflower at parties, unable to mover el esqueleto. I did it purely out of a sense of obligation and dread, kicking and screaming all the way. Then I started dancing, and I loved it, shedding all my ridiculous self-consciousness and uptightness. But, you know what? I got here and quickly realized how wrong my expectation was! By no means is everyone a championship-winning dancer here. Salsa’s what I like most, and, like all music, it has a historical context. Its heyday has long come and gone, so a lot of young people feel that salsa is more the music of their parents’ generation, or even their grandparents’. Of course, there are still lots of fans of salsa, and new music is still being made, but it just doesn’t speak to the times and embody the pulse of the moment like it once did. Plus, there are lots of people who simply don’t care for it, or who have never liked to dance. And the expectation and pressure that they have to because of their ethnicity is just annoying. It would be like a foreigner going to the U.S. and expecting everyone to know the jitterbug, disco, or breakdancing. Also, if you do learn how to dance (socially or ballroom) with teachers or even just in the U.S./European scene, you’ll get here and realize how different it is to dance with people who learned like they learned Spanish . . . by listening and growing up around it, by “feeling” it. Some people are great, lots of people can’t do anything “fancy” and just kind of shuffle in a circle (but might have lots of natural rhythm and flow), and it’s all OK. So, if you’re not into dancing, don’t shun Colombia, thinking that you have to hide the fact that you just weren’t born to cut a rug. And if you do love to dance, well, just know that people might not dance exactly like you learned how to back home! There’s still so much to learn, share, and enjoy.
