Mexico's heritage of folk dance is rich in music and costume. Centuries ago the people were encouraged by the friars to dramatise religious teaching by dancing to the beat of drums and the rattle of gourds. Today their folk music has developed from primitive percussion to a blend of Spanish and native cultures. It may be strummed on an instrument made from the shell of an armadillo or played on the more orthodox guitar, but whatever the instrument it is the rhythms that more than all else characterise the people's dancing. They are like no others in the world.

Born near Pachuca, a mountain town in the high Mexican plateau, Guillermina Dickins passed her childhood in the half-feudal world of the great haciendas. Later she journeyed to the remotest corners of her country, studying the infinite variety of its dance, its music and its tradition.

She gives here three of the most colourful and famous dances of all. Complete with music and step notations and four colour plates, by the Mexican artist Mireya Iturbe, the book is a fascinating introduction to this land of grace and gaiety.