Jota

• The jota is a dance known throughout Spain, most likely originating in Aragon.
• It varies by region, having characterstic a form in Valencia, Aragon, Castile, Navarra, Cantabria, Asturias, Galicia and Murcia.
• The jota is danced and sung with accompaniment by castanets, and the interpreters tend to wear regional costumes.
• For their interpretation, guitars, bandurrias, lutes, dulzaina, and drums are used in the Castilian style, while the Galicians use bagpipes, drums, and bombos. Theatrical versions are sung and danced with regional costumes and castanets.
• The content of the songs is quite diverse, from patriotism to religion.
• The steps have an appearance not unlike that of the waltz, though in the case of the jota, there is much more variation.

Some non-Spanish musicians have made use of the jota in various works:

• Georges Bizet, French composer (1838-1875), composed the opera Carmen which is set in Spain. The entr'acte to the fourth act (Aragonaise) is a jota.
• Mikhail Glinka, Russian composer (1804-1857), After traveling through Spain, used a style derived from the jota in his work The Aragonese Jota.
• Franz Liszt, Hungarian pianist and composer (1811-1886), wrote a jota for piano.
• Saint-Saëns, French composer (1835-1921), composed an orchestral jota, as did the Russian composer Balakirev (1837-1910).