“El taconazo,” a song of the Salvadoran Civil War

This performance of the song “El taconazo,” by Norberto “Don Tito” Amaya, was presented by the Kubatana Vocal Ensemble of the University of Connecticut during its concert “UNBROKEN: Music, Resistance, Torture.” Held on April 25, 2025, the concert was the result of a semester of student research by members of the ensemble exploring the dichotomy between music as resistance and music as torture in contemporary song.

“El taconazo,” a song from the Salvadoran Civil War, was introduced to the class by music history professor Emily Abrams Ansari (Western University), following research on Don Tito’s music conducted as part of the Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador project.

The Surviving Memory in Postwar El Salvador research initiative is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, Western University, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, and the Ontario Research Fund.