Sean Bellaviti is Adjunct Professor at Ryerson University in Toronto, Canada. His research interests include the development of musical nationalism in Panama, genre studies, the political economy of Latin America and Caribbean popular music and dance, and folk music collections in the Americas. More recently, he has embarked on a new research project best described as a social history of Toronto's salsa scene.

"The ideas of the book are supported by extensive ethnographic work: in-depth interviews, detailed descriptions, images, and secondary sources allowed Bellaviti to write an analysis that would appeal to specialists from different disciplines. For historians, the author offers a study of a country that is often overlooked in explorations about the construction ofnationalisms in Latin America as well as in the history of material and popular culture." -- Pamela J. Fuentes, Pace University, Hispanic American Historical ReviewÂ

"A journey through the dancehalls of Panama's heartland, packed with insights, joy, and empathy! After finishing this book, the reader might ask, 'Why didn't I become a jazz pianist and ethnomusicologist?" -- Peter A. Szok, Texas Christian University

"This ambitious book innovatively theorizes the interhemispheric isthmus of Panama as cultural borderland. It deftly weaves historical research, astute musical analysis and fine-grained ethnography into a superb, engaging and impressively grounded study. This pioneering work is long overdue for one of Central America's principal popular musics." -- T.M. Scruggs, Professor Emeritus, University of Iowa