Mrs. Enkhorn recently shared part of a Spanish kids’ dance song that’s possibly from Mexico or Nicaragua. We’d love to add it to Mama Lisa’s World but need help with some missing lyrics. Here’s her note:

“I am a TK & K public school teacher from Norwalk, California. My teaching partner recently died from complications brought on by Covid 19.
My partner was a proud “Nicolla”. We often taught the children to partner dance, especially to songs in Spanish like Naranja Dulce. Two years
ago we were learning that song.

After a while, my partner decided to share her childhood memory of a song that was sung while children stood facing each other in a circle. One girl was chosen to stand in the middle of the circle. The children serenade this girl with a special song, while she skips around the inside of the circle looking for a dance partner. When the song ends, she chooses her partner, then dances in the middle of the circle with her partner as the rest of the children sing Naranja Dulce.

An old children’s dancing song from Nicaragua or Mexico is called La Niña Manola:

Es la niña se llama Manola, solita sola, solita sola,
Ella quiere ver bailar, cantar y jugar,
Salta por los aires…

Listen to recording of La Niña Manola

Hoping Mama Lisa’s World can locate this song and share it.

Sincerely,
Randi Enkhorn

If anyone can help with this song, please comment below. 

Thanks in advance! -Mama Lisa

UPDATE: Monique Palomares, who works with me on the Spanish and French versions of Mama Lisa’s World wrote:

“La niña Manola is from Spain and ‘Manola’ is only one name among many others, since the name changes with each child who enters the dance.

We have  La niña María (without the name “Manola”). We also have the ‘cousin’ song called Baila sola on Mama Lisa’s World.

If anyone knows a version closer to the one Randi Enkhorn sent us in her email above, please comment below…