“Jeroky” comes from the Guarani language, meaning dance. The same Paraguayan dance that inspired Zulma Cáceres, a former Paraguayan immigrant in Madrid, Spain. She founded her own dance group abroad, Paraguay Jeroky Madrid, as a way to keep tradition alive. In 2025, that group turns twenty.
Zulma now lives with her family in Lambaré, near Paraguay’s capital Asunción, but she never forgot the legacy she left in Europe. With emotion in her eyes, she tells The Asunción Times how Jeroky Madrid came to life, its accomplishments, and her hopes for the future.
Humble beginnings
“I moved with my two daughters to Madrid in 2004 with great hopes,” Zulma recalls. “But I soon realised my culture had stayed behind. I wanted my daughters to be proud of being Paraguayan.”
One afternoon, while sharing tereré with another Paraguayan, her daughter asked about her ringtone — Pájaro Campana, a classic Paraguayan polka. “That was the day I decided to do something. My daughters needed to know where they came from.”
With no formal training, they learnt from YouTube videos. Zulma worked in a nursing home and made costumes from old sheets and towels. Soon, another Paraguayan family joined them, and the group began to grow.
“In April 2005, there was going to be the Day of the Americas festival. Paraguay had never participated. I spoke to the Paraguayan ambassador in Madrid to represent us. We practised in a room lent by a Spanish priest who also helped us bring the Virgin of Caacupé to his church that December.”
“It was the first time the Virgin had gone there,” she says. “People cried. Spaniards did not understand, but they joined us. My daughters wore traditional costumes, and I invited more people to join.”
“Our mission was to spread our culture”
With the success in December, the April festival was easier to organise. With the help of the ambassador and another Paraguayan dance group on tour, everything aligned for a great debut. “We bought the clothes for our presentation and explained the importance of the festival. We were the country that spent the most time on Spanish television, twenty minutes. Our bottles-on-the-head dance was a big hit.”
Later, Zulma managed to get a real dance teacher from Paraguay. Then, they became the first Paraguayan traditional dance school abroad, open to everyone who wanted to join. That first festival marked the official beginning of Paraguay Jeroky Madrid.
“The first years were difficult. We practised in a park near the building where our teacher worked as a babysitter. We stayed like that until 2008, but more people kept joining, and we received invitations to many events”.
The priest who had helped them continued to do so. “Like if we were in Paraguay, every Saturday we gathered in that same room he lent us to eat Paraguayan food. That helped us stay united. We even helped dancers who needed money for costumes or bottles. It was wanting to show your culture”.
Keeping Paraguay alive through dance
“In 2011, during the bicentennial of Paraguayan independence, we presented a show with 150 dancers, representing our country’s history through dance. It was like a movie, one of the happiest moments of my life,” Zulma recalls. “We wanted our children to remember their roots. That was our mission.”
Jeroky became a family for Paraguayans abroad. “It made living away from home easier. Many big dance groups started with us, and that legacy still lives on.”
Today, the group is led by coordinator Gladys Marecos, with thirty-two students. Zulma left Spain in 2012 with 58 dancers but returns every two years with Acuarela Paraguaya, another Paraguayan troupe that tours Europe and often performs with Jeroky.
“My work earned official recognition from Madrid’s mayor as one of the most famous Latins there – the only Paraguayan,” she says. Now the school includes children of Paraguayan parents, as well as Bolivians, Peruvians, and Spaniards.
Jeroky has performed across Europe – in Italy, France, and Portugal – and even before the Queen and King of Spain. Some dancers joined Acuarela Paraguaya for the Hispanic Heritage Parade in New York, which Jeroky will have the honour of opening in 2026.
Dancing towards the future
“Representing Paraguay far from home is deeply emotional. You show your traditions and a part of yourself to the world, you cannot describe the feeling when people applaud.”
For Zulma, Paraguay Jeroky means everything. “My daughters, who first inspired the group, have travelled to many countries thanks to dance. Even the mayor of New York wanted to meet us because of the bottle dances. Only through dance can you achieve such things.”
One of her dreams is to see Jeroky Madrid perform in Paraguay. “I would love for them to dance here,” Zulma says, visibly moved. “My wish is for them to be honoured by the Paraguayan Senate. They deserve it; we went through so much together.”
Now in her fifties, Zulma looks ahead with pride, knowing that Jeroky’s story will continue inspiring new generations to keep Paraguay’s spirit alive wherever they are.
To find out the next events, find Paraguay Jeroky Madrid on Instagram.
