Mexican music stirs the soul

It was a rare and wonderful sight - a crowded theatre, with everyone clapping and singing along to the infectious rhythms of a Latin band.

Stirring this vibrant atmosphere at the University of Hong Kong, was the Mexican group Trebol.

Exponents of traditional mariachi, the six-piece all-male group played unusual instruments like the vihuela, guitarron and requinto.

Trebol, from Guadalajara, Mexico's mariachi music capital, were in traditional outfits - the big, embroidered sombrero, white shirts, and silver-medalled black trousers.

Music promoter Beatrice Cessac of the Andes Art Company, said in Mexico, people did not separate music and dance.

'They are part of daily life, the very essence of Mexican culture.