This
is a reprint of a very interesting article
which appeared in the New York Times
02/15/04
THINK
of Peruvian music and dance and you probably
imagine Andean folk groups, blowing their
pan pipes in Times Square or plazas throughout
Europe. . .
Yet
there's another side to Peruvian culture, the
African side, vibrant,exotic
and powerful... And for more than 30 years, the
most respected caretaker of this Afro-Peruvian
tradition has been the music and dance ensemble
' Peru Negro'
In
the past years there has been a worldwide growing
interest in the music of black Perú. A
key figure in international awareness is musician
David Byrne, who compiled some of the key figures
in a best selling album titled The Soul of Black
Peru, Afro-Peruvian Classics. One of the artists
"discovered" in that compilation, Susana
Baca, became a household name in world music
circles, touring worldwide.
The
Afro-Peruvian tradition dates from the introduction
of slaves in the 1700's. By the middle of the
last century it had almost disappeared, but a
rising interest in black pride rekindled an interest
in the old tradition. In Peru, a number of groups
began tapping the memories of old-timers and bringing
back the old ways. It wasn't until Peru Negros's
triumphant debut at the 1969 Hispanoamerican Festival
of Song and Dance, however, that the interest
became a craze.
It
was a dance craze. This music makes people
move, an effect that is also a cause. Even
in the studio, recording Peru Negro's newest
CD, ''Jolgorio'' (a Spanish term that refers
to a state of celebratory frenzy), the musicians
wouldn't think of playing without their human
metronomes: the dancers, keeping time in their
bodies.There's
tradition in those bodies, too. Peru Negro's
flirtatious courtship dances resemble their
Afro-Cuban cousins.
Other
times, the dancers look possessed, as in the rituals
of santeria, by spirits from Africa.
Some
resonances are closer to home. The early banning
of drums, for example, led Peruvian field slaves
to discover the music's signature instrument, the
box or cajon (only recently adopted by flamenco
groups), in the same way that American slaves developed
tap dancing. Peruvians improvised with their feet
as well, in stomping duels called zapateo. And their
dances mocking the stiffness of their European masters
recall the high-stepping cakewalk of American slaves.
The
traditions of Peru Negro, though carefully
researched and preserved, aren't static. Reinaldo
Campos, the group's founder, who died in 2001,
was known for creating more furiously syncopated
cajonpatterns and for introducing Afro-Cuban
skin drums. Mr. Campos's wife, Bertha, is
the only member remaining from the original
troupe. She's 74. The group's youngest member
is 14. ''What is changing is the pace of the
dance,'' said Juan Morillo, the
troupe's producer. ''People dance faster now.''
Some
in the New York audience might be familiar with
the company from ''The Soul of Black Peru,'' a 1995
compilation album released by David Byrne's Luaka
Bop label. But Mr. Morillo says, the reaction of
most American audiences is shock: ''Black people
in Peru? It's a revelation.'' BRIAN SEIBERT
From
chains to celebration
From Sunday Star 02/20/05
A
ban on drums never stopped Peru's black slaves from
making rhythms.
Wooden
fruit crates evolved into the cajon, which people
straddled and beat with their hands.
Church
collection boxes gave rise to the cajita,
which they clapped open and shut, and beat
with a stick.
Donkey jawbones developed into the quijada
de burro, which they beat with the palm of
the hand, causing the bone to resonate like
a tuning fork and the teeth to rattle. PeruNegro
uses them all. Formed 35 years ago as a folkloric
song and dance ensemble, the group itself
has evolved into a top-notch world music act
of 20 touring performers.
"Black
music in Peru wasn't recognized until recently,"
says road manager and producer Juan Morilio. "And
February being Black History Month, there is special
interest in what we do."
Peru's
black community traces its roots to the West African
slaves sent to the Caribbean in the 1600s, and shipped
to Spanish gold and silver mines in the Peruvian
Andes. When too many died in the mountain climate,
survivors were moved to the coast to work on sugar
and fruit plantations.
One
hundred and fifty years ago this year, they
were finally freed. Not until the black pride
movement of the 1960s, however, did Peru's
black musicians and dancers reassert their
cultural presence and begin performing for
a wider public. Out of that renaissance came
Peru Negro. Their sound springs from the rich
percussion of the cajon, the cajita and the
quijada de burro. Guitars and vocal choruses
complete the arrangements,
with
lead singer Monica Duenas bringing a special warmth
and sensu ality to the melodies.
After
years of success at home, the group gained international
attention in 1995, thanks to former Talking Heads
frontman David Byrne. His Luaka Bop world music
label included Peru Negro on its compilation CD,
The Soul of Black Peru. Since then, the group has
released two of its own: Sangre de un Don in 2001
and Jolgorio a year ago.
The
group's dances are said to be powerful, sultry
and sometimes mocking of former Spanish colonial
masters."Tora Mata' satirizes the minuet,"
road manager Morilio said from Los Angeles
last week. It ridicules the rigidity and lack
of natural grace of European dances of the
time, then breaks into explosions of rhythm
and style. From slavery to colonial times
to the present, Peru Negro's stage show celebrates
