It
was also important to Luis Rocca that I understand that Afro-Peruvian
culture, including its performance arts, has been heavily influenced by
the indigenous cultures. This is because of the close connection
between blacks and indigenous peoples that dates back to the time of
slavery, when blacks who managed to escape would live in communities in
the jungle where they were in frequent and friendly contact with
indigenous peoples.
part of a collection of masks in the museum
Two other things of note from my time in Zaña: I took a short, side trip to Cayaltí (in a jitney) to film a young man who performed a decima
he had composed; and I was surprised by how little African heritage
still showed in the people of Afro-Peruvian descent in Zaña, unlike the
population of el Carmen. No one looked black!
the kid who recited his decima is wearing the orange shirt
The decima: I only learned after the fact that the decima is a greatly respected poetic form used to comment on current events. The word "decima" refers to the number of syllables per line. The decimas
are mostly composed on the spot, improvised; but I have no doubt that
the young kid had thought his out beforehand and them memorized it.
Finally,
in Zaña, Luis Rocca took me into the home of a townsperson who was playing a
game of skill with his neighbors. It somewhat resembled horseshoes, and
involved drinking a large amount of beer; if you tossed and lost, you
had to drink. Lots of laughter; especially when they insisted I try my
hand at it. I was NOT very good.
my hotel, the Don Juanito - more modest than where I stayed in el Carmen!
After we left, Luis Rocca explained that I was the first woman to be invited to watch this game.
a jitney in Zaña; jitneys are very photogenic
cute towns-kids; you've got to have cute towns-kids, right?
And so, having filmed many interesting things and seen things, some of which I would only later come to understand better, I took the bus cama back to Lima, filmed the documentary Masters of Rhythm with addendum, and returned to California. A good trip.
_________________
Eve A. Ma, a former
university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural
organization, is the producer-director of two documentaries about
Afro-Peruvians:A Zest for Life and Masters
of Rhythm with addendum.Sign up for
her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:www.PalominoPro-signup.com
From Chiclayo in Lambayeque, and the museum del Señor de Sipán, I continued on by taxi to Zaña where I was to meet with Luis Rocca of that town's Afro-Peruvian museum. Luis Rocca has done incredible work with the museum, rescuing and recreating a large number of Afro-Peruvian musical instruments - especially drums made out of hollowed logs and a percussion instrument made from a gourd called a checo.
Luis Rocca relaxing in a room in the museum
I had met him in Lima, introduced by Nachi Bustamante, wife of percussionist Cotito.
Zaña is a tiny town, on the scale of el Carmen. The museum is also small, and seems to be run single-handedly by Luis Rocca.
a street in Zaña
He had a young man named Yim show me around; he is from Zaña and is studying law in Germany but was home on vacation. One of the things he showed me were a ruined convent and ruined churches...very large and impressive...which he explained had been ruined by "the flood."
Yim and his sister, who was one of the dancers of "Baila tierra."
I assumed "the flood" had happened a few years ago, but no, it had occurred in the 16th or 17th century, and the convent and churches have never been repaired. It seems that Zaña was a major commercial center in the first part of the Spanish colonial period...but the flood put an end to that and the glorious buildings were never rebuilt. Instead, a much smaller, more modest town was constructed higher up from the river and Chiclayo took over the commercial functions formerly enjoyed by Zaña.
part of the ruins of the convent
In the 3 or 4 days I spent in Zaña, Luis Rocca also had a young couple perform an old folk dance (which he encouraged me to film) called "Baila tierra." It is reputedly the precursor of the immensely popular, current "national dance" of Peru, the Marinera. This dance comes out of the Afro-Peruvian tradition.
City Hall rather dwarfs the buildings around it
_________________
Eve A. Ma, a former
university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural
organization, is the producer-director of two documentaries about
Afro-Peruvians:A Zest for Life and Masters
of Rhythm with addendum.Sign up for
her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:www.PalominoPro-signup.com
ENGLISH: The series about my trip to Peru will continue on Saturday, Mar. 19. ESPAÑOL: La serie sobre mi viaje hasta el Perú va a continuar el sábado, 19 de marzo.
Estos meses, me dedicado a leer (muy despacito)un libro escrito por Juan Manuel Suarez Japón, que se llama Sinalo
Calorró. Es una biografía de
Manuel Morao y cuenta su vida en el flamenco basada en las conversaciones con
él. Un aspectomuy interesante: en los años 1960
cuando todo el mundo pensaba que por fin el flamenco estabafloreciendo, Manuel Morao temióque ibaa
desaparecer. Yo pienso que Manuel Moraoteníarazón.
Manuel Morao
¿Pero quiénes Manuel Morao?, ¿Por qué su opinión tiene tanto peso? y, ¿Por qué
pensaba que el flamenco tradicional se encontraba en un momento de peligro?
Haz clic AQUÍpara escuchar
a Manuel Morao que toca un solo de guitarra. Pero como tocar como solista no es tan normal en el flamenco, aquí
el toca acompañandoal cante de Antonio
Mairena. AQUÍ
Primero, quien es: desde los años 1960 hasta el principio de los 1990, fue
uno de los guitarristas más emblemáticos del
flamenco, y realizaba giras por toda Europa y América del Norte. Fue también el
acompañante favorito de Antonio Mairena y Terremoto padre, al igual que de la
Paquera, Chocolate, y muchos más. Además, ha influenciado mucho a su sobrino Moraito y su bis-sobrino,
Diego del Morao.
Manuel Morao con Antonio de la Malena
No solo eso,
sino también ayudó a organizar y grabar antologías importantes del cante con
Antonio Mairena y otros, en lasque también
fue guitarrista principal. Es uno de los guitarristas en la famosa serie de
videos: Rito y Geografía del Cante.
En 1975, se retiró de muchasde las giras y
las grabaciones (pero no de tocar) para volver a su ciudad natal, Jerez de la
Frontera, dónde empezó a promocionar el flamenco. Organizaba y tocaba para una
serie de eventos, los “Jueves Flamencos,” que dirigió por muchos años y a
través de los cuales impulsaba las carreras de muchos de los profesionales de
hoy en día (incluso Antonio de la Malena).
Pero eso no fue suficiente para Manuel Morao. En los años 1990, fundaba un
negocio llamado “Gitanos de Jerez” que producía discos, videos, y espectáculos.
De los espectáculos, uno de los más famosos fue “Gitanos: esa Forma de Vivir”
en elque llevó a 22 artistas a un teatro en Broadway y a otros
muchos alrededor del mundo.
preparandonos para rodar una entrevista con Manuel Morao
“Gitanos de Jerez” continuó con mucho
éxito comercial hasta el principio de los años 2000.Un poco antes empezó la mala suerte y
Manuel Morao tuvo que parar de toca la guitarra, en parte, porqué empezó a
tener un problema con los nervios de sus manos.
¿Pero por qué ese hombre, desde los
años 1960, pensaba que el flamenco estaba en una situación de peligro? Algo que
trató de prevenir en toda su carrera profesional.Según Manuel Morao, el flamenco en verdad no
es nada menos que el cante de los gitanos, un cante que los no-gitanos también
pueden realizar. Se puede llamar ese flamenco “el flamenco tradicional.”
preparando para grabar en otro sitio; Manuel Morao está en el sofá
Centrándoseen los gitanos, especialmente los gitanos de la baja Andalucía, Manuel Morao está totalmente convencido de que
ese arte llega de los gitanos, la forma gitana de realizarlo es lo más puro, y
es un arte integral a la herencia de la comunidad gitana.
Para aprender más sobre el peligro que amenaza el flamenco tradicional os
invito amirar el documental que estamos
creando “Flamenco: la tierra está viva”. ConsultaAQUÍ para ver su web.
_________________
Eva Ma (Eve A. Ma), antiguamente catedráticaen la universidad, abogada, y directora de una
organización cultural sin ánimo de lucro. Actualmentees la productora y directora de diversas películas inclusodocumentales sobre la música y los bailes del
mundo, tal como Maestros del Ritmo con
addendum. Para aprender más sobre su trabajo y obtener un video clip de una de sus producciones, apúntateaquí: www,PalominoPro-noticias.com
In addition to my two or so weeks in Lima, and my travels to the south, principally to the town of el Carmen, center of Afro-Peruvian culture, I went up north to visit the town of Zaña and the region around it. This, like the rest of my time in Peru, was for the purpose of learning more about Afro-Peruvian culture, especially its music and dance, because Zaña is home to the important Afro-Peruvian museum.
Zaña is in the coastal region of Peru, near the small city of Lambayeque. To get there, once again I took a bus-cama, leaving Lima in the late afternoon and arriving in Lambayeque in the morning of the following day. From Lambayeque, I took a licensed cab to get to Zaña.
The museum is a re-creation in miniature of what archaeologists believe the pyramids looked like at the time the ruler was buried. The "good stuff" is down in a deep basement, again representing the archaeological site.
On the way, however, I decided to make a stop at a place unrelated to my work: the museum which houses most of the collection taken from the pyramid and tomb of el Señor de Sipan.
Who is this Señor de Sipan, you ask.
Glad you brought it up. Peru, in addition to being the home of the Incas, was home to several other important civilizations. One of these was the Sipán, or Moche, who actually pre-dated the Incas. The civilization flourished from about 50-700AD, while the Inca rule only began in 1438, and ended less than 100 years later, in 1533.
The later rules of Sipán were mummified and buried in pyramids, and a few decades ago, in the later 1980s, a grouping of three of these pyramids were discovered and explored.
The pyramids now looks like a large, bare hills. They were made of adobe bricks, and over the centuries, the rains have eaten away at it. This is one of the reasons they were only recently discovered.
replica of one of the many adornments found on the mummy of the Señor de Sipán: gold necklace and earrings with owl heads; the owl represents the afterlife
Excavations of the second to largest of these pyramids revealed the elaborate tomb and mummy of what is presumed to have been a great ruler, now referred to as el Señor de Sipán (the Lord of Sipán). The museum contains a replica of the mummy of the ruler, his wife, and someone important who was buried under him (possibly his father) while the actual remains have been left in the pyramid (which I didn't have time to visit). The display in the museum shows what the burial chamber looks like, and has many of the fabulous gold, silver, turquoise, and other jewelry with which he and his wife were adorned.
Of course, a couple of guards, dogs, and other former beings were buried along with them, presumably to wait on them, keep them company in the afterlife, and so forth.
_________________
Eve A. Ma, a former
university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural
organization, is the producer-director of two documentaries about
Afro-Peruvians:A Zest for Life and Masters
of Rhythm with addendum.Sign up for
her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:www.PalominoPro-signup.com
Is the sky falling? Or is flamenco in danger of dying?
(We will continue next week with the series on my trip to Peru.)
Over the past several months, I've slowly been reading Sinalo Calorró by Juan Manuel Suarez Japón, a biography of Manuel Morao which traces Manuel Morao's life in flamenco through the author's conversations with him. One fascinating thing is that, back in the 1960s when everyone else thought flamenco was flourishing, Manuel Morao felt it was in danger of disappearing. I think Manuel Morao was right.
Manuel Morao in front of the Plaza de Toros, where the Jueves Flamencos were held
But who is Manuel Morao, why does his opinion carry any weight, and why did he think traditional flamenco was in trouble?
Click on LINK to hear Manuel Morao playing solo guitar. And since playing solo isn't usual, here he is accompanying the singing - cante - of Antonio Mairena. LINK
First, who is he: from the 1960s through the early 1990s, he was one of the pre-eminent flamenco guitarists, and toured throughout Europe and North America. He was also the favorite accompanist of Antonio Mairena and Terremoto the elder, to say nothing of la Paquiera, Chocolate, and many others. Furthermore, he greatly influenced his guitarist nephew, Moraito, plus his guitarist grand-nephew, Diego del Morao.
Manuel Morao with Antonio de la Malena
He helped organize and record major anthologies with Antonio Mairena and others, in which he was also principal guitarist. He is one of the main guitarists in the famous video series, Rito y Geografía del Cante. In the mid-1970s, he stepped back from much of his touring and most of his recording to return to his birthplace, Jerez de la Frontera, where he became a major promoter of flamenco. He organized - and played for - a weekly series of extremely popular events in Jerez called "Jueves Flamencos" (Flamenco Thursdays), which he ran for years and which launched the careers of many of the famous performers of today (including that of Antonio de la Malena). That, however, was not enough. In the early 1990s, he started a company called Gitanos de Jerez (Gypsies of Jerez) which produced music albums, DVDs, and major shows. The most famous show was one in which he brought 22 flamenco artists to play on Broadway in something called "Gitanos: Esa Forma de Vivir" ("Gypsy Passion").
preparing to film interview with Manuel Morao
Gitanos de Jerez continued in operation, very successfully, until the early 2000s. By this time, Manuel Morao had stopped playing the guitar, partly because he had developed a nerve problem in his hands. But why did this man believe, even back in the 1960s, that flamenco was in danger of disappearing - something he spent his entire life and career trying to prevent? For Manuel Morao, "flamenco" was another word for "el cante de los gitanos," which literally means "the singing of the Gypsies [of Andalucía in southern Spain]" but practically, means traditional flamenco.
preparing to film in another location; Manuel Morao is on the sofa
His emphasis on gitanos - the Gypsies of Andalucía - does not mean he believes only gitanos can sing and perform flamenco; but he does fervently believe that the art comes from them, they are its purest proponents, and the art continues to be part of their heritage, an integral part of their community. To learn the danger in which traditional flamenco finds itself, you will need to watch the documentary we are making, Flamenco: the Land Is Still Fertile (Flamenco: la tierra está viva). Go HERE to check out its web site.
_________________
Eve A. Ma, a former
university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural
organization, is the producer-director of several documentaries about
world music and dance, includingA Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms Of Beauty & Deities: Music & Dance of India, and Masters
of Rhythm with addendum.Sign up for
her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:www.PalominoPro-signup.com
Here is a video about the "hatajos" with an explanation of them.
When it came time to leave
el Carmen, I encountered the problem of paying my bill at the lovely bed and
breakfast.The owner needed cash. I didn’t have enough cash – and the ATM in the
local grocery store wouldn’t accept my (foreign) ATM card.
SO – we went to Chincha for
lunch to allow me to visit a bank with an ATM that would accept my card.To get to Chincha, we took a local bus –
crowded, bumpy, but friendly.It made
me feel a little less like an outsider, even though in fact I was one.
After I paid my bill and
left el Carmen, I went to the town of San Luis de Cañete for a few hours to
film the kids that my friend (and star of my documentary) Lalo Izquierdo
teaches in a cultural center he helps operate.San Luis de Cañete is another center of Afro-Peruvian culture. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any photos in San Luis: too little light, and I was busy filming.
Because I arrived several
hours late, we went straight to the place where I was to film, which was where
the kids were rehearsing for THEIR “hatajos.”The rehearsal space was in a building with no roof!
The kids were great, but
later, to get signatures giving me permission to use what I had shot, I had to
pay the parents.I was not expecting this
and it was not in my budget.As a
result,I’ve only been able to pay to
use a very small number of these kids.What a shame!
a jitney just like the one I took in San Luis de Cañete
In San Luis de Cañete, I also
had my first ride in a jitney (a covered, three-wheeled motorcycle that is used
as a taxi in many Peruvian towns).Kind
of fun, but I’m not sure you’d stay very dry if it were raining. And after the filming, we had dinner in a
little, local restaurant beside the Pan-American highway, hanging out there
until my bus back to Lima arrived.
Once again, another bus-cama.
My last article about my
Peruvian trip, will cover my trip to the town of Zaña in the north, with a
brief stop at the museum of the Señor del Sipán, dedicated to displaying some
impressive artifacts obtained from the pyramids of one of Peru’s ancient
civilizations.
_________________
Eve A. Ma, a former
university professor, lawyer, and director of a non-profit cultural
organization, is the producer-director of two documentaries about
Afro-Peruvians:A Zest for Life and Masters
of Rhythm with addendum.Sign up for
her newsletter to keep up with her work and get a special video:www.PalominoPro-signup.com
