We have finally (Jan. 2013) completed the educational version of our documentary, A Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.  It has a whole bunch of Extras, including some very interesting interviews with Lalo Izquierdo and others plus some footage of Afro-Peruvian celebrations in Peru, and a trailer about the checo and the angara, both of them percussion instruments.

This DVD is exactly what it claims to be:  an educational version of our documentary, A Zest for Life, completed with closed captions   It´s for libraries, universities, and the like.  If you think it belongs in a library near you, do suggest to them that they visit the web site.  The DVDs sell for $100, but we offer volume discounts to make them accessible to public libraries systems (whose budgets right now are pretty tight).

One thing that makes this DVD important is that it shows that for several centuries slavery, which we in the United States associate with our own southern states, was actually very prevalent in Latin America.  The conditions there were pretty awful.  I mention this because somewhere, a long time ago, I heard that slavery as it existed in Latin America was not so bad as slavery in the United States.  At this point, I can't agree with that statement.

Another reason we made the DVD is simply because it shows there are blacks in Latin America.  Prof. Henry Louis Gates has a fascinating series on the topic which has been airing over PBS stations.  A Zest for Life gives another view, focused specifically on the community's music and dance in one country, Peru.

If you want to know more about Prof. Gates programs, here´s a LINK.  They are very, very good.  And here is a LINK to a short trailer in which Gates summarizes his series.

OUR NEXT POST will be about la Triana, aged five, dancing beautiful flamenco bulerias.

Some photos from a new project we´re starting

I´ve been suffering from a bit of burn-out with these blogs, but follow this LINK and it will take you to some photos of a new project we´re starting.  Called Flamenco:  the Land is Still Fertile (Flamenco:  la tierra está viva), we´ve gotten some RandD money from Media Art Works (MAW) to write the script, make a trailer and put up a simple web site.

The project, undertaken by Palomino Productions, will be jointly run by Antonio de la Malena and yours truly (Eve A. Ma).  Specifically, we are co-authors of the script.  I will be the producer and co-director, and Antonio de la Malena will be the director and co-producer.  Plus he will be the documentary´s narrator, and will sing in it some.  (So will Agujetas, Luis Moneo, etc., etc.--and we´ll have guitarists, dancers, children, old people...this is going to be very good.  But we must obtain money to pay for the production. 

In the meantime, we´ve shot a little, but will shoot more when I return to Jerez...just enough to do the trailer.  After that, well, we don´t have the financing at this point to do any more.  But we do have the agreement of some flamenco heavy hitters to be in the documentary, and we´ve got a great script!

OUR NEXT POST will be about finished the educational version of A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.