Hatajo de Negritos in Peru

The hatajo de negritos are part of the Catholic Christian tradition as celebrated in the Afro-Peruvian community since the mid-17^th century.  The hatajos are groups of dancers to be found primarily in the coastal provinces of Chincha and Pisco, most famously in the towns of El Carmen, Chamorro, Caserio Guayabo and San José..  The celebrations in which they dance are those for Christmas and the subsequent celebration honoring the day in which the Virgin Mary in her form as the Virgin of Carmen is said to have appeared in this region.  These festivities begin on Dec. 24 and continue until mid-day on Dec. 28. 

 
Here, we see a part of the celebration performed by the family of Amado Ballumbrosio.

For several months preceding these celebrations, starting in October, images of the Virgin and of Baby Jesus are taken in procession from one town to another, as the Virgin and the Christ child of each community “visits” the others.  One purpose of these visits is to solicit funds to finance the subsequent celebrations.  Since the image of the Virgin carried from town to town is very small, these visits are sometimes referred to as the peoncita (little work).

At the same time, residents of the communities (in the past, mostly men and boys but now, girls are also included) practice and learn the elaborate, special dances and songs including elaborate footwork called zapateo, the performance of which is an important part of the repertoire of the hatajos.

The festivities begin around 10pm on the night of Dec. 24 with a Catholic mass in which there is a symbolic simulation of Christ´s birth.  Immediately following this mass, the hatajos dance briefly in front of the church.  Then, everyone hurries home to be with their family at the hour of midnight, the traditional hour at which Jesus is said to be born.   

This video of the Hatajo de Negritos of el Carmen was made by a Peruvian television station.  Non-Spanish speakers:  the part where you actually see the celebrations starts about 30 seconds into the video.  Hispano-hablantes--lo que dice el sacerdote de los origines de la celebración es solamente una interpretación.  Hay otras que dicen que es una mezcla de tradiciones llevado desde la África, y ritos enseñado por los amas españoles de esclavos que quierían catequisar a los negros.

It is worth pointing out that each hatajo has an image (or in some cases, two) of baby Jesus, which they carry with them as their performances are in honor of his birth.

On Dec. 25 (Christmas day), the groups of dancers are invited to visit private homes in the neighboring towns.  These homes will have set up an image of baby Jesus as part of their Christmas celebration.  The hosts welcome the hatajos and the family and friends who accompany them with open arms and offer them food, drink, and other refreshments.  The hatajos perform as a group, following which individual members often demonstrate their skill at zapateo, all done in front of the image of the Christ child as a way of honoring Him.   

As we see here, Peruvian zapateo (or more properly, Afro-Peruvian zapateo) has also moved to the stage but in the Hatajo de Negritos, it is only used as a means of praising the Christ Child.

In the evening of the following day, Dec. 26, the celebration of the Virgin of Carmen begins with a mass, followed by a cultural performance.  This celebration takes place exclusively in the town of El Carmen, where She is said to have appeared.  Beginning at 7pm the next day, Dec. 27, the Virgin is paraded through the streets.  The procession continues through the night until ending at 11am the following morning.  The hatajos de negritos accompany this procession and form an important part of it.

The procession stops briefly in front of the homes of those who want to venerate her.  Most often, these are the homes of people who provide special help in maintaining the hatajos, such the family of Amador Ballumbrosio and of Margarita Córdova.  The families so honored will offer flowers to the image of the Virgin, and refreshments to those who form part of the procession (especially to those who are carrying the image).

The celebrations end when the procession returns to the church were the image is housed.  The hatajos disband until the following year, and the town returns to its more normal life.

 NOTE:  I am grateful to Edith Maldonado Carillo of the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel de Carboni de El Carmen, Peru and to Carlos O. López-Schmidt of los Cimarrones del Perú for the information they provided me.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about the Son de los Diablos and an event in Zaña, Peru.

"Toro Mata," an Afro-Peruvian classic

Toro Mata is one of those performance numbers that nearly disappeared forever from the world, but was saved from oblivion just in time.  And I am so glad.

It has great rhythm, tells a great story, has really interesting costumes and the story of its background is so intimately tied to Afro-Peruvian history that you realize it is a treasure.

Now, where do I start?

Caitro Soto, recently deceased, was a leading figure in reviving Afro-Peruvian music and dance, and bringing it to a wider public.  He was able to do so in part because his grandmother and great-grandmother taught him many of the old, old songs when he was a boy.  And he was a boy who loved to sing, loved to play the cajón, and was proud of his culture.


Here, Caitro Soto sings Toro Mata, not long before he passed away.

Toro Mata is one of the music and dance selections that he learned from his grandmother and great-grandmother.  The great-grandmother in particular was only one generation away from the days of slavery, and knew many of the old songs dating from that time.

Toro Mata tells the story of two friends, both Afro-Peruvians at the time of slavery, who belonged to a man who raised bulls for bull-fights.  One of the friends had been drinking, and decided in his slightly inebriated state, that he´d like to try his hand at bull-fighting.

 
Here is a version of Toro Mata by Susana Baca.  There is a short commercial before she starts...SORRY!

The other people present agreed to this and gave him a bull, but his friend urged him to be cautious.

When he tried to fight the bull, the bull went after his black skin and not the red bull-fighter´s cape.  He couldn´t get away from the bull.  His friend tried to get him to stop, but it was no use.

We don´t hear the final outcome, but after all, the song´s title is Toro Mata, which means "the bull kills."  I think it´s fair to assume that this is what happened to him.

 
Gabriel Alegría´s interpretation of Toro Mata, 2009...all instrumental.  (He´s a jazz musician.)

The costumes for the dance, and the steps and movements in the first part of the dance, are a caricature of the minuet.   The Spanish slave-holders, at the time the song was created, loved the minuet, and Toro Mata not only tells the sad story of the would-be bull-fighter, but also makes fun of those slave holders.  This was one way that Afro-Peruvians found the courage to deal with their harsh lot...a resilient people.

The rhythm of Toro Mata is called the lando.  It´s close to what, when I was growing up in New Orleans, was referred to as "bump and grind" music.  It´s very compelling.  Great stuff to dance to.

Eva Allyón´s Toro Mata, performed a year ago.

We have one version of Toro Mata in our documentary, A Zest for Life, and also on our CD, Afro-Peruvian Rhythms.  But it is such an evocative and popular number that as we´ve seen above, many famous artists have their own version.

A couple of comments I´d like to make about these several artists and their versions of Toro Mata:  the one person among these that seems genuinely interested in pointing to this song as part of Afro-Peruvian history and the Afro-Peruvian tradition is Caitro Soto.  In addition, none of the versions I have here show the dance, which in my opinion is a shame.  (The version in our documentary includes the dance as well as the song.)

Want a free download of our version of the music?  Go to www.AZestforLifeCD.com.

And to see the dance as well, as performed by our artists, you have to wait until October when we release the DVD.  Again, SORRY!

OUR NEXT POST will be about the Hatajo de Negritos in Peru.