My Peru diary, day 2

(Diary entry, Dec. 6, 2014)

I arrived in Lima, Peru, on Dec. 4 on a trip to film and investigate themes related to Afro-Peruvian music and dance.  Some of what I film will serve to add to the documentary I've already produced, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.

Others will form the basis for a trailer to be used to solicit funding for a new project I have in mind.

Here are some of the photos I took in Lima, in my first 48 hours in the city.

Lima, with over 7 million inhabitants, is home to nearly one third of the entire population of Peru.  The city, or rather, the metropolitan area of Lima, grew to engulf many surrounding towns and cities which are now simply districts in the larger urban area.

The street in front of the building where I'm staying.

I have rented a room in an apartment in Miraflores, one of the nicer districts that borders the Pacific Ocean.

In my first 48 hours in Lima, I consulted with a sound tech and after discussing with him, chosen two locations where we'll shoot.  I then went to the local city hall (Municipalidad de Miraflores) to ask permission re one of the locations.  Then I rushed off to central Lima to meet with Lalo Izquierdo, one of the three people we'll be filming.  Meeting him involved a memorable trip on a local bus.

Proof that I was there:  me, with the building's guard dog.

I rushed back from the meeting with Lalo to meet with Nachi Bustamante, wife of Cotito;  Cotito is another one of the three principal people that we'll be filming.  I went out with her to have some lunch (at 6:30pm...hadn't had time before that).  After eating, she showed me around and she told me about a show I should go to featuring a group of younger people celebrating the Afro-Peruvian experience (Colectiva Palenque).  It was a lively and fun event.

After these several meetings, I developed a plan.  Life, of course, intervened when I learned, among other things, that one of the locations I had chosen (the one for which I requested permission from city hall) wouldn't work because it was under construction!

My room in Lima is about 4 blocks from the shore of the Pacific.

One way or another, clearly, my time in Peru will be filled.  In addition to several shootings and interviews in Lima, I will go to el Carmen, to San Luis de Cañete, to Zaña, possibly to Guayabo.  I'll be filming in almost all of these.

This means I won't be able to make it to Manchu Pichu.  There´s just not enough time.

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(For more photos, go to the Facebook pages for Palomino Productions, A Zest for Life Afro-Peruvian, and Eve A. Ma.)

I am in Peru for reasons related to our documentary, A Zest for Life, and other work about Afro-Peruvians.

Lalo Izquierdo in Peru: an interview & a cajón demonstration

Yesterday (Dec 8, 2014) we filmed an interview and cajón demonstration with Lalo Izquierdo in the patio of the apartment where I'm staying in Lima, Peru. "We" means me and a camera operator/all around assistant. He will remain nameless because the quality of his work was kind of mediocre.

On the whole, things went fine and I think I know how to fix a few of the little problems that cropped up with the image. But life is full of little bumps in the road, right?

Lalo Izquierdo (right) and me.  A bit of a contrast, right?

Our first bump came when Lalo couldn't find the apartment. Lima is a big city, and when I say I'm staying in Lima, I really mean I'm staying in greater Lima, in the Lima metropolitan area.

My particular section is called Miraflores, and the apartment is on a short street named la Libertad. I called Lalo on his cell phone 15 minutes after he was due, and found out he was wandering around, looking for the street. I passed the phone over to the camera operator who explained to Lalo how to get here. Twenty minutes later, I got a call from Lalo...he was still wandering around.  Lost.

The upper half of "my" short street, la Libertad.

In the end I had to send the camera operator out to find him and guide him over here.

Next problem: I was short one camera battery. (We were filming with three of my cameras, using two different formats). That was solved when we found an electrical outlet close enough for one of the cameras to use.

Starting to set up.

After overcoming several other little problems, we obtained a fairly decent image and good sound for two separate interviews (one for each format) and two separate cajón demonstrations, plus shots of Lalo and me walking down the street. 

What we missed, which is important, is a second interview to be conducted in Sucro with an elderly woman (wife of a deceased Afro-Peruvian percussionist great, Ronaldo Campos). With the problems of Lalo getting lost and the time it took to film everything in Miraflores, she had gone out.

Lalo on set with the cajón.

We'll catch her another day.

And the problems with the camera operator? He doesn't know how to zoom, and the only idea he has of filming an interview is to point the camera towards the people to be filmed and punch the "record" button.

SIGH!

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We are working on making a few revisions in our documentary film, A Zest for Life: Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, and shooting a trailer for a new, more comprehensive work about Afro-Peruvian music and the Afro-Peruvian community.

P.S.  Thanks to María del Carment López Quispe for help with some of my makeup.

The "Toros de fuego" and "Torito Pinto" (part 1)

It’s a dark night, around 10pm.  The streets are full of people and everyone seems excited.  The crowd is mostly adults.  Some bars have set up tables outside, and many people are drinking – tinto de verano (red wine mixed with soda), beer, what have you.

There is a noise in the distance, and a faint glow.  Someone calls out, “it’s coming, it’s coming.”

Pretty soon, the noise becomes a surge of shouts, mingled with laughter and the sound of fireworks.

Then you see it:  a small, black bull shooting fireworks in all directions, running down the street then turning and heading towards the crowd, then running down the street again.  Most people clear the way in front of it, but a few hardy souls, mostly young men, stand their ground or run along with it, trying to get closer, trying to touch it without letting the fireworks touch them.

There are five bulls in this "Toros de fuego" in Arroyomolinos in Leon (in Spain).  It honors the Virgin de los Remedios.

This is a great example, accompanied by a musical track.

As the bull gets closer, you see it has only two legs, legs that look suspiciously like they belong to a human being.  And indeed, that is what it is:  the metal frame of a bull, with all kinds of fireworks attached to it, held up by a man running down the street.

This is the “toro de fuego,” the “fire-bull,” that you find in both Spain and Latin America to help celebrate certain saint’s days and other special occasions.

This one takes place in Igualala (Spain) in a central plaza, so brightly lit you hardly know it’s night.

Museo afropeurnao de Zaña, Peru

The final cultural organization I want to write about is the Museo afroperuano de Zaña.  Located in the city of Zaña, in the northern coastal region, it has been extremely active over the past several years in activities intended to preserve and publicize Afro-Peruvian culture, including the music and dance.

Founded in 2005, their first major effort was the reconstruction of one of the percussion instruments developed by Afro-Peruvians, a drum called the tambour de botija.  "Botija" means "treasure."  It´s a bit unclear to me if they mean these instruments are treasures, or if it refers to one specific kind of drum.

In any event, they made a video in which people, mostly youth, are playing various of the drums and other percussion instruments of the Afro-Peruvian community, plus there is some dance, including a long section of the Dance of the Devils (son de los diablos).  It´s pretty interesting.

More recently, the museum (which is also very much of a cultural organization) began promoting a come-back of the percussion instrument called the "checo," made out of a gourd which has the same name.  This included planting the vine on which the checo grows, turning the gourds into percussion instruments, giving classes in its use, making a video about it, and petitioning the Peruvian government to declare the checo a national, cultual treasure.

And even more recently, they have published a book about Afro-Peruvian musical instruments.  This organization is definitely doing a lot to maintain Afro-Peruvian culture, and rescue some elements that were about to disappear.

OUR NEXT POST will announce that for future information about Afro-Peruvian culture, and other aspects of cultural diversity on which we focus, you should go to the blog Palomino Productions.

Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Comboni de el Carmen, Peru

The Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Comboni de el Carmen, Peru (SEE ALSO this LINK) is located, not surprisingly, in the largely Afro-Peruvian town of El Carmen, in the southern coastal region of Peru.  Its focus is on maintaining the traditional Afro-Peruvian celebration of Christmas and the related celebration of the Virgin of Carmen, both of which include the groups of dancers referred to as the hatajos de negritos.

In addition, the center wants to promote pride of self in the Afro-Peruvian community, and support the educational and cultural needs of Afro-Peruvians.

The center offers music and dance classes.  Here, kids are learning some zapateo steps.  So this is how you do it!


And here´s a video of some more of their activities.  This was to celebrate Book Day, to promote reading, and includes children´s performing.  Cute.



The traditional Afro-Peruvian Christmas celebration, and the celebration of the presumed appearance of the Virgin of Carmen on Dec. 28, along with the participation in both of the celebrations of the hatajo de negritos, are among the most important expressions of Afro-Peruvian identity.  Firmly grounded in the Catholic religion, these celebrations are centuries old.

As our documentary film, A Zest for Life, explains, the hatajo de negritos were on the verge of disappearing.  A recently deceased master of the dances performed by the hatajos, Amador Ballumbrosio, deserves credit for being a major force in assuring their continued preservation.  His family, along with Margarita Cordoba and others such as Edith Maldonado and Carlos O. López Schmidt, have undertaken to continue his work in the present day.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña

National Afro-Peruvian Museum in Lima, Peru

After decades and decades of neglect, the government of Peru finally decided to recognize and salute the African descendants that form perhaps as high as 10 percent of its population.  An important element in this recognition was the creation of the Museo Nacional Afroperuanos (National Museum of the Afro-Peruvian Peoples) in the capitol city of Lima.

The museum was given a fine building -- a beautiful late 18th century edifice -- as well as a budget and a director.  Under the director, the museum built up a collection of artifacts and documents related to the history of Afro-Peruvians including the two and a half centuries in which they were enslaved in Peru.

The museum also engaged in a great deal of outreach, including classes in dance, cajón, history and culture.  These classes, some directed towards adults and some intended for children, were for the most part free.  They boasted good instructors, including Lalo Izquierdo, the star of our documentary A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz, who taught many of the cajón classes.

Then, a few months ago, something happened.  I am not very conversant with Peruvian politics, so I can´t really tell you what, but I can tell you the effects.

The museum´s director, Dr. Augusto Lavala, was terminated.  No new director was hired.  The budget was either cut drastically or completely eliminated.  All the classes had to be cancelled.  And then, the government turned the administration of the museum´s building over to a government organ unrelated to Afro-Peruvian culture (the Oficina de Participación, Proyección y Enlace con el Ciudadano).

I am very, very sad to see this happen.  In any event, if you want to see the museum´s still extant web site, which gives a virtual tour of the building it no longer occupies, go HERE.  If you want to see photos from the former classes, and other evidence of what the museum used to do, go to its Facebook page, which is HERE.

One happy note:  Lalo Izquierdo and others are continuing to give classes in cajón, Afro-Peruvian dance, and more in the town of San Luis de Cañete, to help maintain the tradition.

OUR NEXT POST will be about the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel de Carboni of the predominantly Afro-Peruvian town of el Carmen, Peru.

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More about "A Zest for Life," documentary about Afro-Peruvians

I've been thinking a lot recently about what I would say if someone asked me, "Why in the world would I be interested in watching a video about Afro-Peruvians?"

Well, because they are resourceful, resilient, and have a great sense of humor.  These are skills all of us could use.

Plus the music and dance are really cool:  great rhythms, music and dances that you've almost surely never seen before, and unique percussion instruments.  Then, there's the connection with the larger African diaspora, the parallels with African Americans, and the fact that this is a cross-over, a bridge if you will, between the Latino and the African American communities.

Some of those percussion instruments (and Lalo Izquierdo).

In other words, why WOULDN'T you be interested in watching a video about Afro-Peruvians.

To the best of my knowledge, my documentary film is the ONLY video about Afro-Peruvians to be found for an English-speaking public.  There are some good ones in Spanish, but they are not accessible to people who don't speak that language, which is one of the reasons I made mine.

So I hope you will forgive me for running on a bit about my documentary, A Zest for Life:  Afro-Peruvian Rhythms, a Source of Latin Jazz.  

On the DVD for Home Use, which is already available, we have the A Zest for Life documentary itself, plus a slide show.

For the Educational version (which will be out in late November or early December), we've added five Extras.  Three of these are interviews with Lalo Izquierdo, and he´s talking about Afro-Peruvian history.,  Lalo is a very charismatic man, and these interviews are great stuff!  Here is one of them.



One of the other two Extras is about the hatajo de negritos in el Carmen, Peru and the other, about Afro-Peruvian percussion instruments, especially the checo and the angara.  Here´s the one about the hatajo de negritos.


Due to time limitations on documentaries produced for television airing, in A Zest for Life I was only able to briefly mention the son de los diablos.  But just as the Centro Cultural Afroperuano San Daniel Carboni de el Carmen, Peru is doing wonderful work in keeping alive the tradition of the hatajos de negritos (SEE HERE), the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña is helping keep alive the son de los diablos, as THIS VIDEO makes clear.

And that´s it, about A Zest for Life.

OUR NEXT POST will be about Peru´s national museum dedicated to Afro-Peruvian history and culture.