"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.