My Peru diary, day 10

Peru diary (Dec. 14, 2014)

Am now in the little town of el Carmen, in the southern coastal area of Peru.  To get here, you take a bus to Chincha and then a taxi from Chincha to el Carmen.  It´s important to take a secure taxi...many of the taxis here are not secure, so you need to get the name of a taxi before you start your trip.

The town is abut 5 blocks long by 7 blocks deep.  Many houses have murals painted on them.

El Carmen is a predominantly Afro-Peruvian town in which they carry on a centuries old tradition called the "hatajo de negritos."  The "hatajos" are groups of dancers - all men except for one which is exclusively women - who perform special dances on the occasion of Christmas, the celebration of the Virgin of Carmen, and 12th Night.  The dances are always done in front of an image or altar to baby Jesus.  Often, the Virgin of Carmen is also on the altar.

I am staying in a beautiful "hotel" - a big, airy house with 2 acres of grounds planted in avocado trees, fruit, bananas, etc..  The proprietor, Edith Maldonado,  is a woman instrumental in seeing to the production of the first documentary about the "hatajos." This was back in 2007.  A newer, excellent, one was filmed in 2012 by the Peruvian Ministry of Culture.

Edith Maldonado on the veranda of the main building of the "hotel."

Since there are already two documentaries about the "hatajos," I filmed only a tiny portion of one of the rehearsals.  It is really wonderful stuff, and a fascinating story.

People here are loath to sign documents, an important consideration for me since I need release forms signed.  And drama, drama!  One of the places I was to film cancelled their rehearsal in part because, after I set up my camera, I explained I´d need a signature.  But I got plenty enough footage in the other place to use for what I´m working on.

Inside the house of Margarita Cordoba, where I filmed.  The altar to baby Jesus is in the background.

Another small drama:  I was told the place where I´m staying could accept payment by debit-credit card.  On arriving, I discovered this is not correct.  El Carmen does not have a bank, so later today, I'll go in a tiny, overcrowded van into Chincha to search for an ATM machine and hope a) it will give me the money I need and b) it won´t eat my card.

Tomorrow afternoon, I leave el Carmen to go to San Luis de Canñte (which I just discovered is a different place from Canñte...good that I found out because I was planning to go to Cañete) where I´ll hopefully hook up with Lalo Izquierdo, visit his cultural association, and film him giving children a lesson in cajon.

The church is much grander than any of the houses in town.

Then, back to Lima.
______________________

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

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

My Peru diary, day 3

(diary entry, Dec. 7, 2014)

Last night, I went to a performance at The Jazz Zone to see a group called Colectiva Palenque.  Most of the people in the group look to be in their 30s, and they perform Afro-Peruvian fusion.  It was a lot of fun.  I've forgotten all their names (the show was to start at 11pm but didn't really get underway until around midnight and I was kind of sleepy), but the group's leader and his cousin were fantastic dancers of zapateo (very elaborate and dramatic Afro-Peruvian footwork) and were also very good on the cajón and quijada de burro.  In addition, they were personable and charismatic.

The same was true of the other members of the group.   Those who really stood out from my point of view, other than the two mentioned above, were the vocalist and the guy who spent 15 minutes solo making strange noises into the microphone, delivered in ever-changing rhythms.  You had to have been there....

There was also a guy who did rap in Spanish (of course in Spanish) who was plenty good enough, the guitarists were fine, but again, the two who danced zapateo and played the cajón, etc., were the stars of the show.

The Jazz Zone is located in this alley in Miraflores, one of the nicest parts of Lima

There was song, there was poetry, there was LOTS of rhythm, there was even a dance of the Son de los Diablos.

By the end, many in the audience (yours truly included) were on their feet, dancing.  A good time was had by all.

In the meantime, I've made further, elaborate arrangements about filming and have been meeting with people I should meet with.  Tomorrow at mid-day, I'll interview Luis Rocca, the director of the Museo Afroperuano de Zaña (Zaña is a small city in the northern coastal region) and on Monday, will film an interview with Lalo Izquierdo plus one with the widow of a former Afro-Peruvian percussionist great, Ronaldo Campos.

Juan Medrano Cotito (right) with wife Nachi (Luisa) Bustamante.

Then, there's always the bus experience, the food (including some really great ceviche), and the problem cable (this has to do with Apple, Inc....which has now ditched its firewire cables and connections-bad, bad, bad Apple, Inc.).

Onwards, ever onwards.

_____________________

(For more photos, go to the Facebook page of 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.

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

Zapateo

One of the things that our documentary A Zest for Life illustrates is Afro-Peruvian zapateo footwork.  Here is an example of Caitro Soto (who you will remember from an earlier blog) doing zapateo along with Eusevio Sirio "Pititi."  Zapateo was formerly done only in dances like the "hatajo de negritos" and the "son de los diablos" -- things you can see and enjoy in A Zest for Life.



But currently, zapateo is also done for show, and when two dancers or Afro-Peruvians guys get together, kind of as a form of friendly competition.

In the largely Afro-Peruvian town of el Carmen, in southern coastal Peru, boys do zapateo in the town plaza for tourists (who I assume give them tips).  The people of that town are very poor, and I've noticed in some of the early photos and videos of these kids, some of them are barefooted but in later photos, they are all wearing pretty new looking shoes.  Tips can serve a very good purpose.

Boys in el Carment doing zapateo.  Copyrighted photo--don't try to download!

The photo of the boys above is copyrighted (and here used with permission).  It comes from Hugo R. Miller, aka Hugeaux Photography and can be found on YouTube in his "Hugeaux Photography, el Carment, Peru part 3 FINAL 'The beautiful people of  el Carmen-Chincha-Ica.  Peru" (LINK).

Lots of people in the predominantly Afro-Peruvian town of el Carmen, in southern, coastal Peru, learn zapateo, not just little boys looking for spending money.  And the reason is because this town is a center for the preservation and performance of the "hatajo de negritos," which is done for religious purposes--namely, the celebration of the birth of baby Jesus.

El Carmen the town is predominantly Catholic, and December 24 and 25 are very important holidays.  The "hatajo de negritos" is an integral part of the celebration, in which organized groups that have rehearsed together for months in advance dance for hours to honor Jesus.  In the past, it was only boys and men who were part of these dancing groups, but girls are now welcomed as well, at least in some of the groups. 

In A Zest for Life, we see zapateo of both kinds--as part of the religious celebration, and as a staged performance.  In the studio, Lalo Izquierdo and two performers from de Rompe y Raja (Gabriela Shiroma and Pedro Rosales) did a version, while the documentary also contains zapateo performed in el Carmen.  Here's what we videotaped in the studio:



You will notice that in the top video, the zapateo is done as a kind of friendly competition--"here´s what I can do, let´s see if you can top it."  In our studio, however, it was presented as a master (Lalo Izquierdo) teaching two very apt pupils.

OUR NEXT POST will be about Afro-Peruvian jazz, Latin jazz, and what´s in a name.