Afro-Peruvian music, or Música negra, is a type of
Latin American music first developed in Peru by enslaved black people from West Africa, where it is known as ''música criolla''. The genre is a mix of
West African
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations geoscheme for Africa#Western Africa, United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, ...
and
Spanish music
In Spain, music has a long history. It has played an important role in the development of Western music, and has greatly influenced Latin American music. Spanish music is often associated with traditional styles such as flamenco and classical ...
.
About
Música Criolla includes flamenco-influenced guitar sounds, as well as percussion instruments, including
cajon,
cajita, cowbell and
quijada
The quijada, charrasca, or jawbone (in English), is an idiophone percussion instrument made from the jawbone of a donkey, horse or mule cattle, producing a powerful buzzing sound.
The jawbone is cleaned of tissue and dried to make the teeth loo ...
.
History
Much of the original music has been lost, but in the 1950s a revival was staged by
José Durand, a white Peruvian criollo who was a folklore professor, and Porfirio Vásquez. Durand founded the Pancho Fierro Dance Company. Drawing upon elderly members of the community for memories of musical traditions, Durand collaborated with Vásquez to revive various songs and dances to create the repertoire for the group. One of the best known is his revival of the carnival dance “El Son de los Diablos.” In colonial times, this dance was featured in parades with a fleet of austere, pure angels leading the way, followed by the mischievous devils. In the revival of the dance, the angels were eliminated, and the crowds were entertained by rambunctious devils and their leader “el diablo mayor.” The dance featured energetic
zapateo
Zapateo ( en, shoe tapping) is a dance form rooted in the Spanish flamenco and before that, in the ancient cultural influences imported in to Europe by the Gypsies.
Zapateo, which later produced the more famous Malambos dance, arrived in South Am ...
tap-dancing. The group performed for about two years, including a concert for Peruvian composer
Chabuca Granda
María Isabel Granda Larco (3 September 1920 – 8 March 1983), better known as Chabuca Granda, was a Peruvian singer and composer. She created and interpreted a vast number of Criollo waltzes with Afro-Peruvian rhythms.
Granda's "La flor de la ...
and a tour through Chile.
Actually, poet Nicomendes Santa Cruz and Victoria Santa Cruz (siblings) both created Cumanana (1957) an Afroperuvian ensemble that highlighted the rich West and Central African call and response poetry, music / dance traditions that were a staple of Peruvian culture and are essentially valued to this day.
One long lasting Afro-Peruvian dance company was
Perú Negro
Perú Negro is an Afro-Peruvian musical ensemble founded in 1969 to celebrate and preserve Peru's black culture and ''música criolla''. Ronaldo Campos de la Colina founded the Lima-based group with 12 family members. The group has been appointed ...
, which, incorporated more modern use of percussion combined with criollo music. Perú Negro is also known for their use of
blackface, celebrating the mixture of African and Spanish heritage. Two of their best known pieces are “Dance of the Laundresses,” which depicts historical hard working yet beautiful black women in Peru, and the “Canto a Elegua,” which shows tribal religion before the Spanish influence.
Lima, Cañete and Chincha are areas where there are many performers of this music, which is played in night clubs, dinner dances and festivals.
Notable artists and groups through the years have included Victoria and Nicomedes Santa Cruz, Ronaldo Campos, Caitro Soto,
Lucila Campos
Clara Lucila Campos Marcial (16 August 1938 – 12 December 2016 in Lima
Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, ...
,
Pepe Vásquez
Pepe is a pet form of the Spanish name José (Josep). It is also a surname.
*
People
Mononyms
*Pepe (footballer, born 1935), real name José Macia, Brazilian footballer
*Pepe (footballer, born 1983), real name Képler Laveran Lima Ferreira, ...
, and
Susana Baca Susana may refer to:
* Sustainable Sanitation Alliance (SuSanA), a network of organizations active in the field of sustainable sanitation
* Susana (given name), a feminine given name (including a list of people with the name)
* ''Susana'' (magazine) ...
.
One of the best known songs in the genre is Peru's "
Toro Mata
"Toro Mata" ("The Bull Kills" in Spanish) is one of the most famous Afro-Peruvian songs in Peru, which has been recorded and developed by many different musical artists throughout its history. "Toro Mata" is a type of Peruvian music initially devel ...
".
However, regardless of the reconstructed dances, there are manifestations that did last in time, such as the "Dance of Negritos and Pallitas" practiced at Christmas parties in the towns of the central-south coast of Peru.
See also
*
Afro-Peruvian
Black Peruvians or Afro-Peruvians are Peruvian of mostly or partially African descent. They mostly descend from enslaved Africans brought to Peru after the arrival of the conquistadors.
Early history
The first Africans arrived with the conquer ...
*
Cañete
*
Music of Peru
The Music of Peru is an amalgamation of sounds and styles drawing on Peru's Andean, Spanish, and African roots. Andean influences can perhaps be best heard in wind instruments and the shape of the melodies, while the African influences can be h ...
*
Música criolla
Música criolla or ''canción criolla'' is a varied genre of Peruvian music that exhibits influences from European, African and Andean music. The genre's name reflects the coastal culture of Peru, and the local evolution of the term '' criollo ...
References
*{{cite book, author=Heidi Carolyn Feldman, title=Black Rhythms of Peru: Reviving African Musical Heritage in the Black Pacific, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IUeT3eoU7VUC, year=2006, publisher=Wesleyan University Press, isbn=978-0-8195-6814-4
External links
MaríaLamento, Peruvian Music
Peru Profundo Dance Company- folkloric dance company in Chicago that performs Afro-Peruvian and Andean dances.
Peruvian Dance Company- San Francisco Bay Area's most prominent Peruvian dance troupe (Dancers Group).
DE CAJóN Project- Seattle-based community arts organization dedicated to educating populations about the cultural contributions of Peruvians of African descent.
Afro-Peruvian
Afro–Latin American culture
Peruvian music