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July 04, 2005
Red Hot Rhythm
As luck would have it, my boss Cristina decided to give me her tickets to a CD Release and indigenous music performance to which Pachamama was specially invited. It was the first CD produced in a music workshop started a year ago to promote the music of the Tsáchila nation in the broader culture, both nationally and internationally. The hope is that greater cultural recognition will bring indigenous nations greater cultural acceptance and will lead to a less difficult process of promoting their agendas in politics and preserving their territories and cultures.
I was a bit surprised by how many Gringos there were in the audience, especially because the event was not advertised. It took place in La Casa de la Cultura (The Cultural House of Ecuador), in a beautiful and modern-looking theater. The Tsáchila are from the area surrounding the city of Santo Domingo de los Colorados, which is located halfway between Quito and the coast. Incredibly, the music reflected both cultures, centrally utilizing a marimba, which is associated with coastal culture, and flutes traditionally associated with indigenous Andean music. And there were nature sounds in the background to really send home the point that their worldview involves an inherent connection with their natural surroundings. The band was comprised of both men and women, although men played the more central instruments and had the lead vocals. For each song, there was also a performance demonstrating different cultural rites and rituals, the most fascinating of which was the transformation from boyhood to manhood. Tsáchila men have bright red hair that is hard from gel. However, boys do not, and in the performance, an adult male ground up achiote seeds (used for color in cooking across Ecuador and also for the hair color of these men), which naturally created a red gel. He put it in the boy’s hair, a girl painted his body and neck and facein stripes with a natural black die, and then the man demonstrated to the boy how to use a spear. Other dances were quite exciting and active, and women and men shared the spotlight for these. Everybody wore beautifully striped fabric as skirts or shorts, and the men wore nothing on the upper half of their bodies, which were painted with these same black lines.
After the concert, the Tsáchila who had performed gathered with the crowd for drinks and conversation. We drank different types of chicha, an indigenous-made alcohol that can be processed from a variety of plants. At the event, I tried sugar-cane and heart-of-palm chicha. I talked with one younger man about the music and how he got into it. He said that he only started playing a few years ago but really enjoys himself and thanks the workshop for all the support it’s given to promote their music. Then, all of a sudden, a spontaneous chant started among member of the audience and the performers, in both Spanish and Tsáchila, accompanied by some louder flutes. It was quite a beautiful moment of pure emotion created by the music, and I really thank Cristina for giving me the opportunity to attend the event.
Here's a photo of and story on the concert.
Posted by Lee Gilman at July 4, 2005 03:47 PM
