Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
homes, clubs, fiestas and on the street, with harps, violins, drums, panpipes and many other
instruments.
Various
The Rough Guide to the Music of the Andes
(World Music Network, UK). A vig-
orous and broad range of Andean music from contemporary urban-based groups - includes
key 1960s musicians Los K'jarkas and Ernesto Cavou, and their 1980s European travel-
ling brethren Awatiñas and Rumillajta; soloists Emma Junaro, Jenny Cardenas and Susana
Baca; seminal Chilean group Inti Illimani and singer Victor Jara. Plus saxes and clarinets
from Picaflor de los Andes.
Canto nuevo
The sound of Andean panpipes and quenas was also at the heart of early Chilean
nueva can-
ción
through groups like Los Curacas, Inti Illimani and Quilapayún. Influenced by Los Jairas
and the work of Chilean folklorist and composer Violeta Parra, they adopted Andean instru-
ments and music in the 1960s and 1970s, adding extra Latin percussion, guitars and other in-
struments. The move neatly combined music and politics: the Andean roots asserting collect-
ive values and an unmistakable ancient indigenous identity. Their styles fed back to Bolivia,
where they were adapted into an even richer blend of harmonized singing, with alternating
solo and chorus patterns. In Bolivia,
nueva canción
was subsequently reinterpreted as
canto
nuevo
: top exponents include folk singer
Emma Junaro
and poetess and singer
Matilde
Casazola
.
Modern music and dance
Salsa
,
cumbia
,
merengue
and
reggaeton
have come down from Central America and the
Caribbean to enjoy great popularity among young Bolivians, who are now making tropical
hybrids with their own dance genres. Likewise,
samba
has come over from Brazil.
Hip hop
is increasingly popular too, and a vibrant scene has sprung up in El Alto, with groups like
Ukamau y Ké, Wayna Rap and Nueva Flavah rapping in a mix of Aymara, Spanish, Qucheua
and English.
Many older dances still remain popular including the
huayño
which involves swirling part-
ners and can be done processionally, like European country dances. Other dances include
ta-
quiraris
,
tarqueada
,
sayas
,
chovena
and
machetero
, all of which come from ancient rituals
influenced by Spanish tradition. Spanish and European folk and ballroom traditions spawned
popular couple dances that still endure, including the
waltz
and the
cueca
, which imitates the
amorous adventures and conquest of a farmyard cock and hen, with complex choreographic
figures and footwork.
Jan Fairley
With thanks to Gilka Wara Céspedes in Bolivia and Henry Stobart in the UK
