Tag: Laura Dean

Obini Bata, (Yellow House Salon #11)

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IMG_0573Obini Bata is a government sponsored bata drumming and performance group. In fact, this is the first group of women in Cuba to play Yoruba drums professionally, a role typically reserved for men. Bata drums are hourglass-shaped drums played in a group of three.

Yoruban music has African origins, Nigerian, to be exact.  This music and dance were originally used in religious ceremonies. The leader of Obini Bata, a former principal ballarina, tells us the group strives to portray Yoruban music and dance as a cultural art without religious implications.

The group has performed all over Cuba and Nigeria. The performers rehearse 4-8  hours every day in their bare bones studio in a crumbling building in the Central District of Havana. Our visit includes a powerful private performance of singing, drumming, and dancing. The women also conduct a workshop for my  group where we try our hand at Yoruba drumming (much harder than it looks), sing a  Yoruban song, and dance in long white skirts.

For more about my adventures in Cuba, please visit week #9 and week#10 of the Yellow House Salon.

 performance and documentary  footage of Obini Bata  (en español)

Yellow House Salon #9, Rhythms of Cuba

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Rumba, almendrones (vintage cars from the 50’s now used as colectivos and taxis), salsa, cajons(a type of drum used in Cuban music), congas, magnificent restored mansions, crumbling  estates, high rise government housing, sidewalk cafes, vegetable venders, bicycles, car honks, clave rhythms, dancers, drummers, bungavilla, more car honks,  Santeria (an Afro Caribbean religion) , arroz y frijoles (rice and beans), strong  coffee, Cuban ballads, tobacco fields, bananas, pineapple, pigs, oxen, chickens, and stray dogs, and many, many, many gracious and beautiful people. My group of 11 intreped travelers settled into this beautiful and complicated tangle for 12  packed days on a recent trip to Cuba!  I joined Andre Mallinger and Laura Tyson of True Nature Journeys for a transformational, small group adventure trip  focusing on the music, dance, and culture.

On the first part of our trip, we stay in the cultural heart of Havana, the Vedado district, known for its hotels, theaters, and music venues. Here colonial mansions mingle with high rise 50’s style buildings. Our hosts for this portion of the trip are Cuban families who operate casa particulars, private rooms in large apartments.

While in Havana, we attend music classes with both highly trained professional musicians and dancers and excellent street style players. Local scholars enlighten us with discussions about music, culture, and Cuban history. Stand out experiences include neighborhood gatherings such as El Gran Palenque, a Rumba fiesta where multi generations mingle together for music and dancing  in a lively party scene.

In addition to our time in the city, we travel out of Havana for a look at rural life in Valle Viñales, where we stay in lovely, family-owned casitas. Here, life moves at a slower pace. We stroll through fields and tobacco farms, and enjoy beautiful rock formations (migotes) which rise like giants (as high as 1,000 feet), out of the floor of the green valley.

This weeks recording is a video of a group heard on our first night in Havana, the group was playing at UNEAC (a beautiful courtyard  venue  dedicated to writers, artists, and musicians in the Vendado district.)

The next few posts will go into deep depth about Rumba, Cuban Canciones, and Cuban culture.

 

 

Like a Sunflower

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Mammoth Sunflower in Laura's Garden

Mammoth Sunflower in Laura’s Garden.         Photo by Joe Sweeney

After a glorious Seattle summer full of hiking, swimming, time with friends and family, gardening, weekend trips, a week long music residency in Fife, a speaking engagement in Eastern Washington, home improvements and relaxing, it’s time to settle into the rhythm of the fall.

The fall rhythm includes balancing family and home responsibilities with a full teaching schedule (32 private students), daily practice, booking concerts and residencies for 2015 and beyond, and mapping out goals for the year. I’ve got performance trips to Mexico and Alaska on the books for 2015, and am working on completing my second recording, Women With a Past, before the end of this year.

Like this glorious, gigantic sunflower in my front garden, which started from a tiny seed, I’m planning on aiming high and encouraging my students to do the same!

 

Visit Joe Sweeney at: http://sweeneyfit.wordpress.com