Global Beat Of The Boroughs: Dominican Republic

05/18/2004 08:40AM

New York City, USA - A festival of Dominican music will take place on Saturday, May 22, in New York City. The event is presented by The Center for Traditional Music and Dance in association with Alianza Dominicana. The event will also celebrate  release of Quisqueya en el Hudson: Dominican Music in New York, the new CD on Smithsonian Folkways

The general concert: takes place at 8p.m. at the  Peter Norton Symphony Space, Broadway at 95th Street, New York City. Tickets: (212) 864-5400 or visit www.symphonyspace.org.

Featured artists:

Luis Dias is a major innovator of bachata music and a pioneer in the fusion of Dominican folk traditions. A composer, guitarist, singer and bandleader, Dias has brought Dominican music to worldwide audiences.

Coco Merensón is a popular merengue/son orchestra based in the Bronx. They  specialize in a fusion of Dominican music from the Villa Mella region where Cuban son inspired its own fast paced Dominican variant.

Conjunto Folklórico of Alianza Dominicana is the youth music and dance ensemble of the cultural program of Alianza Dominicana, the largest Dominican social service organization in New York. Under the direction of Leonardo Iván Dominguez, this Conjunto performs and teaches folk and social dance, carnival dance and music, ring games and other expressive traditions of the Dominican Republic.

The Conjunto will also present a participatory Kids Program at 1p.m. with workshops in palos drumming and merengue dance and a performance of highlights from the Dominican carnival traditions such as the diablos cahuellos masquerade and processional gagá music and dance.

Dońa Chicha: one of the most accomplished singers of the "salves" folk Catholic tradition. For generations, her family has been performing the rites and music associated with San Miguel (St. Michael), the celebration of the Virgen de la Altagracia, Patronales del Espiritu Santo (the celebrations of the Holy Spirit), and Velaciones, which are community gatherings for funerals.

Nero Olivares: singer and guitarist from San Francisco de Macoris in the northern part of the Dominican Republic. In New York, he makes his home in Inwood, where he has formed his own son quartet that appears on the Quisqueya en el Hudson CD.

Global Beat of the Boroughs is a series of concerts, CDs and family programs celebrating world music and dance traditions emanating from the diverse immigrant communities of New York's five boroughs. Both the concerts and the CDs, on
Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, feature highly regarded cultural ambassadors of music and dance from West Africa, Asia, South America and the Caribbean.

[Photos: 1 - Luis Dias. 2 - Coco Merensón. 3 - Dońa Chicha].

World Music Central
http://www.worldmusiccentral.org/article.php/20040518084013405