Stage of the Arts - II

PROYECTO PALO MONTE. AfroCuban Drums, Ritual & Cultures.  
Professor Moliner, Israel (Sociedad Antropologica de la Isla de Cuba) and Rodriguez, Jorge Luis (Stage Of The Arts, Inc.) An educational collaboration between non-governmental agencies: Sociedad Antropologica de la Isla de Cuba; Kairos Christian Center for the Arts and Liturgy of Matanzas, Cuba; AfroCuban Research and Cultural Center of Western New Mexico University and Stage Of The Arts, Inc.  P.O.Box 26688, Los Angeles, California 90026.

Workshops and Field Research in Matanzas, Cuba. Registration limited to 20 people.

From Sunday, January 3 to Saturday, January 9, 1999. Professor Israel Moliner Castaneda, Jorge L. Rodriguez.and Dr. Beatrice DeOca. Study of the Yoruba, Arara, Bantu and Carabali drums.

Introduction to the Yoruba/Nigeria drums. The Bata drums: gathering with Bata drum artisans and players as well as festivities and gathering with Bata ritual players. Study of other Yoruba drums including: the Bembe drums, the Iyessa, the Guiros or Agwebes.

Introduction to the ewe-fong or arara drums of Cuba. The Bantu Drums in Cuba. A visit to the house Congo Luanda in Jovellanos old town (afrocubaweb.com/CongoL.htm) . Visit to the house Ganga Longowa in Perico. Introduction to the carabali drums in Cuba: Conga drums and the Abakua sacred drums; visit to the temple Uriabon in Matanzas City and the Cabildo Santa Teresa. Gathering with the ritual group "Olokum".                                                                     
             

FEBRUARY 1999:

MUNANSO UNGUNDO (House of the Ceiba):The Palo Monte -Regla Bruja- Afro-Cuban syncretism. Rodriguez, Jorge Luis (Stage Of The Arts, Inc.) and De Oca, Beatrice M. (Western New Mexico University) American Association of Behavioral & Social Sciences. Box 27F, The University of Tampa, FL 33606-1490. Second Annual Meeting; February 2-4, 1999.

During 1997 and 1998 we studied Afro-Cuban ritual music and dances in Matanzas, Cuba. Also, we facilitated and managed the teaching of Afro-Cuban ritual music and dances in Los Angeles, California.  The learning came from Afro-Cuban folk masters and the students in California where 40 non-Cubans and non-practicioners of the Afro-Cuban religions.     

We focused on the Lucumi (Yoruba music and dances of the Regla de Ochá) and in the Congo (Bantú music and dances of the Regla de Palo Monte).  In the original Lucumi practices an individual will be initiated and receive an Oricha (Good) on his/her head; during the ritual ceremonies an initiated may be incorporating under trance the behavior of his Oricha (bajar el Santo) and show particular physical abilities and perform hard movements with total analgesia. The ritual dances are based on the "possession" of the practicioners by each different Oricha.

In the Palo Monte practices one medium will became the horse to be mounted by the mpungos (forces) guiding the visit of beings.  Those Congo entities will be carried on the shoulders of the medium, not received in the head like the Lucumi Orichas.

The Afro-Cuban syncretism relates the Lucumi Orichas to the Catholic Saints in what is knows today as Santería and the Santería will turn into the syncretism with the Congo Palo Monte, the Arará, the Iyessás and the Society Abakuá. For example: the Virgen de Regla of Christianity will be Yemayá in Lucumí, Madre de Agua in Congo, Ananú in Arará, Kedibé in Iyessá and Okande in Abakuá. - www.eckerd.edu/academics/bes/aabs


MARCH 1999:

THE DEATH OF THE LITTLE GIRL, CECILIA:The Palo Monte -Regla Bruja- struggle against racism and poverty.

Rodriguez, Jorge Luis (Stage Of The Arts, Inc.). Second  CRI  Conference on Cuban and Cuban-American Studies, Cuban Research Institute. Florida International University. Miami, Florida 33199. March 18-20, 1999.  

 The Bantú (people from Congo) represent the majority of African slaves coming into Cuba during the XVII and early XVIII century.   After the slave trade became clandestine, the Yoruba (people from Nigeria) became the primary group brought to Cuba as slaves.  The ³syncretism² of the Yoruba religion known as Regla de Ochá (cult of the Orishas) and the Catholic Church saints created a social compromise call Santería, which was ³accepted² by Christianity during the Republic and sponsored after 1959 as a folkloric and cultural value of the Cuban people.  But the pioneers from Bantú groups had no symbiosis with Christianity; these Paleros believe in a supreme God and Creator of the Universe but the Congo concept works with mpungos (intangible forces) that are not anthropomorphic like the orishas.  While the Yoruba Santería is "accepted" in Cuban society, the Brujería from the Congo sorcerers is still considered an evil practice. The City of Matanzas, Cuba, is the biggest center of Palo Monte religiosity.  On Sunday June 22,  1919 in the city of Matanzas, a 3 year old white girl, Cecilia  Dalcourt, was lost on the streets.  The press and the police believed that Cecilia has been kidnapped and sacrificed by the brujos.  Black practitioners of Palo were taken into jail.  Dr. Carnot, the City Mayor, was accused of working with the brujos and locals rioted in the usually quiet town. During a bloody night, the guards of the Castle of San Severino opened fire.  Eighty years later, the mystery of the Little Girl, Cecilia still remains.  In 1997 and 1998 we conducted field studies in Matanzas, Cuba, including 1920¹s newspapers, interviews with practitioners of Palo and witnesses from that episode.  Finally, the tomb of the Little Girl, Cecilia was opened and the remains studied by a forensic doctor.  A fetus was found.                 
lacc.fiu.edu/index.html  

APRIL 1999:

You are cordially invited to our  DESCARGA connection Friday, April 2, 1999. 7:30 pm opening of the art exhibition OLOKUM (voices from Matanzas) by the Cuban painter and poet Angel Antonio Moreno introducing the Batá drums of  Rogelio Mesa Ledo and the AfroCuban art of  Gema Varela R. A nigth of art, poetry and music at the historic Ramona Hall

4580 N. Figueroa Street, Los Angeles, California
R.S.V.P. (323) 276-3021 no-host bar & Cuban food
     
Jorge Luis Rodriguez   Producing Director
Ramona Hall Community Center             Stage Of The Arts, Inc.
City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks

ANGEL ANTONIO MORENO
Angel Antonio Moreno ( Matanzas, Cuba - 1947 ) licensed in journalism by the University of Havana is an artist, writer, and journalist. Moreno has to his credit seven personal art exhibitions: Lirica, Mixta, Mixta II, Mixta III, Poética and Paisangeles in Cuba, and one touring exhibit, Diez pinturas de Moreno ( Ten paintings by Moreno ) which form part of the tour of the group Theater - Dance of Cuba in Austria, 1995. He has participated in 12 collectives exhibitions, and he has been invited to exhibit in Cancun in the art gallery Movimiento Contemporáneo. His paintings have been acquired by collectors in France, Italy,U.S.A, Germany, Canada, Austria, Spain, Portugal, Venezuela, Mexico, Puerto Rico, and Cuba. He has been awarded in two occasions ( 1995 -1996) at the Salón of Visual Arts Roberto Diago and received the award from the Salón Nacional de Arte Religioso.

     Moreno has published the books of poetry  Reconociendo el Gesto y la Costumbre ( Acknowledge the Gesture and the Custom), and En Vísperas de Otoño( The last evening before Fall) Matanzas Editions, 1980 and 1996. Also the book of testimony Sueños y realidades del Guajiricantor ( Dreams and Reality of the Singing-peasant)  in collaboration with the American writer Margaret Randall      ( Century XXI Editors, Mexico 1979 ) and  Testimonios de la Ciénaga
( Testimonies of the Swamp) Editorial of Social Science of Havana, 1985; The Anthology of Stories: "La otra cama, la del Sueño" ( The other bed, the one of Dreams ), Los Teques Editors, Venezuela, 1995, among others.

     Moreno is the director of the cultural magazine Matanzas and a member of the United Artist and Writers of Cuba (U.N.E.A.C).

     The art critic Alberto Abreu Arcia said that "Angel Antonio Moreno is a unique case in the Cuban visuals arts scene, because of how his discourse is inserted, projected and interacts".

In Cuba:    Angel Antonio Moreno. Contreras No. 28003 - A. e/ Matanzas y Jovellanos. Matanzas, Cuba.
                 Phone (53) (52) 2147
In U.S.A.: Angel Antonio Moreno. P.O.Box 26688. los Angeles, California 90026.
                 E-mail: AfroCuba@aol.com   Phone: (213) 351-9501

ROGELIO MESA LEDO

A unique set of Batá drums (1992-93) was constructed by Rogelio working with the measurements of the Batá from the legendary "Fantomas" of 1940's Matanzas. The instrument was played for the first time in U.S.A. during the opening of the exhibition "OLOKUM (voices from Matanzas)", April 2, 1999.

Rogelio Mesa Ledo represents the heritage of the collective memory of Matanzas. He is a master builder of AfroCuban musical instruments.

     Rogelio made the second and only of the Olokum drums that call for this scary and powerful manifestation of Yemayá of the Deep Sea. The ritual of Olokum is only practiced in Matanzas, Cuba.

1994.- Juego Iyessá.     1994-95.- Juego Abakuá        1995.- Juego Bembé.
1996.- Juego Arará.      1997-99.- Juegos de Yuca, Brícamo, Yembe.

Rogelio Mesa Ledo. Versalles 26007 e/ Rieche y San Isidro. Versalles. Matanzas, Cuba 40100                Representative: Jorge Luis Rodriguez, Stage Of The Arts, Inc.  AfroCuba@aol.com; Phone/fax: (213) 482-5019

Abril 16, 1999... 9 PM Espresso Mi Cultura BOOKS & COFFE 5625 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, CA 323.461.0808 

Angel Antonio Moreno
                 THE POET AND PAINTER FROM CUBA
READING/LECTURA - COLLECTIVE PAINTING WITH PABLO MANHEY
PRESENTATION OF THE BOOK ³PEZ QUE TE ALEJAS/AGUA DE PASO²
by ANGEL A. MORENO and JORGE LUIS RODRIGUEZ
                          + CONGAS & CONGUEROS
A Stage Of The Arts production (213) 351-9501

MAY 1999:

Presencia Cubana 1999

Los Bárbaros de Los Angeles, art exhibit and celebration

Opening celebration:  Friday May 28 (8 PM to midnight) to June 27, 1999 (open 11 am to 5 PM, Monday to Saturday) as part of the "Presencia Cubana 1999 Festival".  Curator is Jorge García Ramos. FREE admission. The opening night will include a celebration of Cuban American heritage . Performance by  Descarga Connection and the AfroCuba Ensemble. Producer: Jorge Luis Rodríguez

Great Cuban food provided by chef Arturo.

A Stage Of The Arts production, co-sponsored by Ramona Hall Community Center. Presented by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and "Patronato Jose Martí"

OPENING MAY 28, 1999:
The band DESCARGA CONNECTION moving the dancing floor with the son-jazz of Aaron Singer (congas) , Clarence Robinson (bass), Melena on timbales, Sergio Genzon on bongó plus special guests. AfroCuba Ensemble: Oro lead by Omo Aña Pedro Horta. CUBAN FOOD by our chef Arturo.
www.CubaFestLA.com

WHERE: Ramona Hall Community Center.
4580 N. Figueroa Street. Los Angeles, CA 90065
For directions and information:  Call (323) 276-3021
Stage Of The Arts hotline: (213) 351-9501              E-Mail AfroCuba@aol.com


JUNE 1999

PROYECTO PALO MONTE

P.O.Box, Los Angeles, California 90026

Phone (213) 351-9501 E-mail:
E-mail to:AfroCuba@aol.com

AFROCUBAN DRUMS, DANCES,  RITUALS &; CULTURES

Workshops and Field Research in Matanzas, Cuba. Registration limited to 20 people. From Sunday, June 20 to Saturday, June 26, 1999. Professor Israel Moliner Castaneda and Jorge L. Rodriguez.

PROYECTO PALO MONTE is an educational collaboration between non-governmental agencies: Sociedad Antropologica de la Isla de Cuba, Kairos Center, AfroCuban Research and Cultural Center of Western New Mexico University and Stage Of The Arts, Inc. of Los Angeles.

December 3, 1872, Remigio Herrera (Adde China) iniciate the first Cuban babalao: Blas Cardenas, capataz of the cabildo lucumi ; of Matanzas. We will visit the house of Adde; grandson: the 92 years old Rolando Teruel Cartaya, the keeper of the centenarian fundamento Oni Ila; of Chango;. Remigio Herrera was the one to introduced the Bata drums in Cuba.

Study of the Yoruba, Arara; Bantu; and Carabali drums   Introduction to the Yoruba/Nigeria drums. The Bata; drums: gathering with Bata; drum artisans and players as well as festivities and gathering with Bata; ritual players. Study of other Yoruba drums including: the Bembe; drums, the Iyessa, the Guiros or Agwebes. Bata; master classes.
 
Introduction to the ewe-fong or arará drums of Cuba.
 
The Bantú; Drums in Cuba. A visit to the house Congo Luanda in Jovellanos old town. Visit to the house Ganga Longowa in Perico. Introduction to the carabalí; drums in Cuba: Conga drums and the Abakua sacred drums; visit to the temple Uriabon in Matanzas City and the Cabildo Santa Teresa.

Gathering with the ritual group Olokum.


Registration: Register by mail or in person prior to Sunday, May 23,1999. We need your name, passport number and a deposit of $300 USD (cash or checks only) fully refundable only if there is a trip cancellation on the part of Stage Of The Arts. Your deposit confirms your agreement with these terms and all information provided in this page. A payment of $515.00 should be received by Sunday, June 6, 1999.

Total Fees $1, 350.00 USD

Course Fees Include: Round trip airfare to/from La Habana, Cuba/ Tijuana,
Mexico (Aero Mexico). Six nights accommodation dormitory style at the Hotel Casa del Valle, located at the Yumuri; valley (3km from the city of Matanzas or at the centrally located Kairos Christian Center for the Arts and Liturgy of the Iglesia Bautista de Matanzas (founded 1809) in historic downtown Matanzas, daily breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner, ground
transportation, tuition and attendance at performances.

Visa and Travel Regulations to Cuba

You may be traveling to Cuba under a specific license from the Treasurys Office of Foreign Assets Control, as a person traveling in connection with clearly defined educational or religious activities. Departure from Tijuana, Mexico will be on Saturday, June 19, 1999 at 4:20 p.m. You are responsible for your own visa arrangements. For visa and travel arrangements call: Adventure Tours And Travel (626) 395-7111 located at 110 South Rosemead Blvd. Suite "A", Pasadena, California 91107 (ask for PROYECTO PALO MONTE).

Academic Course Credit Available.

Course credit may be provided by Western New Mexico University.
hometown.aol.com/AfroCuba/PaloMonte.html


EVERY WEEK, 1999:


Power of Music & AfroCuban Dance
at Ramona Hall Community Center

WHAT:
The Power of Music percussion workshop with Robertito Melendez and the AfroCuban dance classes (instructor Alina Mesa) are taking place at a newly renovated location: the historic Ramona Hall (established 1885 in Los Angeles).  

Rhythmic conga styles at POWER OF MUSIC include Afro... Danzón... Samba... Bomba... Plena... Pachanga... Marcha... Bolero... Bossa Nova... Merengue... Guaguancó... Mozambique... 6/8 guiro... Songo... Tumba'o...
The AFROCUBA dance workshop, retracing the steps of the Yoruba and the Congolese, through Cuba to here and now...

WHEN: Power of Music percussion workshop (since 1995):                      Saturdays.Tuition fee $6.00
 from 12 noon to 1:15 PM (Beginner¹s class) 1:30 to 3:00 PM (Advanced class)

 AfroCuba dance workshop: Sundays, Tuition fee: $10.00
 from 11 in the morning to 1:00 PM
       

WHERE: Ramona Hall Community Center.
4580 N. Figueroa Street. Los Angeles, CA 90065
For directions and information:  Call (323) 276-3021
Stage Of The Arts hotline: (213) 351-9501              E-Mail AfroCuba@aol.com

A Stage Of The Arts production

"MISSION: MILLENNIUM MUSIC" is made possible in part by the City of Los Angeles Cultural Affairs Department and the City of Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks.