rumba libre: The Free Expression Project

Paso dance instructors Eduardo and Stephanie Winston had such a big response to their FREE rumba guaguanco class last week, that they are doing it again this Sunday (8/2) at 7:30 pm.

See The Free Expression Project for more info.

WHAT: Rumba Guaguanco Workshop (folkloric Cuban dance)
WHERE: Paso Salsa Studios, 1601 E. Geer St, Durham, NC
WHEN: Sunday (8/2), 7:30-8:30
COST: FREE

Tambor Vivo THIS WEDNESDAY (7/29)

Follow the drums to the Century Center this Wednesday, where Tambor Vivo, Beverly Botsford's Afro Cuban percussion ensemble, will be performing as part of Carrboro Parks & Rec's Summerdipity concert series:

WHAT: Tambor Vivo at Carrboro "Summerdipity" Concert Series
WHEN: Wednesday (7/29), 7:30-9 pm
WHERE: Century Center, 100 N. Greensboro St, Carrboro
COST: $3/person

I can find no website for this series but recent concerts have charged this admission fee; awaiting confirmation from Carrboro officials.

UPDATE CORRECTION: There is no group rate as previously advertised. Cost is $3 per person. More info on the Carrboro City webpage here.

Tambor Vivo is expanding, with recent additions of Andy Kleindienst (bass/trombone) and Alfredo Morua Averhoff (Cuban percussion, voice). Expect to see live dancing of the Cuban folkloric style of rumba guaguanco from Paso dancers.

Can't think of a better way to spend $3. The drum lives!


Update, posted 8/5:

Video of the closing number--a comparsa. Beverly shows off her aerial shekere skills!

FREE Rumba Class SUNDAY (7/26)

From Paso people Eduardo and Stephanie:

"Paso Salsa Studio is holding a free Rumba Guaguanco class this Sunday, July 26th in order to help Triangle dancers develop better expression through real Afro-Cuban body movement. Grass roots approach as usual, with some pretty cool exercises to help develop a strong foundation for the Guaguanco. The goal is simply to make more genuinely expressive dancers who are better able to connect with their emotions and channel them through physical movement."

WHERE: 1601 E Geer Street, Durham, 27703 (919.338.2464)

Tip for locating the Studio - turn left at Faucette Ave. and drive around back of the storage/business center. It's confusing because it's in the back of the building.

WHEN: Sunday, July 26th at 7:30 pm

Cost: FREE

Rock an' Roll y Guaguancó

Ever wondered what rumba is? Here is your Rosetta stone: a Beatles song performed by Cuba's venerable rumba group, Los Papines.

"Hello Goodbye" rumba (video)

The singer is Yuliet Abreu Fernández, daughter of Jesus, the youngest of the four Abreu brothers from the Havana suburb of Marianao who formed Los Papines in 1962. (Alfredo Abreu passed away in October, 2001.) The band celebrated its 45th anniversary last year with a series of concerts throughout Havana.

Yuliet, a percussion instructor at the Escuela Nacional de Arte (ENA), originally recorded this song in 2000 with her father and uncles for the album Beatles Cubanos: Here Comes El Son. Los Papines continue to perform in Havana every third Sunday at the Casa de la Cultura Plaza.

Thanks to "asere3" Dr. Benjamin Lapidus for the link!


UPDATE 5/19/09:

By coincidence, some bad news breaking: Los Papines booking contact Eli Silvrants says founder Ricardo "Papin" Abreu is gravely ill and hospitalized in Havana. The family is "expecting the worst." Let us hold this great rumba family in our thoughts.

Links:

Some lovely photos of Ricardo "Papin" Abreu at Mark Sanders' blog Fidel's Eyeglasses.


UPDATE added 11:35 pm:

Sadly, he passed away today. I got the word at 9 pm today from Los Papines' representative and family friend, Eli Silvrants.

Ricardo "Papin" Abreu Hernandez
19 dec 1933 - 19 may 2009

UPDATE added 5/20/09:

This obituary appeared today in Cuban Granma (in Spanish).

Granma states that Ricardo formed his first group, Papin y sus Rumberos, in 1959. The article notes that he played the famed Tropicana and brought rumba to the international stage as well, performing in over 50 countries. It states the cause of death, at age 75, to be cerebral hemorrhage. His body is at the Funeraria de Zapata y 2, on the Plaza de la Revolución, no word yet on when and where he is to be buried. In the photo, Ricardo is seated, surrounded by the current incarnation of Los Papines consisting of his 2 surviving brothers Jesus and Luis, his niece Yuliet and nephew Luisito.

Links:

View videos at Los Papines' myspace.

Living Drum (Can't Stop The Rumba)

Who would have thought that just a few blocks from all those overcrowded nightspots and the tawdry hubbub on Glenwood Avenue on a Thursday night, there's the hip, relaxed and ample Mosaic Wine Lounge on Jones Street, a seemingly underused oasis?

A nice open air evening meant you could hear Tambor Vivo from around the corner, which worked better than a GPS to find the place: Just follow the call of the drums...


On Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday nights, the Moroccan-themed bar boasts the international grooves of DJ Keith [Ward], a Greensboro native who has travelled here and there, living for a time in Spain and the Dominican Republic. It shows. He spins Latin in a cosmopolitan way with real sabor. I don't know if I've ever heard the "Elena Elena" plena in a nightclub, except when Sajaso mix it into their live descargas.

As anticipated, Eduardo and Stephanie Winston, of Durham's Paso Dance Studios, were there and itching to dance to some Cuban guaguanco.



Click on either of the photos to see a couple more from the rumba at my (new!) Flickr photostream.