Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Festival, Ife-Ile West, Boulder CO Aug 31-Sep 2 2007

The Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Festival, Ife-Ile West in Boulder Colorado (August 31-September 2) is over and it left me saying: More! More! I Want More!

I found out about this event from various yahoo group announcements and reviews of the original Ife-Ile Afro-Cuban Dance & Music Festival that takes place annually in Miami. When I heard that Ife-Ile West would be hosted by the University of Colorado at Boulder's Theatre & Dance Dept., I booked my travel plans right away. The venue and location are so critical to the success of any cultural endeavor and so the academic environment at the University with the foothills of the Rocky Mountains as a backdrop turned out to be simply perfect. The location was no coincidence. Neri Torres, the director of the Ife-Ile Music and Dance Company, teaches dance and is a graduate student at the Theatre and Dance Dept.

The Festival.
The festival featured 18 workshops in two tracks, a performance showcase on opening night and a rumba jam closing party. The workshops were scheduled for 90 min with a most necessary 30 min "energy recovery" break between classes. The Orisha, Rumba and Congo dance workshops were led by one of the Ife-Ile dance company instructors and accompanied by the ensemble's percussionists. Only the Popular (Son, Mambo) workshops were danced to recorded Cuban music of the 30's and 40's such as those of Ignacio Piniero's Septeto Nacional. In the Bata drumming and Shekere workshops we got an introductory flavor of how to perform rhythms on a bata (a two headed African drum) and a shekere (a beaded gourd), respectively.

The Ensemble.
All of the ensemble members are originally from Cuba and reside in Miami.
Neri Torres (Founder and Director Ife-Ile) choreographer, performer and dance instructor is the inspiration behind presenting Afro-Cuban culture through music performances, festivals and other presentations. She taught Orisha, Rumba and Popular classes.
Yanitzia Mizrahi (Dancer) teaches Salsa and Afro Cuban Dance in Italy. She taught Congo, Orisha and Popular classes.
Yosvany Gonzalez (Dancer) moved to Miami and joined Ife-Ile in 2005. He taught Orisha , Rumba and Congo classes.
Yanier Trigoura (Dancer) recently joined Ile-Ife. He taught Orisha and Rumba classes.
Ezekiel Torres (Percussionist) is a well known bata drummer and drum maker. He taught the Bata drumming workshop and played the iyá (the largest, the "mother" drum) in class.
Aruan Torres (Percussionist) was the lead singer in the performance showcase and taught one of the Shekere classes.
Arelan Torres (Percussionist) has been with Ife-Ile since 2000 and taught one of the Shekere classes.
Ramin Khourassani (Percussionist) assisted in the Bata drumming workshop by playing the itótele (the medium, the "response" drum) in class.

The Classes.
Orishas: Eleggua/Oggun/Obbatala and Yemaya/Oya/Ochun.
These dances have specific rhythms and choreographies associated with the Orisha characters and their symbolic meaning. The main percussion is on bata drums.
Rumba: Yambu/Guaguanco and Columbia.
These dances evolved in 19th Century Afro-Cuban communities, the rhythms and singing styles are the foundation of modern Cuban music forms.
Congo: Yuka and Palo/Makuta.
The very high energy traditional dances and music of the "Congos" of Afro-Cuba.
Popular: The only couples dance class featuring Son and Mambo danced contratiempo.
Bata Drumming: We (the students) played the small drum, the okónkolo which keeps the time.
Shekere: We played the three most common shekere rhythms which are conveniently called No. 1, 2 and 3 respectively.

The Opening Night Performance.
The first half was a dance presentation of the Orishas Eleggua, Oggun, Ochun and Yemaya in traditional costume with the percussionists/singers providing the specific rhythm and verse of the respective Orisha. After a short break and costume change the second half of the show featured the Rumbas Yambu, Guaguanco and a Columbia.

The Rumba Jam Closing Party.
The rumba jam opened with the traditional Eleggua, then the party got started with a yambu, an extended guaguanco and a conga. I have never heard one played live before so this was a real treat and got everyone at the party involved as congas always do.

Impressions.
So that is the description of the festival but what did it feel like ? I have always wondered if deeply rooted cultural expressions can "travel" and reach new regions and people that do not share the history and experience. The answer is YES and this festival is proof. The critical contributions were the venue, an institution focused on advanced education; the ensemble, a group of people who present authentic cultural expression at the highest level of excellence and many of the participants, particularily the Boulder area percussionists who jumped at the chance to play along to form a 10-12 piece percussion ensemble that accompanied the Rumba Columbia workshops and helped keep time in the Bata drumming and Shekere workshops.

What's Next.
I experienced an introductory flavor of Bata and Shekere percussion, now I am definitely going to take more Shekere and Bata drumming classes so I can join in on percussion at the rumba jam. I will also spend more time listening to my Cuban Son recordings and pick up on the bass tumbao that is the essence of dancing contratiempo (not to be confused with dancing salsa on2, salsa has an overwhelming marcha pattern on the conga, I just don't feel a bass tumbao there hence I will never dance to salsa on2). And above all: I need to get to the next Afro-Cuban Music and Dance Festival wherever it may be. For info on future Ife-Ile events check: www.ife-ile.org