by Marvin J. Ramírez
Three generations of African slaves from Venezuela and members of the Group Eleggua, play primitive instruments at the Mission Cultural Center for Latinos Arts on July 19. At center, Belen Maria Palacios, a 72-year-old mother and grandmother, plays the quitipilas. Photo by Marvin J. Ramírez
Belén María Palacios dances with former boxing world champion Mike Galo, well-known in the San Francisco farandula for his dancing and well-dressing, who jumped to the stage where the Afro-Venezuelan group Eleggua performed their show. Photos by Marvin J. Ramírez
“Sold out,” read a sign at the door of the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts (MCCLA) the night of July 19. Venezuelan’s Eleggua, deep-rooted Afro-Venezuelan female drummers had taken over the place.
The ancient African drums from Venezuela, were busy inside the small, but packed theater at the MCCLA. A ritual seen maybe by only a few in their lives, kept a mostly intellectual and mixed audience almost in trance, hypnotized by the sound power emanated by the original leather drums. Feminine voices in Spanish sang at the beat of strong but smooth percussion sounds that called for justice and equality for women, immigrants rights, and, as a message to President Bush, made sure the audience knew that Boliviarian Republic of Venezuela President Hugo Chávez’ revolution will not be defeated.
Direct from Venezuela, the 10-women percussion and vocal group Eleggua, who are direct descendants of African slaves who cultivated cocoa and coffee in Venezuela’s Barlovento, on the central coast, were giving one of their best shows to the San Francisco audience. These women are dedicated to researching and rescuing the purest African roots in their music. The group fuses African polyrhythmic percussion and all-Spanish vocals.
“All rules were broken,” said Jennie Rodríguez, because no one could stop the flashes from the audience’s small cameras, including that one from El Reportero, clicking and clicking to make sure they kept a piece of remembrance of this grandiose cultural event. Usually the use of a flash camera is not allowed in theaters.
The audience went wild, when ex box champ Mike Galo, from Nicaragua, stole the show – or better said enriched the show – as he jumped into the scenario to dance with Belen Maria Palacios, a 72-year-old mother and grandmother, who plays the quitipilas, a musical instrument that she preserves in her town. She was declared Cultural Alive Patrimony by Miranda State in May 2004.
The MCCLA’S event was the second of three shows presented in the SF Bay Area, and were sponsored but the Embassy of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, the Consulate General of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in San Francisco and Chevron Corporation.
The first event took place at the Oakland Museum, which was attended by Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums, who declared Tuesday July 17th, 2007 African Diaspora Arts and Culture Day. Modesto Cepeda & Familia Cepeda, who were in the Bay Area directly from Puerto Rico were Eleguas’ special guests that evening.
The Cepeda Family is one of the most famous exponents of Puerto Rican folk music, with generations of musicians working to preserve the African heritage in Puerto Rican music. The family is well known for their performances of bomba and plena folkloric music and are considered by many to be the keepers of those traditional genres.
And the third event took place at La Peña Cultural Center in Berkeley, Calif.,
