by the El Reportero’s news services
Mariachi
Twelve elements, ranging from rice planting rituals in Japan to Mexico’‘s mariachi music to a horseback-riding tradition in France, were added to the United Nations-backed list of the world’‘s outstanding examples of intangible heritage.
A 24-member intergovernmental committee, meeting in Bali, Indonesia, inscribed seven elements on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
From the Latin American region the following cultural riches were added to this important list:
• Mexico’‘s mariachi music, which frequently involves trumpets, violins, the vihuela and the guitarron (or bass guitar).
• Peru’‘s pilgrimage to the sanctuary of the Lord of Qoyllurit’‘i, a 24-hour event in which people from eight indigenous villages travel to a sanctuary 58 days after Easter each year, was included on the list, and so are the cultural practices and expressions linked to the balafon—a pentatonic xylophone—of the Senufo communities of neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali.
Juan Luis Guerra uses music to support social causes
Dominican singer Juan Luis Guerra said in Guadalajara, the capital of the western Mexican state of Jalisco, that he has pursued his commitment to social causes through his music.
Guerra is giving a concert performance to benefit children with cancer at Guadalajara’s Hospitales Civiles as part of his “A son de guerra” musical tour.
The musician is well-known for his participation in philanthropic activities and for heading in his country a foundation that bears his name and that works closely with the Robert di Cabral Hospital to help children suffering from burns and with hydrocephaly.
Guerra, the writer of hits such as La bilirrubina and Ojalá que llueva café, said that he is going through a privileged time in his career of almost 30 years, something that he considers “a blessing.”
Guerra has sold more than 30 million copies of his albums worldwide, a feat that has made him one of the best-known Latino artists, as well as winning 18 Grammy awards.
J Lo And Casper Smart Have a Thing, And It’s Called Radar Love!
J Lo’s new beau (literally) Beau Paul ‘Casper’ Smart apparently has a need for speed, and quite the record with traffic authorities.
Beau Paul Smart, a.k.a. Casper, has been picked up by police on several occasions for speeding, faster than 100 mph and driving without a valid driver’s license in 2004, 2006 and 2007, evading electronic toll charges in 2005 and exceeding maximum speeds in 2004 and 2005. Can anyone say Speed Racer.
In March, Smart pled no contest to an illegal drag racing arrest from 2010 and
