http://www.vpr.net/news_detail/89524/
Band Brings Sounds Of Cuba To Springfield
Listen (5:06)
Thursday, 12/16/10 12:50pm
VPR/Nina Keck
Members of Septeto Tipico Tivoli teach students Cuban dances
It's difficult for Americans to travel to Cuba and after decades of an ongoing trade embargo, most Americans know little about the Caribbean nation or its culture. But a group of 7 Cuban musicians is trying to change that - one New England school at a time. VPR's Nina Keck has more.
(Keck) The band calls itself Septeto Tipico Tivoli, after the Tivoli district in their home city Santiago de Cuba. It's a neighborhood heavily influenced by Haiti and according to band mates a place known for having fun and getting together with friends.
Several years ago, members of the Springfield-based, women's chorus, the Feminine Tone, met the band while performing at a music festival in Cuba. Maricel Lucero the founder of the chorus, grew up in Cuba, and says members of the band and the chorus quickly became friends. Lucero says last spring the band emailed her about plans to tour Canada.
(Lucero) "So that sparked my interest - and I thought lets check it out and see what we have to do and I started the visa process thinking they were going to be in Canada and I'd just have to bring them here. And I was thinking about what a great gift it would be for our kids in the schools to come in contact with these musicians because where else are they going to hear Cuban music in Vermont or New Hampshire or this whole New England area.
(Keck) Lucero and many of the women in her chorus are educators. So to help finance the band's trip, they asked schools if they'd be willing to pay to have the group give demonstrations and teach master classes. The band's schedule filled up fast and they've visited kindergarteners through college students from Burlington to Bratelboro. Patricia Alonzo Shaft teaches Spanish at Rutland High School where the band recently appeared.
(Alonzo-Shaft) "I really thought it would be a great opportunity - I really felt like introducing language culture, tropical music to Rutland high school. It was something that had not been done and I thought that they would really gain a lot from hearing these sounds."
(Keck) At Rutland, the band members talk a lot about their sound and the cultural heritage it comes from. Speaking mostly Spanish, with Alonzo Shaft acting as their translater, they describe their instruments, the different rhythms they use
(Keck) Nina Salvatore, an art teacher at Woodstock Union High School, says the band spent three days working with their students.
(Salvatore) "When they came to Woodstock we had an opening ceremony in the gym. And by the time it was done, almost every kid was off the bleacher down on the floor dancing around and I still have kids at the school asking how they are and if they're going to come back."
(Keck) The musicians have been staying in the homes of Salvatore and other members of the women's chorus and she says they've all become like family. As much as the band has taught people in Vermont about Cuba, she says the musicians have been equally wowed by all they've seen and done here. Cuban born Maricell Lucero says the cultural exchange she was hoping for exceeded everyone's expectations.
(Lucero) "just to see the kids reaction to the band - and Americans filling a hall like Bratellboro last weekend where there wewre over 200 people there and all of a sudden Cuban music is the hot thing. And to me that is worth everything. To expose this wonderful music and share my heritage."
(Keck) The hard part, she says will be having to say goodbye to the band when they return home next month.
For VPR news, I'm Nina Keck.
Listen (5:06)
Thursday, 12/16/10 12:50pm
VPR/Nina Keck
Members of Septeto Tipico Tivoli teach students Cuban dances
It's difficult for Americans to travel to Cuba and after decades of an ongoing trade embargo, most Americans know little about the Caribbean nation or its culture. But a group of 7 Cuban musicians is trying to change that - one New England school at a time. VPR's Nina Keck has more.
(Keck) The band calls itself Septeto Tipico Tivoli, after the Tivoli district in their home city Santiago de Cuba. It's a neighborhood heavily influenced by Haiti and according to band mates a place known for having fun and getting together with friends.
Several years ago, members of the Springfield-based, women's chorus, the Feminine Tone, met the band while performing at a music festival in Cuba. Maricel Lucero the founder of the chorus, grew up in Cuba, and says members of the band and the chorus quickly became friends. Lucero says last spring the band emailed her about plans to tour Canada.
(Lucero) "So that sparked my interest - and I thought lets check it out and see what we have to do and I started the visa process thinking they were going to be in Canada and I'd just have to bring them here. And I was thinking about what a great gift it would be for our kids in the schools to come in contact with these musicians because where else are they going to hear Cuban music in Vermont or New Hampshire or this whole New England area.
(Keck) Lucero and many of the women in her chorus are educators. So to help finance the band's trip, they asked schools if they'd be willing to pay to have the group give demonstrations and teach master classes. The band's schedule filled up fast and they've visited kindergarteners through college students from Burlington to Bratelboro. Patricia Alonzo Shaft teaches Spanish at Rutland High School where the band recently appeared.
(Alonzo-Shaft) "I really thought it would be a great opportunity - I really felt like introducing language culture, tropical music to Rutland high school. It was something that had not been done and I thought that they would really gain a lot from hearing these sounds."
(Keck) At Rutland, the band members talk a lot about their sound and the cultural heritage it comes from. Speaking mostly Spanish, with Alonzo Shaft acting as their translater, they describe their instruments, the different rhythms they use
(Keck) Nina Salvatore, an art teacher at Woodstock Union High School, says the band spent three days working with their students.
(Salvatore) "When they came to Woodstock we had an opening ceremony in the gym. And by the time it was done, almost every kid was off the bleacher down on the floor dancing around and I still have kids at the school asking how they are and if they're going to come back."
(Keck) The musicians have been staying in the homes of Salvatore and other members of the women's chorus and she says they've all become like family. As much as the band has taught people in Vermont about Cuba, she says the musicians have been equally wowed by all they've seen and done here. Cuban born Maricell Lucero says the cultural exchange she was hoping for exceeded everyone's expectations.
(Lucero) "just to see the kids reaction to the band - and Americans filling a hall like Bratellboro last weekend where there wewre over 200 people there and all of a sudden Cuban music is the hot thing. And to me that is worth everything. To expose this wonderful music and share my heritage."
(Keck) The hard part, she says will be having to say goodbye to the band when they return home next month.
For VPR news, I'm Nina Keck.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Please keep your comments polite and on-topic. No profanity