Monday 5 July 2010

The Afro-Latin Lounge


Thursday 8th July - The Latin Way @ The Scoop(next to City Hall, The Queen's Walk, SE1 2AA)FREE EVENT
Put on your dancing shoes and celebrate Big Dance Week with Ola Latina bringing the sounds and dance moves of Latin America to the Scoop.
12.30pm - 2pm: Matices Latinos - Captivating acoustic quartet that captures the rhythms of South America through its Folk and Popular music

6:30pm to 9:30pm: Conjunto Sabroso - Top London Salsa band Conjunto Sabroso get everyone on their feet with their infectious rhythms, they will be accompanied by some of London's most popular Salsa dancers.

Saturday 10th July - FilmCelia the Queen (Dir. J. Cardona & M. De Varona, 2008)Tricycle Cinema, 269 Kilburn High Road, NW6 7QN4pm, Admission �6

"Cruz is indisputably the best known and most influential female figure in the history of Cuban Music" (Celia Cobo, Billboard Magazine)
Erupting onto the Cuban music scene as the lead singer for La Sonora Matancera in 1950, to later become Salsa's biggest star in New York and the Latin world, Celia Cruz broke down barriers of racism and sexism. With the powerful weapon of her voice and the warm tolerance of her heart, Celia soon became all things to all people. The documentary shows the diversity of the people whose lives she touched, from stars like Quincy Jones, Andy Garcia, and Wyclef Jean to ordinary people all over the world who loved not only her music but her incredible spirit.

"Its wealth of performance footage from various stages of Cruz's career provides both a rousing nostalgia trip for fans and a crash course in guarachera for neophytes." (Ronnie Schieb,
www.variety.com)

Sunday 11th July - FIESTA 2010! Carnival Day@ Kilburn Grange Park, 1pm-7pmFREE EVENT

This year Kilburn is joining in the worldwide celebrations for the 200th anniversary of the independence of many Latin American countries, with the help of Ola Latina and Clave Latina Fest.

The park will be throbbing with the music of salsa bands including Conjunto Sabroso (Colombia & Venezuela) and Osvaldo Chacon y Su Timba (Cuba). Children can join in the percussion classes in the middle of the park with Wilmer Sifontes (Venezuela), people can watch Bolivian folk dancers in their traditional dress - Morenada Bloque Kantuta, plus Salsa shows, or join the Salsa classes with Afro-Cuban dancer Lazaro Lopez, Mina 'Queen Salsa' and more dancers to be confirmed.

Other highlights include Afro-Colombian social Latin hip hop artist Jota Ramos (Villa Rica - Colombia), bachata artist July Julay (Dominican Republic), Latin fusion female artist Ria, plus djs.

The Salsa dance classes will be held on the Big Dance Bus:
'Inspired by the prospect of driving dance to the corners of London and getting everyone dancing, Big Dance are converting London's iconic double-decker into a venue, live and interactive for dance! The 'pop-up ballroom bus' will create thrilling dance experiences in unusual places. The bus will travel all over London, stopping and transforming itself into a highly visual stage and interactive area in one,'


Sunday 11th July - FIESTA 2010! Carnival Day After Party at
Join the after party at our very own Rumbon Cubano - with DJ Javier, live music from Rey Crespo & his Cuban Ensemble, tv screens available for those who want to watch the World Cup Final, plus your chance to win a flight to Havana, Cuba!At Nueva Costa Dorada, 47-55 Hanway Street, London W1t 1UX�7 in advance (
website registration) / �10 on the door

Tuesday 13th July, 7pm - Cali the Salsa Fortress (lecture, film & DJs)Rich Mix Bar, 35-47 Bethnal Green Road, London E1 6LAFREE EVENT
With Alejandro Ulloa - Colombian popular culture anthropologist and Salsa historian

Salsa is a Latin Pan-Caribbean music and dance expression, with its roots in Afro Cuban music. Traditionally Cuba, Puerto Rico, Latin New York and Latin Miami are considered the main centres for Salsa yet neither of these can rival Cali's fascination with Salsa music and its dance.

Although this two and a half million city is not in, nor near the Colombian Caribbean coast, the feel, mood and spirit of Cali is closer to the Caribbean than what a city at the foot of the Andes should be like.

This music style and its dance are closely related to the history and development of this Colombian city. This Caribbean music and dance genre is what ultimately gives a particular cultural identity to Cali and its inhabitants, the 'cale�os'.

Ulloa's first book 'La Salsa en Cali' 1992, was a breakthrough study on popular culture's uses and practices, an almost unexplored topic in the country before the 1990's. In this book Alejandro Ulloa traces back the origins and development of Cali's obsession with Salsa music and dance.

+ Film 'Paso a Paso La Salsa en Cali', a documentary film (in Spanish) made by Alejandro Ulloa and Antonio Dorado in 2009, about renowned Salsa dancers from Cali, such as 5 x world champions Swing Latino dance school and their director Luis Eduardo Hernandez 'El Mulato'. (25 minutes)

+ 'Salsa en Vinilo' 9pm - 12am �3
The night will close with a 3 hour set by popular Colombian UK based Salsa DJ Johnny G, playing salsa from his large music collection of vynil.FREE for people attending lecture and film.

Thursday 15th July - lecture and film
The Khalili Lecture Theatre, SOAS University, Russell Square, WC1H OXG
7pm-9pmFREE EVENT
'La Salsa en Discusion'with Alejandro Ulloa followed by 'Beats of the Heart: Salsa' documentary film by Jeremy Marre (1979)

Anthropologist, linguist and Salsa specialist, Alejandro Ulloa from Cali, Colombia presents his new book 'La Salsa en Discusion'. Ulloa's new book constitutes a debate of the various academic theoretical studies of Salsa, written by authors of different countries: Leonardo Acosta in Cuba, Cesar Miguel Rondon in Venezuela, Angel Quintero Rivera in Puerto Rico, Vernon Boggs in New York, amongst others, as well as his own personal theoretical views about the subject. The lecture will be held in Spanish with an interpreter present.

Faced with the idea that Salsa was primarily a commercial phenomenon, promoted by a brand, the book looks in depth at the cultural history that contextualizes the genesis of Salsa in the Spanish Harlem, the South Bronx and Santurce (Puerto Rico); the fast way of life of the big city played a defining role in this process.
The evening concludes with the film 'Beats of the heart: Salsa', which looks at the music through the eyes of musicians like Tito Puente and Celia Cruz on the one hand and social activists on the other. Of course, the commercial pressures that produced Fania's slickest productions are caught here on the turn as more conscious lyricists like Ruben Blades reclaim in words
the spirit of resistance that the music has nurtured in its rhythms.

The film captures a moment in time, explored through different people's eyes in a community united by a shared experience of marginalisation but fired by the crushing, pulsing, explosive rhythms what we now know as Salsa.

Friday 16th July - El Grande! @ Club Colosseum, Vauxhall1 Nine Elms Lane, London SW8 5NQ
London's Biggest Salsa Monthly Event4 Rooms - Salsa & Kizomba classes - Dance Shows & More!

'El Grande' at Club Colosseum has undoubtedly established itself as the biggest Salsa Monthly event in London, possibly the UK, organized by Salsa Republic on the third Friday of every month, this night is a must go for all Salsa lovers regardless of their style of dance preference.

Salsa and Kizomba classes at 9.45pm, followed by music till 4am.

Times: 9.30pm - 4am / Entrance: �10


Saturday 17th July, 7.30pm - Lecture & film & partyVoices of Latin RockConway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, Holborn, WC1R 4RLFREE EVENT
Voices of Latin Rock(Jim MacCarthy) - Book presentation followed by rare film of Santana on tour in 1971 in Europe

The author of 'Voices of Latin Rock' chronicles the development of Latin Rock in San Francisco, a style combining a fusion of Latin music, Salsa and Rock developed mainly by young Latino musicians in the late 60's and 70's and epitomised by Carlos Santana.
Directly from the Mission District in San Francisco, the explosive fusion of Latin, salsa and rock is chronicled from a writer who has followed the music and the musicians for over 30 years. The book covers the stories of prominent Latin rock bands including Santana and Malo, examining in detail the pioneering records and the ways in which both reflect a wide spectrum of Latin influences.

The book highlights the cast of characters and emerging period in the US during the late '60s, with all the cultural background events including the Summer of Love, Woodstock, political activism, and the record label expansion. Legendary figures such as Bill Graham, Clive Davis and the Escovedos family play crucial roles in the development of this sound.

The lecture will be accompanied by records and a Latin
percussionist.

The lecture will be followed by the rare and completely unseen film 'Santana On Tour - Europe 1971' (45 minutes)

The Lecture and film will be followed by a Partywith live music and DJs.

Cuban beats and theatrical treats at Rich Mix...
Direct from Havana, Cuba,
Asere come to Rich Mix to share their sound this Thu 1 July. Emerging at the same time as the Buena Vista Social Club over 10 years ago, Asere have been an integral part of the re-emergence of Cuba in the global music scene. They are joined by DJ AfroRomanzo (AfroRomanzo World Music) and guests for what's set to be a night of great music for your dancing and listening pleasure! We also have a range of theatre shows coming soon to Rich Mix, including Improvisation Improved by Upstage London on Wed 30 June, swiftly followed by Monologueslam on Mon 5 July to flex its improv chops. Lotus Productions present their new production Justin Fashanu In Extra Time from Thu 8 - Sat 10 July, examining the life of Britain's first openly gay black million pound footballer.We also have two great shows for families. Renowned theatre company Tall Stories presents Twinkle Twonkle this Sat 26 June, and Peut-être Theatre Company present The Bug and the Butterfly on Sat 3 July, inspired by the Poems of Federico García Lorca. To book for these events call the Rich Mix Box Office on 020 7613 7498 or visit www.richmix.org.uk/bookings.

3 comments:

Russ Slater said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Russ Slater said...

I'm finding it almost impossible to get anything done this summer. First there was Festival Brazill and Blaze Festival, now there's all these Colombian activities too - it's all too much!

Sounds and Colours

A Cuban In London said...

I know, Russ. My wife and I missed the Big Dance day at Trafalgar Square last Saturday even though we're both dance practitioners.

Thanks for your feedback.