Audio Flipbook
Country Harp and City Life
I met Juan Carlos, 18, on my first day of mariachi classes at the School of Mexican Music in Mexico City. We were pretty much friendly strangers for the first two months, since we sat on opposite sides of the classroom—me in the neatly-arranged row of guitarists in the front, him with the pack of macho guitarrón players who roamed freely in the back.
Juan Carlos’ natural knack for music could have made him the envy of the entire class. But he was way too likable, always greeting people with a warm saludo as they walked in the door, or helping them decipher their sheet music, to bring on anything but fuzzy feelings from the rest of us. What most impressed me was that despite his confidence, Juan Carlos was as new to the guitarrón as I was to Mexico.
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France’s International Hip-Hop Dance Scene— Interview with Storm
Juste Debout finalists: Dancers from the Chicago-based crew FootworKINGZ (FootworKINGZ.com)
Since arriving in September, I have been to street performances, workshops, conferences, festivals, battles and theatrical spectacles all dedicated to hip-hop dance, and I am always impressed by how many members of the international community come to France to watch and participate. In an earlier post I wrote about the diverse dancers I met at the Who is Who battle last September, and earlier this month, I witnessed France’s hip-hop dance fever on an even larger scale at the finals for the Juste Debout battle at Bercy Stadium. At Juste Debout (which lasted over 10 hours!), dancers who had previously cleared the preselection rounds in their home countries, came to Paris to compete in one of four main categories: hip-hop newstyle, popping, locking, and house dance. Since Juste Debout means “Just Standing” in English, this battle is only for “top” dancing (so no breaking), and these dancers were incredible! Click here to see official photos at the Juste Debout website.
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Teaching Tradition
Arriving to the sweltering Costa Chica, the coastal region in the state of Oaxaca
As our pickup truck kicked up a trail of dust, lurching towards the village of Cerro del Chivo in Oaxaca, I felt a world away from Mexico City. I was finally about to see the kind of musical scene that I had studied in class: a place where people sing to pass the time, and where stories are passed down across generations through verses and songs. Here, everything from festivals to funerals are filled with the oral traditions that most people in the capital only get to hear through concert-hall performances and compilation CDs.
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Audio Flipbook: Choosing Mexico’s Music
This portrait of Edgar Alejandro “Alex” Paz is part of a series of interviews I did with students at the School of Mexican Music in Mexico City. Alex and his classmates come from diverse backgrounds and bring a wide range of goals to the study of Mexican music. Some are looking for local fame, or at least a career of gigging at restaurants and weddings. Others want to become more versatile musicians. Some are diehard Mexican music fans since childhood, and others, like Alex, had to warm up to it.
In this interview, Alex tells us about his dilemma: finding his ideal career, and an appreciation for his own country, in a city that bombards him with a world of choices. He worries about making a living, but cares more about holding down a job where he can “find creativity.” Here he talks about his journey to appreciating Mexican music.
Audio Flipbook: Weekend in Acapulco
Ok, I know that a weekend on the beach doesn’t have much to do with my research project. But my trip DID get me listening to more tropical music upon my return, and now I’m itching to share some of it here. The only downside to listening to this music is that it underscores how freezing it is in Mexico City right now—I’m literally typing this with mittens on.
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