Musical Interaction: A Bolivian Mestizo Perspective

Abstract

JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. University of Texas Press is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Latin American Music Review / Revista de Música Latinoamericana.In Bolivia, the term pena is often used to refer to a folkloric nightclub, and the Penia Naira is one of the best, co-owned by Ernesto Cavour, one of the most famous charango players in the country, and Luis Rico. It was my intention to visit the Peiia as soon as I got to La Paz, and this visit occurred during my second month in Bolivia.I had the address of the nightclub, but it was so inconspicuous I passed it by twice. It was about two o'clock in the afternoon and the Pena looked closed, but it was difficult to tell, as one approached it by going down a flight of dark stairs, and so I took a chance. When I got to the bottom I found the door of the Pefia open and several people milling about, among them Ernesto Cavour himself.The Pefia was rather small and built in the shape of a T. Tables were set up along both sides of the stem of the T and in the two raised sides. The door to the Penia was located at the bottom of the stem and this was where both the audience and the performers entered. Performances took place at the juncture. Thus performers had to walk the length of the stem before and after their act. The nightclub seated approximately one hundred and fifty.There were two women with Sr. Cavour: Kusi, a performer, and her friend Lily. There were also several young men, part of the professional group Paja Brava. Everyone was in slacks or jeans. Although they were surprised to find a "norteamericana" wandering in (the United States had broken off diplomatic relations with Bolivia, which meant a consequential decline in the tourist trade), they greeted me warmly and let me interview them and take pictures. I was then taken to the Alcitas fair by Kusi and Lily and that evening went back to the Pefia with them for the show. All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions : Ellen Leichtman : Ellen Leichtman : Ellen LeichtmanAn evening's entertainment at the Pefia consisted of approximately six or seven separate acts.2 Each performer or performing group was on stage for about fifteen or twenty minutes. The show began around eight o'clock and ended, with everyone out, by ten thirty at the latest because of the eleven o'clock government curfew. Before the show began, a waiter came around to get our drink order.3The following is a generalized description of an evening's entertainment at the Pena. I am generalizing because I went there several times and have retained an overall impression of the shows that conveys something of the urban professional approach to the folkloric musical tradition.The first act was that of a woman si...

The AndeanConjunto, BolivianSikureadaand the Folkloric Musical Representation Continuum

“…Since the late 1960s, Andean conjunto music has been regularly broadcast by local radio and television stations and has enjoyed mass appeal, especially in urban centres. It also serves as the pre-eminent form of national folkloric-popular music, so much so that Bolivians habitually refer to local ensembles which perform it as 'national music' groups (Céspedes 1984(Céspedes , 1993Leichtman 1989;Pekkola 1996;Rios 2005;Sánchez 1996). This strong association with national identity, in a country with an Andean rural indigenous population of considerable size, makes the conjunto's negligible stylistic impact on ayllu musicmaking in Bolivia a noteworthy (non-)occurrence.…”

Crear y sentir lo nuestro : folclor, identidad regional y nacional en el Cuzco, siglo XX

“…El hecho de que la música y la danza llamadas «altiplánicas» fueran consideradas de esa forma por los jóvenes tenía bastante relación con el prestigio internacional que el estilo genérico «andino» había adquirido en ese entonces. Este estilo se gestó en la tradición de música urbana folclórica boliviana entre mediados de la década de 1960 y la de 1970, y fue difundida, primero, en Europa por músicos bolivianos y chilenos (Wara Céspedes 1984, Leitchman 1989. Ellos participaron en las peñas folclóricas bolivianas en camino al exilio (Wara Céspedes 1984: 228).…”