Dance Origin:Bolivia Genre: Traditional General
Director: Susana
Salinas Coordinator:Alvaro Salinas First Appearance in SF EDF: 2002 Email:asalinas@pacbell.net
Bolivia Corazón de América presents dances from the Bolivian Andes, once
the center of Bolivia's most important pre-Columbian civilization.
Here, high in the rugged cordilleras, indigenous Aymara and Quechua
people have celebrated dance and music traditions for 5,000 years.
Today, 50% of Bolivia’s population are descendants of these
civilizations.
Bolivia Corazón de
América was formed to provide children of Bolivian immigrants with
experiences from their cultural roots. The company's outreach has expanded to
include children and youth of diverse backgrounds in the Bay Area. Artistic Director Isidro Fajardo
created the piece in 2009, and he learned the dance form from Susana Salinas.
2010 PERFORMANCE
Title:Magical Encounters in the Altiplano GENRE: Suri Sicuri Artistic
Director/Choreographer: Isidro Alfonso Fajardo Dancers:Felisa Amaya, Melissa Anguiano, Kristin Bard,
Esteffany Calderon, Jaime Echavarria, Isidro Alfonso Fajardo, Herbert Godoy,
Gabriela Hernandez, Christina Perry, Maria Alicia Lemus, Jeniffer Martinez,
Kiuver Orizabal, Laura Rubio, Jesus Sandoval
Magical Encounters in
the Altiplano is a presentation of suri sicuri, a dance from Amarya and Quecha communities in
northern La Paz, Bolivia, dating back to 800 BCE. Suri is the indigenous
Quechua name for the American
Rhea, a large flightless bird similar to an ostrich. Sicuri is a
musical form performed by marching musicians playing the zampoña (sicu in
Quechua) panpipes.
The dance is set (and peformed frequently) in the Bolivian
altiplano, a vast inland plain at altitudes of ten to fourteen
thousand feet. The terrain is rocky and the climate is cool, windy, and dry. Indigenous women called indiecitas open the dance, and
they move with a delicate humility, a weary sadness for their hard lives, and a
discernable pride in their heritage.
One of the women becomes curious at the appearance of a
suri. Fascinated, she admires the bird's beautiful feathers and grace, and the
suri allows her to dance with him. The flock becomes envious and pushes the
woman away, but she has decided she must herself become a suri. She performs a
delicate magical ritual, and crowning herself with suri feathers, she is
transformed into a large beautiful bird. The suri are filled with joy and they
join in a celebratory dance.
It's said that the Inca could make the suri dance for them:
at the sound of the zampoña panpipe, the suri opened their wings and spun in
place, shaking their behinds. This display is also courtship behavior, and the
ancient dance is based around it. The magnificent feather headdress represents
the bird's backside. The dancers turn in place, and stretch their limbs to lift
up their bodies, mirroring the suri's grace. It's surmised
that suri sicurioriginated as a
hunting dance.
The costumes are made by Susana Salinas, and the
headpieces come from Bolivia. The shield-like covering of the hunting gear was
originally made of jaguar hide hardened into a protective shape. The musicians
play the Incan zampoña pan flute. Two performers are needed to complete the
musical scale, reflecting the Andean ethos of the balance of opposites.
2008 PERFORMANCE
TITLE:A Day in the Life of a Campesino GENRES: Salaque, Tinku ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/ CHOREOGRAPHER:Susana Salinas DANCERS: Felisa Elizabeth Amaya, Maria Luisa Bachinello, Juan Alberto Bandera, Kristin Bard,Isidro Alfonso Fajardo, Ryan Flores, Randy Flores, Gabriela Jacqueline Hernández, Luis Alfredo Hernández, Elsie Lopez, Maria Alicia Lemus Lovo, Oscar Armando Luna, Wendy Michelle Millán, Melisa Palacios, Christina Perry, Laura Rubio, Edwin C. Siliezar Jr., Juan José Urrutia
Artistic Director and Choreographer Susana Salinas created Salaque and Tinku to premiere at this year’s Festival.
Salaque was originally danced in southwestern Bolivia. It celebrates the planting and harvesting of quinoa, a grain native to the Andes—a grain so sacred that Incan emperors are said to have sowed the first seeds each year with golden implements. In this dance, farmers express their satisfaction and gratitude for the harvest with rhythmic tapping of heels and flirtatious swishing of skirts. The men wield shovels and the women sling on atados filled with provisions, and carry flowers to symbolize abundance. The songs are primarily in the Quechua language, expressing the work of harvesting in the time of love.
The next dance, Tinku, is a pre-Columbian ritual from Potosí, 12,000 feet above sea level. It is remarkable that these traditions survived, as many indigenous people died in Potosí's Spanish silver mine, which opened in 1541 and operated for several hundred years. Tinku, in Quechua, means encounter or duel, and this dance is known as a “fierce celebration.” Originally, communities, or ayllu, danced on sacred grounds to settle feuds. The pututu—made from a bull’s horn—was sounded as the call to fight. Teams of dancers faced off, comparing feats of strength, vying for favor from Pachamama, or Motherland. What did the traditional dancers win? Practically everything until the next tinku: abundance, fertility, prestige, coveted land and water rights, as well as favors from the losing party. These ritual confrontations are still practiced in the Potosí region.
2007 PERFORMANCE
TITLE:Suri Sicuri and Tobas ARTISTIC DIRECTOR/CHOREOGRAPHER: Susana Salinas DANCERS: Felisa Amaya, Maria Amaya, Sarita Barbara Arrescurenaga, Alberto Banderas, Daniela Camacho, Fabiola Diana Camacho, Marvin Espinoza, Isidro Fajardo, Priscilla Fallas, Ryan Flores, Irene Garcia, Gabriela Hernandez, Luis Hernandez, Israel Lazo, Maria Alicia Lemus, Oscar Luna, Wendy Michelle Millan, Osmar Morando, Quang Nguyen, Melisa Palacios, Christina Marie Perry, Laura Rubio, Alvaro Salinas Jr., Edwin Siliezar, Juan Jose Urrutia, Magali Vasquez
Bolivia Corazon de America performs two traditional pieces. Suri Sicuri is a dance dating back to 800 BCE from the Andean communities in northern La Paz. The name refers to the ostrich, the suri, as the magnificent headdress is made of its feathers. The dance is performed in harvest ceremonies and depicts the hunting of the suri. Sikuri is also a popular musical form performed by a large number of marching musicians playing the panpipes know as siku. Two performers are needed to complete the musical scale, which reflect the Andean ethos of the balance of opposites.
The second dance, Tobas, is a dance that commemorates the clashes between Incan and Amazon warriors. Tobas is a tribute to the powerful warrior people, the Toba, who are part of a large group of indigenous peoples from Argentina, Paraguay, and the Amazonian lowlands of Bolivia. The name toba comes from the Indian language Guarani meaning, “big forehead,” as it refers to the Toba people who cut their hair short in the front to signify they were in mourning. The Toba were a fierce people who, originally nomadic hunter-gatherers, successfully resisted colonial intrusion for many centuries. Using spectacular masks, costumes, and feather headdresses, the dance consists of agile jumps and quick-footed steps rhythmically syncopated to the sound of the drums.
2005 PERFORMANCE
TITLE OF PIECES:Tinku, Suri Sikuris CHOREOGRAPHY:
Susana Salinas DANCERS: Maria Luisa
Bachinello, Juan Alberto Bandera,
Andrea Bermudez, Daniela Camacho,
Elizabeth Camcho, Fabiola Camacho,
Ryan Flores, Elvin Gutierrez, Alfonso
Guzman, Oliver Guzman, Andrea
Lino, Lillian Lino, Christian Morando, Osmar
Morando, Melisa Palacios,
Jhamil Reynolds, Alvaro Salinas, Jr.
Bolivia Corazon de America performs two traditional pieces. Tinku
is a
pre-Columbian ritual from Potosi, Bolivia in which two communities
come
together in a "fierce celebration." Originally performed
on sacred grounds,
people fought for their ayllu, or
community.
Each community would compete and compare strength in an attempt
to
gain
favor for abundance and fertility from Pachamama, the
mother land.
Winning the battle meant gaining prestige, land rights and
favors from
the losing party. Tinku is also a musical rhythm done to a
marching
movement.
From
the Andean communities in
northern La Paz, Suri Sikuri is a dance
dating back to 800 BC. The name refers to the
ostrich, the suri,
as the magnificent
headdress is made of its feathers. The dance is
performed in harvest ceremonies and
depicts the hunting of the suri. Sikuri is a
musical form, performed by a large number of marching musicians playing the panpipes,
know as sikus. Two performers are needed to
complete the musical scale, which reflect the Andean ethos of the balance of
opposites.
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