Manos Negras and Danzantes de Tijeras
3/11/07 Saturday night at El Aguajal restaurant, Ball's Pond Road, Highbury.
To many musicologists there are few sounds more iconic than the Afro-Peruvian music -- which following emancipation found its home around the Chincha area of Peru and now in Lima -- and the Danzantes de Tijeras from the areas of Ayacucho and Andahuaylas in the south-central highlands. To combine the two in one night's entertainment was a masterstroke and amazingly good value at £10 including a plate of Aguajal's great Peruvian food and a bottle of Cuzqueña beer, if you wished. Manos Negras led by Kieffer Santander and the Scissor Dance interpreted by José Fernandez on the night of November 3, are examples of how in Britain vital elements of the rich cultural traditions of Peru are being kept alive. As these elements, in the future, become embedded as part of London and British culture, coalescing with one hundred and one other genres, so audiences will demand not only more performances but also more explanation, to know more about these variants of (then British-) Peruvian music. To this end, musicians are invited to contribute "notes about notes" (notes regarding online samples of their music) . . . . . .
(This is a stub for further development)