No menu items!

COSTA RICA'S LEADING ENGLISH LANGUAGE NEWSPAPER

HomeTopicsArts and CultureConcert explores roots of traditional Caribbean music

Concert explores roots of traditional Caribbean music

A mostly forgotten Afro-Caribbean rhythm known as “Sinkit” will come to life this Saturday, Oct. 15, in the hands of renowned musicians of the genre.

The musical group Amarillo, Cian y Magenta joined forces with Manuel Monestel, a singer, researcher and founder of the band Cantoamérica, to create a project called “The Rhythmic Spirit of the Sinkit,” which they will showcase at Espressivo Theater in the eastern San José suburb of Curridabat. The multidisciplinary performance includes visual art by Gabriel Dumani and choreographies by Claudio Taylor. This project won the 2015 Interdisciplinary Projects Call of the TEOR/éTica Foundation.

Sinkit was the main rhythmic pattern used to compose music for the first carnival dance troupes in the port city of Limón, but it originally comes from Saint Kitts in the Antilles. This rhythm was very popular during the 1950s and 60s in the Caribbean. Nevertheless, as time went on, it lost popularity until it was all but forgotten. It was replaced by other music styles more similar to the Brazilian carnival rhythms.

Courtesy of Teatro Espressivo
(Courtesy of Teatro Espressivo)

Manuel Monestel and pianist Glendon Ramírez took the lead in looking for “musical archaeological” patterns of this old and characteristic rhythm, then worked with the rest of the group to create the music for the show. The structure of the rhythm is based on the interaction among  different drums, such as the fundé, repartidor, bombo, and rayador de coco.

 “The carnivals of Limón lost an element from its own cultural-historical processes, unique and unreplaceable,  which occurred after the labor migrations of 1872 and later years for the construction of the Caribbean railway,” Ramírez explained. “This project is characteristic of a specific cultural moment. We are interested in music that enriches our identity, and that identifies us on a multicultural level.”

The show takes place tonight, Oct. 15 at 8 p.m. at Teatro Espressivo, Momentum Mall in Curridabat.  ₡10,000 ($20) general admission and ₡15,000 ($30) VIP. For more information call 2267-1818, or visit the Theater Website.

 

Trending Now

Guatemala’s Gang War Funeral Attack Leaves 7 Dead and 13 Injured

At least seven people were killed and 13 wounded in an armed attack Tuesday night at a funeral in downtown Guatemala City, which authorities...

Keylor Navas Joins Pumas After Controversial Exit from Newell’s

Costa Rican goalkeeper Keylor Navas is officially the newest player for Pumas UNAM, but his move from Argentina’s Newell’s Old Boys has been anything...

Costa Rica’s Poás Volcano Park Reopening to Tourists With Safety Measures

The Poás Volcano National Park will reopen its doors to tourism starting July 30, after  scientific entities reported a decrease in volcanic activity. This was...

Can Costa Rica’s Blue Zone Preserve Its Longevity Legacy?

The Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica is recognized worldwide as one of the five blue zones, where people live beyond the age of 90...

Costa Rica Faces Economic Blow as Intel, Pfizer, and Qorvo Announce Restructuring

Intel announced that it will shut down its chip assembly and test plant in Costa Rica, part of a broader global restructuring aimed at...

Judicial Corruption Exposed in Costa Rica’s Latest Drug Bust

Costa Rican authorities took down a cocaine smuggling operation Tuesday that moved drugs from South America to the United States, with a judicial worker...
spot_img
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Coffee Maker Chorreador
Costa Rica Travel Insurance
Costa Rica Rocking Chait
Costa Rica Travel

Latest News from Costa Rica