¡Echapalante! : Music in New Haven

4 musicians perform on a brightly-lit stage.

This summer I am interning with Unidad Latina en Acción (ULA), a grassroots organization that promotes the rights of workers and immigrants in New Haven. ULA, aside from doing political work, also holds cultural events and concerts. A couple weeks ago, they brought in Jarana Beat. The music Jarana Beat delivers is unlike the music you might encounter on a daily basis. At least, it is very different from the music I usually listen to everyday. My first experience with their music was at a fundraiser hosted by Unidad Latina en Acción this past Friday. Jarana Beat is a Brooklyn-based group that delivers traditional music from the peninsula of Veracruz in the eastern coast of Mexico infused with more contemporary tones. The musical director of the group, Sinuhé Padilla-Isunza, explains that they blend together a number of different varieties of music including Native American music, Afro Mexican music, and gypsy Mexican music. As a Latina of Mexican descent who has heard Mexican folkloric music before, this was definitely a different experience. The music they played was so rich and included such a unique combination of instruments that I rarely had the opportunity to see live.

An essential part of the performance is the dancing, like you see in the above video. Unfortunately the band wasn’t able to bring dancers along for their performance, but typically two dancers stand up on platforms to accompany their performances. The kind of dancing they do is zapateado. In zapateado, dancers stomp the heel of their foot to make a sound on the platform. They wear long skirts that they wave gracefully along to the beat of the music. Here is a link to their live performance on Friday (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRLlssd6ktU). At the end of the video, you can see two women at the event attempting the zapateado without the typical shoes and skirts.

One of the most significant parts of son jarocho is the way it is intimately connected with political activism. Son jarocho has become part of the Chicano movement, and it is an essential way to bring communities together and build solidarity. These events are one of the reasons I really love New Haven. One, it educates me about the different cultures that are represented in the city but that rarely receive occasion to exhibit their traditions.  Two, it provides me the opportunity to not only experience community in New Haven but also be a part of it.