LATINO FOLK ARTS AND TRADITIONS IN EAST TENNESSEE
2012 Documentary Project
TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................................................... 1 PART ONE: CULTURAL EVENTS...........................................................................................2 Peruvian Independence Day (Peruvian tradition)............................................................................................................... 2 Day of the Dead (Mexican tradition)...................................................................................................................................... 5 Our Lady of Guadalupe Celebration (Mexican religious tradition).................................................................................. 8 Las Posadas (Mexican Christmas tradition)........................................................................................................................10 Novena de Aguinaldos (Colombian Christmas tradition)................................................................................................. 13 Cinco de Mayo (Mexican Festival)..........................................................................................................................................16
PART TWO: FOLK ARTISTS (Groups and Individuals).................................................... 18 Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz (Mexican folk dance)............................................................................................................18 SalsaKnox (Mexican folk dance, salsa)................................................................................................................................20 Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata (Honduran folk dance, textile arts)..........................................................................21 Sandra Henríquez de Matute (Honduran folk dancer, foodways)..................................................................................23 Lily Henríquez de Flores (Honduran textile arts, storytelling)......................................................................................23 Patricia Silva Reyes (Honduran folk dance, foodways)....................................................................................................25 Hector Saldivar (Piñata maker, Mexican cartoneria, painting)......................................................................................26 Juan Carlos Martin Trejo (Mexican paper mache, ixtle weaving, herbal medicine, wood crafts, music).............28 The Recendez Family (Mexican foodways, embroidery, storytelling)........................................................................... 31 Rodolfo Villalpando (Mexican sweets) and Maria Nuño (Rompope).............................................................................34 Mario Navarro (Mexican Pacific foodways)........................................................................................................................36 Elena Landa (Peruvian folk dancer, painting, craft, recitation)..................................................................................... 37 Cecilia Stella Martin (Colombian painter, foodways)........................................................................................................39 Kukuly Uriarte (Peruvian/Argentine vocalist, guitarist)................................................................................................. 40 Santos Antonio Ascensio (Honduran vocalist, rancheras, punta).................................................................................42 Juan Carlos Gutierrez, aka Azul (Honduran folk singer).................................................................................................42
CONCLUSION.......................................................................................................................... 44 Acknowledments......................................................................................................................................................................45 Authors.......................................................................................................................................................................................45 List of Interviews..................................................................................................................................................................... 46
INTRODUCTION This work was commissioned by the Tennessee Arts Commission’s Folklife Program, with the goal of identifying and documenting Latino traditional artists, art forms, and cultural events in East Tennessee. This essay is a summary of events and interviews from October 2011 to June 2012 recorded by field researchers Rafael Casco and Coral Getino, members of HoLa Hora Latina, a non-profit arts organization in Knoxville. The essay is accompanied by excerpts from audio, video interviews. Unless otherwise specified, pictures or video are by Rafael Casco [RC] or Coral Getino [CG]. Transcribed quotations in this essay were translated into English by CG. The reasons for this work are best summarized in the words of Lily Henríquez de Flores, one of the folk artists interviewed for the project: “I believe that each culture has something positive. Everyone’s roots and culture has something to contribute to the world. Our culture is no different. Our culture has a rich heritage… there are good people and also history. And we can learn from all those things. We also have delicious cuisine, beautiful arts and crafts for the world to see, as well as showing the values we learned at home. [This is] for progress, to help our new generation. More than anything else, we want our children to remember where they are from, what their roots are, their origin. What was their beginning, and from there they set out for a better future in this land, maybe not their own, but also, the new land we have embraced.” Latin Americans who have made their new home in Tennessee bring a wealth of cultural traditions with them. Their folk heritage reflects a fascinating array of indigenous American, African and European roots and historical influences. Identifying and recording the talented individuals who practice and adapt their cultural traditions to a new environment is a crucial step towards building appreciation and tolerance for cultural diversity among all Tennesseans. Another major goal in this project is to expand opportunities for these artists to share their cultural heritage with the public at festivals, exhibitions, and other events. Through this growth of awareness and opportunity, it is to be hoped that more young people will be inspired to carry on their parents’ and grandparents’ artistic inheritance into the next generation.
Girl hits a traditional 7-cone piñata. The piñata was first created as a religious symbol. The cones represent the 7 capital sins. Photo by RC.
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Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz Mexican dancers perform at HoLa Festival 2010. Photo by Dana Everts-Boehm.
PART ONE: CULTURAL EVENTS This section includes several private or public cultural events that celebrate Latin American traditions and holidays. They are typically annual celebrations and they have been celebrated in East Tennessee at least for two years. They are arranged chronologically.
PERUVIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY (PERUVIAN TRADITION) In Knoxville, Tennessee, there are relatively few people who were born in Peru. But no matter how long it has been since they left their native land, most of them gather each year to celebrate their national holiday of Fiestas Patrias on July 28th. This holiday commemorates the day Peru gained its independence from Spain. In Peru, the President leads the celebrations, first attending a Catholic Te Deum mass, followed by a journey by car where people throw flowers, and an address to the nation. During the entire month of July, homes, public buildings and businesses display the Peruvian flag. Peruvians Dr. Rodriguez and his wife Melinda have lived in Knoxville for a number of years. They were the first ones to open their home to celebrate Peru’s Fiestas Patrias. Now other families occasionally take turns as hosts. Eating, dancing, and singing are staples at this celebration, which is often marked with joy and a little nostalgia. Each year attendance varies, as people may come and go. One year more than fifty members had to meet at a public location. Carmen Holt has hosted a number of Independence Day celebrations. She remembers the gatherings of friends and family in Peru, when she was a child. People would dance and eat and dance some more. Sometimes people didn’t go home until 6 a.m. the next day. “You can’t talk about tradition and not talk about food,” Blanca Primm shared. She
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came to Knoxville in 2001 as a newlywed. She remembers evening meals at her family’s home in a suburb of Lima, Peru, eating together with her mother, father, and sisters, and talking about that day’s events. “For me that set an example, and I try to do the same with my husband and children here in Knoxville. The kids love to talk to us about their day.” That is their family everyday tradition. For Peru’s Fiestas Patrias celebration, participants bring an ethnic dish to share. Peruvian cuisine is exquisite, with many Peruvian chefs gaining international fame, Blanca said. Perhaps the most famous of Peruvian chefs is Gastón Acurio, who has brought worldwide renown to his Nuevo Andino gourmet dishes. Acurio’s work has been featured in many travel and food magazines and programs on the Food Network cable channel. One of Blanca’s favorite dishes is called anticuchos. “It’s made from the heart of a cow. In Peru we say that anticuchos are so delicious because they come from cows who were in love!” Other Peruvian delicacies often consumed at the Fiestas Patrias celebration include ají de gallina (spicy creamed chicken), ceviche (lime-marinated seafood), papa a la huancaína (yellow potato salad with spicy cream sauce), green rice, and desserts such as rice pudding, lemmon pie, mazamorra morada (dessert made of purple corn.) Purple corn is native to Peru, and it is also used to make a drink called chicha morada.
Peruvian group of Knoxville celebrating Fiestas Patrias in 2011. Photo courtesy of Blanca Primm.
Blanca Primm’s son and Carmen Holt’s daughters march dressed in traditional costume in 2010. Photo courtesy of Lizi Johnson.
During the “28 de Julio” celebrations, Peruvians welcome other fellow countrymen who are newcomers to Knoxville. They play games to help learn more about one another, and also to test their knowledge of Peruvian history and trivia. There are prizes for the winners, typically an imported food or drink item that is hard to buy here in the US. “Speaking Spanish and singing Peruvian songs are a very important part” of the celebrations, Melinda Rodriguez said. “We are very proud to share this tradition with our children. Knowing about Peru, knowing that Peruvians love each other, understanding the language and culture will give [children] a great advantage.” “Dancing at these events may be traditional folk dances, but also just dancing for fun,” Carmen Holt said. She and Blanca are proud their children represent Peru at the HoLa Festival’s Parade of Nations each year, dressed in the colorful traditional attire. One year during the parade, Blanca danced the marinera, the national dance of Peru. Other years she helped organize other countries’ participation as well. “It is important for [our children] to represent Peru,” Carmen said, “and people who play traditional Andean musical instruments are always welcome to participate.” In Peru, official celebrations involve a military parade on July 29th. But Peru is rich
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in religious processions as well. Blanca told the story of El Señor de los Milagros (The Lord of Miracles), which is celebrated each October. “In the 17th century, an Angolan slave painted an image on a wall in Lima, Peru, of the crucified Jesus. But Jesus was colored. Some people thought that was disrespectful.” A century later, Blanca recounted, there was a great earthquake that nearly destroyed the city of Lima, as earthquakes are common in Peru. Most buildings were demolished by the quake, except for the painted wall with the image of Jesus. It was seen as a miracle. Now, each October there is a multitude that gathers in procession, where a replica of the image of the Lord of Miracles is taken through the streets of Lima. “Many Peruvians who live abroad gather crowds and take images of the Lord of Miracles through their town,” she said. There are cultural traditions as well each October in Peru. Special desserts are prepared or sold on certain holidays and they are not available the rest of the year. One favorite of Peruvians is a dessert called turrón de Doña Pepa, a hard-to-make anise-flavored cookie bar with quince-fruit paste, honey, and sprinkles. Holt says she had special access to the treat while growing up, since her uncle is the owner of a turrón factory that stays quite busy each October.
Lizi Johnson performing a traditional dance in 2010. Photo by Lizi Johnson.
At the Knoxville Peruvian community’s Fiestas Patrias celebration, one often can find Blanca eagerly singing patriotic songs. With her warm, harmonious voice, she leads the chorus of a song that is known and beloved by Peruvians: “My name is Peru, with a P for Patria, E is for Example, R is for Rifle, and U is for Union!” These women feel blessed for having been born in Peru! Melinda Rodriguez, Carmen Holt, and Blanca Primm pose before a Cuzco school gold-leafed colonial-style painting by Peruvian artist Clorinda Bell. Photo by RC.
Participants sharing a dinner of Peruvian delicacies at Fiestas Patrias in 2008. Photo courtesy of Blanca Primm.
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Peruvian food items make treasured prizes for Fiestas Patrias games. Photo by RC.
DAY OF THE DEAD (MEXICAN TRADITION) El Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) is celebrated on November 2nd in many countries of Catholic tradition as a day to pay respects to the families’ dead. In Mexico, the colorful and lively traditions of Day of the Dead are particularly elaborate and widespread. Families celebrate both intimately at home and also at cemeteries where relatives believe they are joined by their dead relatives’ souls with merriment, joyful eating and drinking. Although nominally Catholic, Mexican Day of the Dead traditions reflect a strong pre-Hispanic Mesoamerican cultural influence in many regions of the country. (See, for example, the section on Juan Carlos Martin Trejo about Hñahñu, or Otomí, Day of the Dead traditions). HoLa Hora Latina celebrated the Day of the Dead in 2010 for the first time. In 2011, Hola’s Day of the Dead celebration included the first concurso de altares, or altar contest. In many parts of Mexico, families construct elaborate altars, also called ofrendas, inside of their homes to honor and welcome their departed relatives, who are believed to return to visit the living on November 1 and 2. The concurso de altares attracted four participants from Zacatecas/Aguascalientes, Hidalgo, Mexico City, and the Catholic Dioceses of Knoxville, to display their elaborately decorated altars at CASA HOLA, HoLa’s headquarters in Knoxville, Tennessee (see video.) The ornate, colorful altares, smelling of sweet bread and marigold—a flower whose scent is thought to attract the dead—reflected the rich regional diversity and variation of this tradition. Two artistic depictions of La Catrina—a mural by Juan Carlos Martin Trejo and a 7-foot cardboard sculpture by Hector Saldivar—also graced the walls. La Catrina, a skeletal image of an elegant, wealthy woman portraying Death, was originated by nineteenth century popular graphic artist José Guadalupe Posada and has since become a traditional iconic figure in Mexican Day of the Dead observances. Approximately 500 visitors chose the winning altar and participated in various cultural activities. The Recendez’ family altar in honor of Emiliano Zapata was the winner (see Recendez’ section for more information.) Second place was awarded to the sculpture of La Catrina (see Hector Saldivar’s section.) Other activities during the event included sugar skull decorating, eating sweet pan de muertos, and decorating a Tree of Life in remembrance of loved ones who are deceased.
Visitors ask questions about altar at Casa HoLa, November 4, 2011, HoLa’s first altar contest. Photo by RC.
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Detail of altar, showing hand-embroidered napkin, dressed skeleton figures, etc. Photo by CG.
Altar explaining origin of Day of Dead celebration. Photo by RC.
Detail of altar, showing Mexican sweets, nuts, crafts, and sweet bread. Photo by CG.
Mexico City-style altar, La Catrina sculpture by Hector Saldivar, and La Catrina mural by Juan Carlos Martin Trejo. Photo by RC.
Juan Carlos Martin Trejo by his altar for his grandmother. Photo by RC.
Detail of pan de muerto and Mexican cookies. Photo by RC.
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Girl hangs name on Tree of Life in remembrance of a deceased family member. Photo by CG.
Detail of altar, showing sugar skull, candles, fruit. Photo by CG.
Detail of altar, showing traditional tiers, dedication to Frida Kahlo. Photo by CG.
Visitors learn about Day of the Dead celebrations. Photo by CG.
Altar Contest winning altar, by the Recendez family, in honor of Emiliano Zapata. Photo by CG.
Children decorate sugar skulls. Photo by CG.
Day of the Dead Altar Contest at Casa HoLa, November 2011. Video by RC. Popular song La Llorona. Edited by Edy Recendez. Click image to play LATINO FOLK ARTS AND TRADITIONS IN EAST TN
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OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE CELEBRATION (MEXICAN RELIGIOUS TRADITION) In Catholic tradition, Our Lady of Guadalupe—also known as Mother of the Americas—is the patron saint of Mexico, as well as of North and South America. December 12th marks the anniversary of the 1531 miraculous apparitions to recently converted Aztec peasants Juan Diego and Juan Bernardino. This apparition of the Virgin Mary, dark skinned like a young native Mexican woman, requested that a church be built on the Hill of Tepeyac near present day Mexico City. Tepeyac was the site of a former temple of Aztec mother goddess Tonantzin. Juan Diego is said to have brought Castilian roses to the Bishop as proof of Our Lady’s apparition. It was December and the roses do not grow in the frozen soil at that time of year. The tilma (Aztec working apron) in which Juan Diego carried the roses revealed an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe when he opened it to display the roses to the Bishop. It is this imprinted image on Juan Diego’s tilma which is displayed to this day in the Basilica built in her honor, and is visited by millions each year.
Altar boys and girls lead procession on December 12, 2011, in Pigeon Forge.
In Mexico and around the world, the Virgin of Guadalupe is honored on December 12th by holding a procession. Bringing flowers and banners, people pray, sing, and reenact the dramatic events. We visited the Church of the Holy Cross in Pigeon Forge for their evening celebration. Many had met in the early morning as well to sing Las Mañanitas (traditional Mexican birthday song adapted to honor Our Lady of Guadalupe) and pray. Many other locations throughout East Tennessee held similar pilgrimage processions. View of Our Lady of Guadalupe procession to the Church
Well over a hundred people gathered for a procession down of the Holy Cross. the street to reach The Church of the Holy Cross. Boy and girl altar servers headed the procession, and the Knight of Columbus carried a banner with an image of La Guadalupana on it. A statue of Our Lady was carried by men taking turns to hold it during the forty-minute walk. The church banner followed, and then a sea of singing people stretched out on the street. Two floats depicted live representations of Our Lady’s apparitions to Juan Diego and Juan Bernadino, acted out by children and teenagers dressed in costume. Children and adults dressed in traditional Mexican indigenous clothing in honor of this apparition of Mary, who is believed to have appeared as a native Mexican to protect the human rights of all indigenous people in the Americas.
The Church of the Holy Cross has celebrated Our Lady of Guadalupe for more than five years, since Spanish mass started, according to Ramón Armenta, the director of a local Mexican folk dance troupe. This is very popular event for both English and Spanish speaking parishioners, who walked together in the procession. After a bilingual mass, the celebrants stayed for a potluck dinner of traditional Mexican dishes and dance.
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Girl portraying Our Lady of Guadalupe.
Knights of Columbus guard a banner with Our Lady’s image.
Woman dressed in indigenous attire Mexican places flower by the altar.
Men carry Our Lady statue into the Church of the Holy Cross.
Our Lady of Guadalupe procession to the Church of the Holy Cross, December 12, 2011. Women dressed in traditional Mexican attire.
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LAS POSADAS (MEXICAN CHRISTMAS TRADITION) Las Posadas is a traditional Mexican celebration leading up to Christmas. For nine days, from December 16th to December 24th, friends, neighbors, and families get together to reenact Mary and Joseph’s search for shelter in Bethlehem. Piñatas, villancicos (Christmas carols) and special foods form integral parts of this traditional calendar custom kept to this day. Knoxville’s first public Posadas was held on a warm night in December, 2011. A group led by Gisela Chaparro and Pedro García—dressed as Mary, Joseph—and several angels and shepherds, paraded down Gay Street in downtown Knoxville. Guitar music and singing attracted apartment building residents who joined the procession. Two locations turned the pilgrims away by singing the traditional verses in two parts sang in turns (translated song, see below.) A third and final location, the Emporium Building, location of HoLa’s office, opened their doors to Mary and Jesus and their large entourage. The group in unison sang the final verses:
ENTER, HOLY PILGRIMS, RECEIVE THIS CORNER, FOR THOUGH THIS DWELLING IS POOR, I OFFER IT WITH ALL MY HEART. OH, GRACED PILGRIM, OH, MOST BEAUTIFUL MARY. I OFFER YOU MY SOUL SO YOU MAY HAVE LODGING. HUMBLE PILGRIMS, JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH, I GIVE MY SOUL FOR THEM AND MY HEART AS WELL. LET US SING WITH JOY, ALL BEARING IN MIND THAT JESUS, JOSEPH AND MARY HONOR US BY HAVING COME. One of the organizers, Jose Luis Santiago, a native of Mexico, explained this tradition. “In some homes they read the scriptures before the reenactment… Las Posadas remind us that we need to help one another. They have a special meaning for immigrants like us.” The Hispanic Ministries Office of Knoxville’s Catholic Dioceses and HoLa Hora Latina cosponsored the event. Once in the building, Christmas songs attracted more neighbors. Children took turns hitting a colorful traditional piñata with seven cones and streamers. Breaking the piñata is a lesson for children, as “the seven cones are for the seven deadly sins” , Lourdes
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Garza said. She is the Director of Hispanic Ministries. Adults gathered around a table of homemade tamales and piping-hot champurrado. This is a traditional Mexican festive corn drink of atole and chocolate. Jose Luis said that in Mexico every child is excited about las Posadas. Families take turns to host the party at the end of the procession on different nights. Piñatas in Mexico are traditionally made of a clay pots, filled with fruit and candy. He remembers when a piñata fell on his head as a young boy. Everyone laughed and cheered! He got teased a lot, but thank goodness the piñata broke, and his head was OK! “It is hard to celebrate all nine days because of the way Knoxville is structured. In Mexico, people are used to walking several blocks on the streets,” he said, “but this city seems to be built for cars. Downtown has sidewalks, and seemed a perfect place.” We hope this tradition continues, and many more people join the celebration next year!
Participants sing traditional song, in a question-answer fashion, at the first posada stop.
Pedro García and Gisela Chaparro as Joseph and Mary at the first public Posadas procession, in Knoxville, 2011. Photo by RC.
Joseph and Mary and their entourage of singers are turned away and must find another inn. Photo by RC.
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Second stop singing. They are also turned away. Photo by CG.
Singing villancicos (Christmas carols) at Las Posadas. Photo by RC.
Organizer Jose Luis Santiago follows singers in Las Posadas procession. Photo by CG.
Girl showing tamal and champurrado. Photo by RC.
Mary and Joseph are welcome at the third and last stop, at the Emporium Center, in Knoxville. Photo by RC.
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NOVENA DE AGUINALDOS (COLOMBIAN CHRISTMAS TRADITION) A group of Colombian friends who live near Knoxville have kept a Colombian tradition for about 15 years now. Every December they set up a 9-day schedule, from December 16th to December 24th, and take turns to host the Novena de Aguinaldos. This novena is a Catholic tradition that involves a 9-day group prayer to prepare for the Christmas season. The Novena de Aguinaldos (aguinaldo can be a small Christmas gift or a Christmas carol) include several prayers, lively singing, and readings to help reflect on the birth of Jesus. Colombian gift-giving happens on Christmas Eve; the belief is that the Baby Jesus brings presents, typically left under the bed, said Nora Cannata. Nora Cannata is the hostess tonight. She is originally from Barranquilla, but has lived in US for over 30 years. Participants arrive one by one, and great each other with a kiss on the cheek. They chat cheerfully about their friends, family, and events of the day-even though they might have been together as recently as last night! The group has expanded to friends-of-friends, and many nationalities, they may travel from Oak Ridge to Sevierville. Participants may come to one or all the nine nights of prayer.
Group praying la Novena de Aguinaldos, in 2012. Video by RC. Click to play.
Patricia Van-Heyningen was the inspiring force of the Knoxville Novena tradition. She keeps a scrapbook with pictures of Novenas of years past. Everyone looked a little bit younger, but they have the same cheerful smiles. “At the beginning we met just to pray la Novena, but since several of us worked, we later added a meal.” Patricia remembers she used to carry a pesebre (nativity scene) to be set as the centerpiece. Traditionally Novenas are held around a pesebre. Patricia shows a picture of a pesebre which represents the entire town of Bethlehem. “It was always covered with moss,” she said of her family tradition. Besides the nativity, it shows Colombian clay houses, even mountains, and rivers and lakes. Also included are snow-covered houses, sleds and skating figurines, more traditional of the US. Patricia recalls going out to the woods on December 8, an observed holiday in Colombia, to pick up moss. “Candlelight illuminated the scene. And if a candle is jarred and falls it would set a fire! Then buckets of water would drown it out!” Nora’s house is beautifully decorated in gold and red this year, and she offers lemonade punch and white chocolate peppermint brittle she and her daughters make every December. They also cook a variety of cookies and sweets. After everyone has arrived, the group of about fifteen sits in a circle and each picks an instrument of their choice: maracas, tambourines, triangle, bells, even a turtle shell! Traditional instruments such as a Colombian raspa (wooden slotted instrument played by rubbing a metal pin, traditionally used in coastal Colombian) and a sweet sounding bunch of hollow seeds attached to a stick. Patricia has collected these instruments throughout the years. “At first we just used wooden spoons, pots, and pans!” she recalls. Paula, the youngest in the group, leads the group in prayer, by reading the daily prayer.
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Singing part of la Novena de Aguinaldos, with music from traditional percussion instruments. Video by RC. Click to play.
Instruments and voices burst into a chorus calling up to Baby Jesus to “come, come, come to us, don’t be late!” Cheery Patricia scolds those who might chuckle, and asks them to put a donation on a small box. On Christmas Day the money collected is used for charity. The Novena continues with a set sequence of prayers, the Lord’s prayer and Hail Marys, singing and acclamations. “This is the best way to get into the Christmas season. While other people are rushing in stores, spending money on presents, we get together with friends and enjoy each other’s company while reflecting on the true meaning of Christmas,” Elsa Bryan said. After the prayer, everyone sang villancicos (Christmas carols) to Latin rhythms. These are Spanish upbeat Christmas songs. Nora said, “They are not solemn and sad, like some Christmas carols here. Latin American Christmas is all about singing and dancing on the streets!” Christmas in Colombia is typically warm! Large pesebre or nativity scene, year 2000. Photo by Patricia Van-Heyningen.
Detail showing a raspa (long wooden instrument), a maraca, and a novenario (prayer book). Photo by RC.
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The meal followed the singing. Salad, chicken, potato and bean soup “good enough to raise one up from the dead,” followed by New York cheesecake and Colombian coffee and an assortment of cookies. Meals here are not quite the same as in Colombia. Each region of Colombia has a traditional Christmas dish. In Bogotá, the capital, people prepare ajiaco. It is a chicken-based soup, that calls for about seven different types of potatoes, and a special herb called huasca. “Huascas might be available in Miami, Chicago or New York, but not here,” Nora explains. In Barranquilla, ajiacos are made according to various family recipes and exchanged with neighbors and friends. On December 25, breakfast is typically chocolate and tamal.
Rafael Casco and Nora Cannata sing villancicos (Christmas carols.) Rafael is playing a turtle shell instrument. Photo by CG.
“Año nuevo, vida nueva. A saber que noticias traerá. Año nuevo, vida nueva. Con salud y prosperidad …” New year, new life, sings the CD. Who knows what kind of news it will bring. New year, new life. With health and prosperity. “On New Year’s Eve people get together again for more dancing, drinking champagne and eating 12 grapes,” Nora’s sister said. “Some people put gold in their champagne, to bring prosperity. Others put three potatoes under a bed. One is unpeeled, one is peeled, and one is half-peeled. After midnight, you reach under to get one of the potatoes and that will determine your luck for the year.” Some years are better than others. “I remember my grandmother used to crack an egg in water. If it formed a pretty flower, that meant a proper year. But if the egg ended up flat, ugly, that was a bad year to come,” somebody shared. Others chime in with more folk tales and New Year superstitions. “Some people get to their door at midnight and throw out a pot of water, in order to shoo away the bad spirits.” “Others take a suitcase and walk around the block, as that is supposed to bring adventure and traveling.” “At some houses, the host gives everyone a few cents, so that the New Year brings you money…” Nora said in Barranquilla the long Christmas season extends even further to January 20, when the Carnival Queen is crowned. Forty days later, a 4-day carnival with a lot of drinking and partying leads to Ash Wednesday when everyone goes to church with a hangover. It is past 10 p.m. when everyone slowly says goodbyes with a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Tomorrow they will meet again at another friend’s house.
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CINCO DE MAYO (MEXICAN FESTIVAL) Cinco de Mayo is a May 5th celebration which some say it is more popular in the United States than in Mexico. That is, except in Puebla. This celebration commemorates the Batalla de Puebla (Battle of Puebla), which marked the 1862 victory against the French invasion of Mexico in 1862. Gatlinburg hosted its second annual Cinco de Mayo celebration on May 5, 2012. This event which took place in the parking lot of the Loco Burro Restaurant in downtown Gatlinburg, featured traditional music, dancing, and foods representing the cultural heritage of Mexico and other Central American and Caribbean countries. Entertaining the audience were several folk artists featured in this essay, including The Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz, Santos Ascensio, Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata, SalsaKnox, and DJ Azul (see respective sections in Part Two of this essay) Espuelas de America, a mariachi from Atlanta, Georgia, performed all day throughout the event. The Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz from Pigeon Forge performed a variety of Mexican regional folk dances with children as well as adult dancers. Many of the costumes worn by the Santa Cruz dancers are made by Socorro Armenta, one of the group’s instructors and founders. SalsaKnox of Knoxville taught people how to dance basic salsa steps in addition to offering a rousing group performance. Karaoke Entertainment by Azul encouraged audience members to sing songs throughout the day. Santos Ascencio, a singer from Honduras, performed Mexican rancheras, Honduran punta and other styles of music from Central America. One of highlights of the event was a tamale eating contest. Another Honduran musician, Heberest, sang original works and popular rock songs in Spanish as well as a more traditional repertoire of songs from Honduras. Not to be missed were the local clowns and the chihuahua parade with their humans dressed in traditional Mexican clothing. Gatlinburg has celebrated Cinco de Mayo two years in a row.
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Rosa and Socorro, members of Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz welcome people to the Cinco de Mayo Festival in Gatlinburg, 2012. Photo by RC.
Mariachi band greet customers of Loco Burro restaurant, site of Cinco de Mayo Festival. Photo by RC.
SalsaKnox Waldo Solano leads a salsa class at Cinco de Mayo Festival. Photo by RC.
Grupo Folcl贸rico Santa Cruz perform at Cinco de Mayo Festival. Photo by RC.
Santos Ascensio sings along with mariachis during Cinco de Mayo Festival. Video by RC. Click to play.
Young dancers, members of Grupo Folc贸rico Santa Cruz. Photo by RC.
Waldo Solano and Jackie Sellers, SalsaKnox, dance to a song by Juan Carlos Gutierrez. Click to play
Young Mexican dancer takes a break and poses for pictures. Photo by RC.
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PART TWO: FOLK ARTISTS (GROUPS AND INDIVIDUALS) The following section summarizes interviews with Hispanic folk artists who live throughout East Tennessee. They come from various Latin American countries, and their arts include traditional foodways, folk music and dance, painting, handmade crafts such as piñata-making and Mexican cartonería, and verbal arts such story-telling and oral recitation. They are loosely arranged by topic, as many represent various folk arts.
GRUPO FOLCLÓRICO SANTA CRUZ (MEXICAN FOLK DANCE) Ramón Armenta and his wife Socorro Jerónimo have lived in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, for about 12 years. Their dancing troupe started when the Armenta daughters were in school. Socorro organized a group to participate at an International Fair at Pigeon Forge High School. That is how Santa Cruz Group was born, about eight years ago. And it still goes strong. “It is a good way to keep the kids from maybe being out there misbehaving,” said Ramón. Socorro explains that she has loved dancing since she was a child in her native Michoacán. She was the only one of eight sisters who learned folk dancing. “I have danced since I started Catholic school at age five. Every festival, for Mother’s Day, end-of-school celebration... I participated in a minimum of three dances.” She learned the basics from the nuns, “they also have art,” she said. Bailables (Jalisco’s folk dances) are common in Mexico. Socorro and her daughter choreograph regional folk dances from Oaxaca, Jalisco, and Chihuahua. Her husband Ramón once preferred playing sports. But once in the United States, Socorro started teaching his girls and he learned a few dances too. They got many requests to show others their traditional dances. The troupe grew to add friends to family and now it includes 10 children and 4 adults. They have danced in Knoxville, at Alianza del Pueblo’s Cinco de Mayo festival, in Gatlinburg’s Cinco de Mayo celebration, several times for the Catholic Dioceses, such as for the Mexican bicentennial. “The farthest we have traveled is Kingsport,” said Socorro. Ramón pointed
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Mexican folk dance Santa Cruz Troupe, in Pigeon Forge, 2012. Photo by RC.
Rosa and Alan (left) and Socorro and Ramón (right) perform at Cinco de Mayo Festival, 2012. Photo by RC.
Mexican folk dances by Santa Cruz Troupe, in Pigeon Forge, 2012. Video by RC, edited by Edy Recendez. Click to play
Socorro watches over while young dancers perform at Cinco de Mayo Festival. Photo by RC.
out that three of his newest students joined the troupe after watching their performance at last year’s HoLa Festival. Ramón and Socorro are determined to continue working with young people, trying to rescue them from watching so much TV, soap operas, or playing videogames. They meet at a recreational center and practice about twice a week, especially when performances are close in time. Sometimes it is difficult for them to perform due to conflicts with work. The younger girls’ parents sometimes are not available to drive them to practice or to festivals, because they have to work. “Some girls really want to dance but their parents do not have the availability. Others are very committed and they drive to Knoxville, if we have to. Or they drive to Kingsport,” Socorro explained. The costumes are beautiful. Some are sewn by Socorro. Materials like the preferred kinds of ribbon and lace can’t be found here, so they ask friends and relatives to bring them from Mexico. The young dancers took turns introducing themselves. Alan Armenta has danced for 8 years. Rosa first learned 6 years ago, at the Pigeon Forge School. María, Jessica and Marisol are also members of the Santa Cruz Troupe. Socorro explained teaching is very fulfilling to her. Her daughters, the reason they started the dancing troupe, are now married and expecting. Now that they are older, they really value their tradition, and they have plans to continue dancing and teaching their own children too. The three younger girls are dressed in an embroidered shirt and a long skirt. Rosa and Socorro don colorful dresses with ribbons and lace. Alan wears the typical charro sombrero and decorated pants. They get in position and the music starts playing. They quickly tap to the lively music. Girls skillfully wave their skirts, their colorful ribbons tracing figures and shapes, to the uplifting beat of a Mexican song.
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SALSAKNOX (MEXICAN FOLK DANCE, SALSA) Waldo Solano is one-half of SalsaKnox, the first Mexican salsa dance company in Knoxville. Waldo is a professional salsero, and he makes a living performing and teaching salsa and bachata. The other half of SalsaKnox is Jacqueline Sellers, an eighth grade teacher who “teaches by day, and teaches by night.” And she doesn’t miss a beat promoting salsa dancing! Salsa is a term created by Puerto Ricans in New York to refer to a music and dance made up of different rhythms from Puerto Rico and other Caribbean nations, reflecting a syncretism of African and Hispanic influences in the Caribbean. Bachata, also with a strong African rhythmic base, originated in the Dominican Republic. It is a little bit easier to dance and it is a very popular style. Waldo has been a dancer for about thirty years, professionally for the last ten. None of his relatives are artists, but when asked about the origin of his passion for dance, he said, “In Mexico, we basically learn by watching our parents at parties, we copy what they do.” His family is large, and there are many birthdays to celebrate. “There is dancing at every party. Watching my parents dancing, enjoying themselves, I was bitten by the ‘dancing bug’”. In Mexico, Waldo learned to dance cumbia, another African influenced rhythmic music and dance that originated in Colombia and is now popular throughout Latin America. He learned to dance salsa twelve years ago, when he moved to the United States.
Jackie Sellers and Waldo Solano perform at Cinco de Mayo Festival, 2012. Photo by RC.
Jacquie Sellers has been dancing for five years and she has been Waldo’s business partner for three. Initially she used to dance just socially, but later she became more immersed. She wanted to learn salsa’s technique and culture, and as result she became part-owner of SalsaKnox. “Salsa is not just for Latinos, it is for everyone,” she is quick to point out. “If you can walk, then you can dance salsa!”
Waldo and Jacquie spin gracefully on the dancing floor, so elegantly synchronized (see Video 53, under Cinco de Mayo Festival.) Waldo’s first large event was a Salsa Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada. That was five years ago. After that, he participated in Nashville’s Congress, two years ago. “I go to many festivals and schools. Now the largest event is the one that I created last year at the first Tennessee’s Salsa Congress. We had three salsa world champions. We hope this year’s will even be bigger,” he mentions with pride. Waldo started teaching salsa lessons almost by chance. “I learned salsa because I liked it. Then, at parties, people would say, ‘Teach me,’ ‘Teach me.’ So many people asked that I ended up teaching. Now I am an instructor.” SalsaKnox teaches beginning and advanced salsa classes several nights a week. On weekends a “dance lesson, followed by party” is a very popular event. But SalsaKnox is also a touring act. They have a professional team, a semi-professional team, and a ladies group. “We travel all over North Carolina, Nashville, East Tennessee, South Carolina, and Georgia.”
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Not speaking English made life hard when Waldo first arrived. He never took English lessons. Actually 95% of his students are English-speaking, he jokes; he learned English by teaching salsa! Waldo said he always wanted to play piano or guitar, and those are in his “to do” list. He also wants to learn a few more traditional Mexican recipes, because he misses authentic Mexican food. Jacquie likes Latino culture because of Latinos’ sense of community and their love for different types of food and dance. “And I think there’s more of an openness that we, as an American culture, have yet to discover. I love the family aspect and I love the community.” Waldo urges Latinos not to lose their cultural roots and commends families who teach folk dances and traditions to their children. “Folk art is what makes Mexico unique. I wish everyone was more open-minded. While learning a new culture, I wish we would not forget [the culture] that we bring with us.” A final thought, “Latinos should support events which would greatly help Latino businesses to continue to grow. Latinos often complain there is not much to do in Tennessee, but when there are events, Latinos should participate more.”
SalsaKnox group performs at HoLa Festival, 2009. Photo by Jon Gustin.
LAS CATRACHAS DEL CERRO DE PLATA (HONDURAN FOLK DANCE, TEXTILE ARTS) Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata are “the new kids on the block.” The 5-member group of young mothers started just about a year ago with the purpose of teaching their children about their roots and love for their native Honduras. Sandra and Lily Henríquez are sisters from Tegucigalpa, Honduras’ capital. Patricia Silva is their close friend who was born in Comayahuela. Now in the US, they live close to each other, in Sevierville, Tennessee. Dressed in homecrafted white traditional Honduran costumes accented with brightly colored ribbon, they shared with us some memories and reasons for developing their folk dance troupe. Sandra explains, “We love our country very much. We want to teach our children our culture, where we come from. We also want to teach people here what Honduras means, what we do [in Honduras.] All those reasons led us to start this group, for others to get to know our culture.” Lily states they had a desire to found a Honduran folk dance group for a long time. It was hard at the beginning because of their lack of time, and fear of the level of commitment from some people they had invited to join. An opportunity to parade and perform at Knoxville’s HoLa Festival helped them set a goal. How did the group choose its name? Lily explains, “Most of us are from Tegucigalpa. In the eighteenth century, silver mining flourished in Tegucigalpa. And Tegucigalpa is known as “Cerro de Plata” (Silver Mountain)”.
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Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata Honduran troupe, including (from left) Sandra Henríquez de Matute, her sister Lily Henríquez de Flores, and friend Patricia Silva. They each made their own Honduran costume. Photo by RC.
Sandra continues, “And well, catrachas is a traditional Honduran dish. It is basically a fried corn tortilla, topped with refried beans and a little bit of cheese. They are well known, delicious, and so easy to cook.” Because of that dish, all people born in Honduras are called “catrachos” or “catrachas”. It is a nickname for Hondurans. The troupe’s artistic name means Hondurans from Tegucigalpa. Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata definitely is a better-sounding name! The costumes are beautiful. “Each one of us made her own dress,” Lily proudly said. Lily is an experienced seamstress. “We had to travel to Knoxville to find fabric… it is not exactly the same [as costumes in Honduras] but we found some materials. Some things we had to order to be shipped from Honduras, like the colorful jarritos and trencillas (different types of ribbon) that decorate the dress.” If they had had better material at hand, the costumes could have had more elaborate decoration, Sandra explained.
Las Catras del Cerro de Plata in traditional attire, show symbols of their native Honduras; (from left) Lily Henríquez with some plantains, a staple of Honduran cuisine; Sandra Henríquez with a Honduran craft by Rafael Casco; and Patricia Silva with a basket of rosquetes. Photo by RC.
Las Catrachas came to Sevierville between 2005 and 2007. Individually, they each have different talents and traditions that they continue now in United States. Sandra explains they learned mostly from their mom, who had a gift of creating things with her hands. She could sew clothes. She cooked and baked too. All the children helped make jalea de mango (mango jelly) to help the family’s economy. But teaching her daughters to be good mothers and wives was probably Sandra’s mother most important job. “It is part of our culture that a mother teaches her daughters the role of a mom, it is very important. From a very early age, girls are trained for that important role, and they are trained in cooking, sewing, child caring, cleaning the house, it is part of our culture that is passed on from one generation to the next.”
Sandra Henríquez de Matute explains the reason of creating this dance troupe. Video by RC. Click to play. Sandra Henríquez de Matute Honduran cheers. Audio by RC. Click to play.
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Las Catrachas would like to encourage others to join their group, they need male dancers especially. Dancing is something new to them. They have learned El baile de la Rosa. When asked to finish up with a “catracho” saying (hear audio), Sandra cheerfully claimed, “We are a solid group, and we need to keep hard at it. And who said fear, oh well!” And in unison, “Que viva Honduras!”
SANDRA HENRÍQUEZ DE MATUTE (HONDURAN FOLK DANCER, FOODWAYS) Sandra Henríquez de Matute defines herself as a dancer. Her love of dance came from her mother, who danced professionally at one time. Her dad always loved opera, singing and wanted to be a conductor. Sandra learned patriotic hymns and opera, from him. At their neighborhood he organized a yearly singing and poetry reading competition that his children learned later to enjoy. Other family traditions included holiday cooking, including homemade tamales with hot sauce and horchata for Christmas, a dried fish soup or tortillas for Holly Week, and “sopa de mondongo,” an elaborate soup cooked on Sundays. Its basic ingredient is cow’s stomach, which had to be cleaned well and boiled for at least two hours to soften it. To flavor the soup, 21 different types of vegetables, all finely chopped are added at carefully sequenced times. “It is eaten with suspiros, a Honduran sweet bread, combined with hot peppers, tomatoes, and all those other vegetables. Sopa de mondongo is still common in Honduras. Here Sandra often cooks fried yucca and makes horchata for her family. When she moved to the United States, in 2005, she longed to perform and share her culture and dances she had learned at school. “I have Sandra Henríquez de Matute, 2012. Photo by RC. dancing in my blood. I love dancing all types of music. But I particularly like punta, a folk dance danced on tiptoes. You have to gently shake your head, your hips and your shoulders, to give flavor to the dance. I love punta dancing!” Sandra danced in folk dance groups in Honduras. Now she hopes to continue her art and inspire others to join Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata.
LILY HENRÍQUEZ DE FLORES (HONDURAN TEXTILE ARTS, STORYTELLING) Lily Rosibel Henríquez de Flores learned some traditions from her mother and some from her father. Lily’s mom was a homemaker, she passed away seven months ago. She had so many jobs! “She was our teacher, our doctor, our coach, our judge in many quarrels, but one of the nicest things I learned from her was that she was very industrious, she was very artistic, very creative, very imaginative.” Lily learned to sew “at her mother’s knee, picking up the colorful swatches she dropped, and we asked her if we could use them to make doll’s clothes!” Lily’s mom used her sewing machine to dress her seven daughters. She made children and adult’s clothing and items for home décor. Lily remembers she picked up the remnants and patches of fabric her mother disposed of and made doll’s clothes with them! Her mother made dresses and also made handbags, aprons and embroidery work. Lily tells us, “Aprons are something women used then, maybe in my great grandmother’s times, to cover their nice clothes and women wore them at all time. They had huge
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pockets for money and things, which women used instead of handbags!” Lily’s mom sewed decorative aprons with bright colors or lace. In Honduras, it is common to know how to sew. “It is part of our culture to do work with our hands. If something is broken or torn, it is fixed. If it can’t be fixed, one gets used to do without it.”
Lily Henríquez de Flores. Photo by RC.
Lily’s dad was a good cartographer… Well, back then, when there were no satellites or digital maps, census workers had to make their own maps and land surveys, and Lily’s dad was excelled in the art of cartography. He instilled in his children a love of books and good public speaking skills. She now practices her oratory skills at church, and telling stories at home. When asked to share her talent with us, she shared one of the most traditional stories of Honduras, the legend of La Ciguanábana.
Lily narrating La Ciguanábana folk story. Audio by RC. Click to play.
Niño, niño, trabaja Abre la segunda tierra Porque en sus entrañas encierra Mil tesoros para ti Si procuras con afán Ser un hombre honrado y consciente Trabajador consecuente Lograras tu felicidad. Work, my child, work. Open up a second plot of land. Its womb holds A thousand treasures for you. If you strive to be An honest, conscientious, And hard-working man, You will reap much happiness.
“This is the story of a woman who was deceived by a man she dearly loved. And he deceived her because he was a “tunante.” We use this word to describe a womanizer. A man who seduces a woman, he uses sweet words to entice her and to get her madly in love… our culture is like that… men say beautiful things and behave politely or give women gifts to win a woman’s heart. Then the woman, Ciguanábana, fell so madly in love with him that she had eyes for no other man. But then she realized that her man was seducing another woman, then another, then another. She felt very hurt. She hurt so much, that she died of love. Before her death she promised revenge on every “tunante” man. The story, and the most mysterious part of this legend, is that people say to have seen the figure of a woman near the rivers and ravines of our country. The woman has a long beautiful and flowing head full or hair, her body is curvy and very attractive to the masculine eye. The man comes closer to say hi to her, because he wants to make her fall for him. But the woman doesn’t show her face. When the man is close enough to notice her features, she covers her face and flirts to get the man to come closer. When he comes closer to her to whisper gallantries in her ears, to beg her to accept a written note, to whistle or throw little pebbles near her to gain her attention, she suddenly uncovers her horrible, demonic face. The man is stunned, petrified, speechless. When that happens, the man faints. The legend claims that many men have died, or ran away, or never spoke again at the sight of the woman. So this is the story of La Ciguanábana, a woman who died of love, she seeks revenge maybe from the afterlife. She is also known as La Llorona, “The Weeping Woman”. After this legend, she is ready to recite a poem. It is a poem she and her brother were taught. It speaks of the traditional work ethic in her family’s Honduran heritage.
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PATRICIA SILVA REYES (HONDURAN FOLK DANCE, FOODWAYS) Blanca Patricia Silva Reyes is a really good cook. She learned to cook by being around her mom in the kitchen. Some of her fondest memories involved the entire family, boys and girls; helping prepare special holiday foods, such as nacatamales every December. Nacatamales are laborious to make. “You have to put meat, vegetables in the [corn] dough, which later are wrapped in plantain leaves. They are cooked at least for an hour. I remember we used to make that at Christmas time. And for dessert, we made torrejas.” She explains that torrejas call for a special type of bread, called bolillo. The bread is dipped in beaten egg and fried. Later they are sweetened with raspadura de dulce. That is like brown sugar that is patiently grated from sugar-honey cone. Torrejas can be served hot, covered in cinnamon, but some people prefer to eat them cold. Patricia cooks Honduran dishes often at home. She wants her children to love their traditional recipes and Honduran bread. But friends encourage her to cook commercially. She takes orders for nacatamales and her husband helps her cook and sell occasionally at events. “Since it is traditional food, people want some to taste it.”
Patricia Silva, 2012. Photo by RC.
Patricia’s mother prepared her well for homemaking. She taught her to sew and cook, as well as pastry making. She bakes breads and cakes. Her mom used to say that the secret of good-tasting food was to “add love” when cooking. Patricia shared this healthy recipe for rosquetes, passed on from her great grandmother. Rosquetes (corn donuts) and chocolate. Photo by RC.
ROSQUETES (HONDURAS CORN DONUTS) INGREDIENTS: 2 lb corn flour (Maseca brand) 3 eggs 1 tsp vanilla 3 cups sugar 3 Tbs baking soda 1/2 lb shortening 1/2 lb margarine 1 tsp salt
DIRECTIONS: Beat margarine and shortening with sugar, to form a soft cream. Add vanilla, salt, and eggs. Continue beating. Add Maseca flour and baking soda to make dough. Shape dough like small donuts. Place on greased cookie sheet. Preheat oven at 250, cook for 10 to 12 minutes. Cool down.
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HECTOR SALDIVAR (PIÑATA MAKER, MEXICAN CARTONERIA, PAINTING) Hector Saldivar was born and raised in Mexico City. He lives surrounded by relatives, in Lenoir City, Tennessee. Although he has spent more than half his life in the United States, his art speaks volumes of the colorful traditions of Mexican craft. Hector is a piñatero, a piñata maker. “I started making piñatas because my mother always celebrated Las Posadas. There are 9 posadas, and I would be the one who made the piñatas.” Traditional piñatas were decorated clay pots. The pot was first covered with newspaper and later with colorful crepe paper. “My mother would buy a clay pot and I would use my imagination to create different piñatas. To me, that was a wonderful thing.” Children took turns hitting the piñata. Hector recalls the cracking sounds and the smell of fruit. “Back then piñatas were filled with fruit and sugar cane. Now they are filled with candy.” Hector still makes piñatas every Christmas, every birthday in his family, and he takes special orders too. “Christmas piñatas are the most traditional. They can have four, five, six, seven, even eight cones.” For birthday piñatas he often gets requests of a favorite character. Or he sets free his imagination! He showed us a rooster piñata that he is half-way through. “First, I make a cardboard structure… with cardboard strips, one by one, until there is a shape to be covered with paper. I use newspaper strips and engrudo.” Engrudo is a homemade flour and water paste, used to glue the paper.
Hector posing beside his statue, La Catrina, at Casa HoLa, November 2011. Photo by RC.
Hector has refined his art now to make larger sculptures out of cardboard and paper mache, in the tradition of Mexican cartonería. “Last year, I made a Catrina for HoLa’s Day of Dead contest. I was so happy I won second prize!” His sculpture was 7-feet tall. Hector explained he used boxes and newspaper. A wonderful recycling project! “La Catrina is to Mexican Day of the Dead what the pumpkin is to Halloween.” This fancily dressed feminine figure, representation of Death, was first depicted by Guadalupe Posada, a Mexican graphic artist. Famed Diego Rivera painted La Catrina in several works. The skeleton of a wealthy, elegant woman, La Catrina symbolizes the fact that death, the great equalizer, spares no one, not even the rich and powerful. She is a happy dancing figure that reigns in Day of the Dead celebrations.
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Indigenous woman, acrylic on canvas, by Hector Saldivar, 2010. Photo by RC.
Traditional tiered altar from Mexico City, decorated by Hector Saldivar. Photo by RC.
Hector also dressed a tiered altar for HoLa’s Day of the Dead Contest. “This is the traditional altar in Mexico City style.” Decorated with lace and papel picado, sugar skulls, pottery, sugar cane, fruit, sweet pan de muerto bread, and a large painting of Frida Kahlo, the ofrenda (offering) paid homage to Hector’s loved ones. “I remember going to the market with my grandma to buy special fruit. When I make an altar it brings me fond memories. I also like for people to see Mexican art and traditions.” Hector’s grandmother would tell her grandchildren how their deceased family members would come to visit on November 2nd if the altar was set. She said that they would come to the altar attracted by the sweet smell of fruit, water, and salt. Food that the person might have liked, like mole, or candied pumpkin, and tequila or pulque (a fermented drink made of agave) were also served. Sugar skulls, sweet bread, sweet potatoes, are staples too. Hector’s talents have recently expanded to include painting. His style is still evolving, but he enjoys painting landscapes, still life and indigenous themes. His first solo exhibit was at Casa HoLa last year. He participates in group exhibits with his art teacher. He had two paintings exhibited at the Knoxville Museum of Art’s Latino Artist Exhibit. In order to further develop his art Hector said he would need support from the public and more opportunities to show his and other Latino artists’ work.
Rooster-shaped cardboard and paper mache statue, by Hector Saldivar. Photo by RC.
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JUAN CARLOS MARTIN TREJO (MEXICAN PAPER MACHE, IXTLE WEAVING, HERBAL MEDICINE, WOOD CRAFTS, MUSIC) Juan Carlos Martin Trejo is a young man with multiple talents. He has been involved with HoLa Hora Latina for the last two years. He and Hector Saldivar were the inspiration for the Day of the Dead altar contest. He is originally from the Mezquital Valley in the Mexican state of Hidalgo. For generations, his family’s occupation has been agriculture and handcrafts made of ixtle, the fiber of the maguey cactus, a very strong fiber. Women harvest and make thread out of the ixtle fiber that is later knitted into loofas, mittens, soap pouches, and larger bags. “It is hard to commercialize”, says Juan Carlos. A mitten could take a week to make! Despite his young age, Juan Carlos can show us so many things! He makes his crafts just for fun, but he also wants others to learn. He knows how to play guitar, harmonica, and he taught himself Juan Carlos Martin Trejo poses next to his Day of the Dead altar, in honor of his grandviolin (see video). He plays and sings mother, November 2011. Photo by RC. at his Catholic church. He also paints, mainly paintings with symbols. “Before there was written language, people drew symbols that told a story,” he says. Juan Carlos is knowledgeable in herbal medicine as well. “There are different herbs, whether it is for a physical or a spiritual pain.” He knows which herb to use to calm a headache. He might use a Temascal bath to heal one’s soul, a remedy for the blues; to make someone happy. When asked about most common ingredients he pronounces various native names: “gasnodo”… “nyai”… “yahuada”… “cashuada”… “datua”… “ehu”… “jedabra jine”. He learned those in his native language, “Hñahñu” (it means “a man who speaks through his nose”). Commonly called “Otomí,” Hñahñu belongs to the Otomanguean language family of central Mexico, the most diverse and geographically widespread indigenous language family in Mesoamerica. He learned the language orally from his parents and grandparents. Juan Carlos is a wood crafter as well. He made a torito (little bull), an ornate wooden and paper mache structure, to exhibit at HoLa Festival. “I learned to make them by watching one made at a fair.” In Mexico, toritos are festive symbols used at every fair. They have fireworks and sometimes they are used for amateur bullfighters to practice their moves. Juan Carlos also built a marionette theater and even wired a skeleton marionette. Juan Carlos also paints, mainly to express dreams or thoughts, or images like Our Lady of Guadalupe. Last October he created a large mural with 20 16”x20” pieces, depicting la Calavera Garbancera image—also known as La Catrina—originally created by Jose Guadalupe Posada. It was shown at Casa HoLa throughout the fall.
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Itxle fiber crafts handmade by Juan Carlos Martin Trejo’s relatives. On the upper left section shows spindle with itxle fiber thread. Photo by RC.
Torito made by Juan Carlos Martin Trejo, exhibited at HoLa Festival 2010. Photo by Dana Evers-Boehm.
Juan Carlos Martin Trejo describes his Day of the Dead altar. Video by CG. Juan Carlos Martin Trejo next to a mural he made of La Catrina. Photo by CG.
One of his fondest childhood memories is learning observance of the many holidays and traditions, such as Day of the Dead, Las Posadas, December holidays, and local fairs. At school and at home he learned to make paper crafts like balloons and papel picado decorations. Men, women, and children participate in all those activities. That is how children learn. Juan Carlos says, “We wish people would be interested and have a desire to learn more about our roots so that they can know more about Mexico. There are different parts or pieces, to be united. Those who come after us, our children, [I wish] they would learn.” Juan Carlos set up a beautiful traditional altar in honor of his deceased grandmother. He included a picture of her and many of the things she enjoyed in life. His cousin and he carefully decorated the table for over two hours. The beautiful pictures barely capture the magical moment. The room’s air is heavy with the sweet smells of flowers and bread. Juan Carlos explains some of the elements we can see in his altar. “My grandmother was an artisan. She would work ixtle to make items for sale. That is how everyone survived.” He has brought long maguey cactus leaves that serve
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now as large containers for fresh, dried fruit and many other items. Every altar has a flower of strong aroma. “It is the cempaxúchitl,” similar, but larger than a marigold. “The smell is mixed with the food, and that is a call to the deceased to come join us.” Juan Carlos speaks in short sentences, carefully choosing Spanish words that might match his Hñahñu thoughts. “The water. A glass of Juan Carlos Martin Trejo plays guerwater with bread on top is for those who are rilla song at violin, 2012. Video by RC. not remembered.” He points to a round large Click to play. bread, his grandma’s favorite. “[The altar] is missing the arch. The arch could be round or square. If it is round, it is for the moon. If it is square, it is for the sun.” So much symbolism in Juan Carlos’ altar. “I didn’t put an arch, but here is the sun.” A large black canvas with an intricate figure he painted. “The sun is like a father or god. The moon is like a mother.” The candles are placed exactly North, South, East, and West. Close to the altar, different smells can be perceived. “The incense is copal.” It has been burned since Prehispanic times for communication between the living and dead. Juan Carlos points out that every culture from the Olmecs to the Mayas to the Aztecs to modern Mexicans believed in the afterlife and that souls can cross and visit the physical Earth. His family sets altars at home, but they also visit the graves. Fresh fruits include oranges, pears, tunas (nopal cactus fruit), and many varieties of candied fruit, such as citron and pumpkin. Almonds, flavored sunflower seeds, and cakes made of seeds and honey. Sugar cane, and corn. “All these were her favorite things to eat.” Sometimes there is other food like chicharrón (pork rinds), a favorite snack food in Mexico. Traditional cooking utensils, clay pots, tortilla press, and a molcajete—a pestle and mortar that children use to learn to make salsa—are included on the altar. Most of these items he brought from Mexico. Bread is shaped in different ways—a bun with a cross, a person, or even a pig—and it is a sweet dough recipe cooked especially for Day of the Dead. He points to the papel picado, cut paper decorations around the table. “Paper is used to represent wind.” Juan Carlos could not find the right type of paper, but he used colored tissue paper to cut geometrical shapes into papel picado rectangles. “Every altar must have corn. We believe we come from corn.” It is a Prehispanic belief. After the contest is over some of the food will be consumed, in “communion” with those honored. Taking the altar down is ceremonial as well. The long maguey leaves and rests of fruit and flowers will be buried, the way tradition calls. A minute of silence to take it all in… Mexican culture is a full five-sense experience. Or maybe six.
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THE RECENDEZ FAMILY (MEXICAN FOODWAYS, EMBROIDERY, STORYTELLING) The Recendez family left Mexico not long ago. Originally from Zacatecas, Miguel, Lucy, and Edy Recendez spent a few years in Aguascalientes before their move to Knoxville. They won first place in HoLa’s first Altar Contest with an elaborate three-dimensional display, including a makeshift tomb. A decorated trellis with towering corn stalks, fashions a tall tombstone announcing that there lies General Emiliano Zapata. A sign read 1879-1919. Next to the trellis, a skeleton is fashioned wearing a hat, thick black moustache, cowboy boots, and two guns! Edy Recendez is a 16-year old high school student who is eager to show his technological knowledge alongside his Mexican roots. He has prepared a presentation about Emiliano Zapata on a touch-screen computer, included as part of the altar, with a video about his life. He explains that the altar is a Mexican tradition, including things the person liked to do, eat or drink when alive. “Tradition is that the spirit of the dead person will come at night and enjoy his favorite things.”
Lucy Recendez (left) receiving first prize from HoLa’s Altar Contest, November 2011. Photo by Edy Recendez.
This altar is ready for a feast. Arranged around the “grave” are potted flowers, baskets and clay containers with food. Rice and mole (a sauce made with chile peppers and chocolate), ears of corn, yams, apples, tangerines, bananas, a basket of pan de muerto (Mexican sweet Day of the Dead bread), and tuna, the red edible fruit of the nopal cactus. A half empty bottle of mescal (fermented drink made of maguey), and an empty bottle of tequila. Another Mexican tradition! Edy jokes that Mexicans celebrate liberally with alcoholic drinks in every occasion they have! Everyone comments on the artistically displayed elements, which include a long string of hanging skeleton decorations dressed in paper costumes. They could represent family members, or could be other souls invited so they will not be alone. Why Zapata?, everyone wonders.
Detail of Recendez’ altar, skeleton with moustache, hat, boots, and guns, representation of Emiliano Zapata, 2011. Photo by CG.
“Sometimes people make altares for those they admire,” said Lucy Recendez, Edy’s mom. “Emiliano Zapata was a symbol; he fought for the land and people’s freedom… He is one of our greatest Mexican heroes.” Emiliano Zapata was a village leader, farmer and horseman who was instrumental in bringing down the Porfirio Díaz dictatorship in 1911. His motto was Land and Freedom. He was idealistic and his insistence on land reform became one of the pillars of the Mexican Revolution. He was to southern Mexico what Pancho Villa was to the north. They both were assassinated, but their legendary characters have been immortalized by popular song, story, and poetry. “We wanted to make an altar to Zapata, because Mexico is going
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through harsh times right now. We thought Mexico needs people to love their country, and people who try to make things better, just like he did,” Lucy explained. And she wrote a poem for this event:
Fue Emiliano Zapata, valiente revolucionario. Tu gente te recuerda, después de un centenario. Emiliano siempre decía: sin maíz no hay país y sin tierra no hay maíz. El amaba su gente con todo el corazón, y todos lo apoyaban porque tenía la razón. Un pedazo de tierra para todo mexicano, voz y voto, pedía Emiliano. Tierra y libertad, pedía nuestro hermano. ¡Vuela, vuela palomita! Ve y dile a Emiliano, que nuestro país lo está necesitando.
A brave revolutionary You were, Emiliano Zapata. A hundred years later, You are still remembered. Emiliano used to say: Without corn there is no country And without land There is no corn. He loved his people, With all his heart, And everyone supported him Because he was right. A piece of land, A voice, and a vote, Emiliano demanded Each Mexican had. Land and freedom, Our brother would claim. Fly, fly, little dove! Go find Emiliano. Tell him our country Urgently needs him.
Calaveritas is a popular literary tradition practiced during Day of the Dead. They are funny verses or witty short poems, usually about someone living. Children and adults write verses to tell one another for fun. They often incorporate the figure of Death (under various names such as Calaca, Catrina, Pelona) as a prankster on the subject of the poem, or describe some trick played on Death. Lucy points to several antique items in the altar were used in Zapata’s time. These include an oil lamp, a mill for nixtamal (boiled corn for tortillas), a tortilla press wooden box. Those were modern tools in the 20th century, before that tortillas were made by hand! A large stone pestle called molcajete is a must-have in every Mexican home. It is used to make salsas, out of roasted peppers and tomatoes, green or red. Edy explains cooking traditional food seems to be another custom that every Mexican family keeps. Ingredients are found at Mexican stores, but at hugely inflated prices. Mexican food means different things in different states. Monterrey is famous for cabrito (goat meat) dishes, Puebla for its mole poblano, and Zacatecas for barbacoa (meat cooked with various chile peppers and spices) and birria (a sauce cooked to serve over boiled chicken or meat.) And desserts? Dulce de leche, made the traditional way. In Mexico whole unpasteurized milk is sold out of traveling vans. It is cooked slowly with piloncillo (hard sugar cone.) Listening to them talk with pride of their traditional preparation of food, ratifies UNESCO’s decision to include Mexican cuisine and traditional food preparation techniques in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
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Lucy is also proud to show her mother’s folk art of 3-point cross stitching. She has many cross stitched napkins, placemats, for everyday use. Towels, pillow covers, decorated sheets, even large tablecloths. Beautiful pink or purple flowers and delicate hand crocheted lace edges decorate the pieces. When turned over the work is almost as neat as the front, as an expert cross-stitcher would do!
Detail of Recendez’ altar, basket of tortillas over a handmade cross-stitched napkin with crocheted edges, 2011. Photo by CG.
Lucy’s mom, Teresa Luna, who lives in Mexico, learned her craft from her own mother, at age 10. Even now that her eyesight is worse, she still keeps her hands busy. It is a good past time, she explains. Family women or friends often meet to sew or crochet together, they admire and copy each other’s designs… and chat! Lucy shows a beautiful Our Lady cross stitched image her mom gave her. She has made guardian angels, and even crocheted a red dress with a wide skirt Lucy used as a girl! Most items are given away as gifts, but Lucy’s mom has also sold some items at fairs. Lucy is also very crafty herself, she uses a loom to knit. “I bought this loom here, the ones in Mexico are wooden and have nails for pegs,” she explained. Lucy’s father used to run an itinerant movie theater that would take movies to Mexican villages. “People paid to watch the film projected on a large screen, probably a sheet,” she said. And now his grandson Edy is a budding filmmaker! Edy has a photo and video-editing business called Edycion. Edy is the photographer and his dad Miguel records video. But it is the quality of Edy’s video editing what is astounding, especially given his age. They have a home photo studio, including a green backdrop for effects. Lucy has good dancing and acting skills! She misses her folk dancing lessons in Aguacalientes. Miguel is very creative with costume and decorations. On the weekends, the extended family and friends have fun in front and behind the camera! They invent plots, write screen scripts, act, film, and edit home movies for fun. Many incorporate their Mexican roots and traditions.
Handmade cross-stitched Our Lady of Guadalupe image, made by Lucy Recendez’s mother. Photo by Edy Recendez.
Lucy Recendez using a loom to knit a scarf, 2012. Photo by Edy Recendez.
Handmade 3-point cross-stitched placemats for everyday use, made by Lucy Recendez’ mother. Main photo shows reverse of the placemat, skillful crafted, without thread crossing in diagonal. Detail on lower right corner shows front flower design and hand crocheted edge. Photo by CG.
“Mexican culture is so rich and varied,” Lucy nostalgically said after we talked for hours and hours. And the reason for that is great talent, strong family values, and deeply engrained traditions practiced each day by Mexican people. We are lucky to have the Recendez here!
Lucy Recendez recites poem written by her in honor of Emiliano Zapata, to whom her family’s altar entry in HoLa’s contest was dedicated, 2012. Music at violin by Juan Carlos Martin Trejo. Video by RC, edited by Edy Recendez. Click to play.
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RODOLFO VILLALPANDO (MEXICAN SWEETS) AND MARIA NUÑO (ROMPOPE) This husband and wife team lives in Lenoir City, Tennessee. They opened their home and kitchen to show their delicious Mexican sugary crafts. Now they hope to teach their daughters and grandchild to carry on their family tradition.
Sugar skulls for sale at HoLa Festival 2011. Photo by Dana Everts-Boehm.
Rodolfo Villalpando Orozco has the “sweetest” memories of childhood. He and his wife Maria Esperanza Nuño are from Guanajuato, Mexico. Ever since he can remember, his family members were dulceros (candy makers). His father, Rodolfo Villalpando Sr., learned the craft of candy-making from Rodolfo’s grandmother. She used to make and sell calaveritas de azucar (sugar skulls) and garrapiñados (caramel coated peanuts) in Mexico City. She taught her son how to make her sweet confections, and “that was his occupation, literally, for life”, Rodolfo says. His specialties included paleta de tamarindo (tamarindo sweet), gomitas (gum drops), soft caramels and hard candy.
Rodolfo’s fondest childhood memory is Day of the Dead in Mexico. The tradition that is “most rooted” in him was the confection of sugar skulls. “This is just the opposite to an industrial type of job. Sugar skulls are handmade, it is a craft. Making them gives me a lot of satisfaction”, Rodolfo explains. He doesn’t know a lot of people who can make them. He proudly points out that people comment on the beauty of his work, everyone seems to like it, and he does not want this tradition to die. “Sugar runs in our blood,” Rodolfo said. He shows different types of sweets the family prepares and sells out of their kitchen. Gomitas are made from all-natural ingredients. Paletas are different flavored pastes sold by the spoonful. He talks while he is busy filling out little cups of his tangy tamarindo concoction. “You place three tamarindos per cup and basically it is a boiled sugar, glucose, and water mixture. Later acid and salt are added, and chiles if you please. That is all.” He recalls going with his family, as a child, to La Feria del Alfeñique (alfeñique = “sugar flavored paste”) in Guanajuato, where the family sold their sugar candy. One year he entered a contest and was the second winner in sugar skull crafting. His winning entry was a calavera porfiriana, a name he gave his creation in honor of Porfirio Díaz (who sported a thick white moustache) because of the big confectioner’s sugar white moustache that graced his skull.
Rodolfo Villalpando packages dulce de tamarindo. Photo by RC.
Although traditional sugar skull making is more common in his native Guanajuato, he estimates that not more than one hundred people actually make them the old traditional way. This activity usually involves participation of the entire family. Sugar skulls production greatly differs from making alfeñiques. “Those are made by kneading, while sugar skulls are made by hollowing,” Rodolfo said. First the perfect proportion of sugar and water is boiled and poured onto molds. Once set, the sugar skull is carefully
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hollowed out. Decorations also mark the difference. The largest skulls he makes are almost 6 or 7 inches wide. With the hollowed-out sugar from the large skull, he can make a medium size skull. And with the sugar taken out of that one, he then makes mini-skulls that are about 2-inches wide which are hugely popular with kids. The larger skulls are sold with elaborate and colorful fine sugar piping decorations, often displaying the name of a deceased loved family member or friend. Rodolfo gets many orders close to the November 2, when families make altares in honor of their dead. Little skulls are sold “plain” (they make white, chocolate, and pink sugar skulls) and they are fun for children to decorate… and later eat! When asked what he would need to take his craft to “the next level” he said that “an organization or private investor would be needed to provide financial support and proper tools. Transportation and packing, as well.” He feels some of his products could be industrially Rodolfo Villalpando shows an assortment of manufactured, like gummy candy or suckers. Their needs are finanhomemade Mexican sweets and rompope drink. cial and the first one would be to find a better production place. SupPhoto by RC. port from organizations such as HoLa is also important. “The HoLa Festival gave us an opportunity to sell [sugar skulls and sweets] and they sold really well. We look forward to doing it again!” Although Rodolfo moved to US about twelve years ago, due to financial reasons, his wife Maria Esperanza joined him only seven years ago. Maria Esperanza mentions she learned to cook by watching her mother. She enjoyed cooking and preparing desserts, such as gelatins and cakes. Still today Maria Esperanza prepares some of the family recipes, but not all. She is proud of rompope, in particular, and she will share a family recipe with us. Rompope is a milk and egg –based punch that it is traditionally prepared in Mexican villages. The original recipe is said to have originated at convents, where nuns would make it and sell the drink to raise funds. There are different recipes and there are rompopes of different flavors. It is a festive beverage consumed during holidays and family celebrations. Ingredients for Maria’s rompope include: milk, eggs, almonds, alcohol, sugar, cinnamon, lemon peel, and that is it! Instructions: Mix sugar and cinnamon in milk and bring to a boil, stirring for 15 minutes. Let milk cool down and later add egg and ground almond. Rompope tastes better the day after it is cooked! Although she has personally not been involved in events, she definitely would like to teach others how to prepare traditional Mexican recipes. When asked about her cooking skill, she humbly says: “I’m just a housewife, and I help my husband in making and packing his sweets”. But it is obvious that she really knows her way around in the kitchen. “I liked to do all that. I have seen it [done] since my grandmother [times], she liked to make desserts, gelatin, all that, and I really enjoyed it. I had an interest in it.” And having tasted Maria Esperanza’s rompope, we are really glad she was interested in cooking!
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MARIO NAVARRO (MEXICAN PACIFIC FOODWAYS) Mario Navarro was born in Culiacan, Mexico. Culiacan is in the state of Sinaloa, worldknown fruit and tomato growing region. Mario jokes that tomato is Sinaloa’s logo! He moved to the United States 12 years ago. Mario learned his way in the kitchen by watching his grandmother. He remembers that on weekends the entire family of parents, siblings, uncles, and cousins would gather at grandma’s and she cooked a meal for everyone! Since he was the only one who lived with her, he would keep her company in the kitchen and also at the market, where he learned from her how to find the best produce. “I can tell a good watermelon just by tapping on it, I know if a melon will be sweet… a peach you can tell by the smell, the pineapple, it depends on the color on top. There are many details to remember,” he said. And there are tomatoes. Culiacan is in the Pacific coast, and he has early memories of driving past tomato and vegetable patches on the way to the beach. “Tomato is used as a base for salsas, mixed with cilantro, onion, cucumber. Entomatadas, chilequile are popular, topped with cheese. You can make tomato sauce, tuna-filled tomatoes, many types of salads,” he lists. Mario Navarro sits at his restaurant and shows two designs for a tomato mural, by artist
Tomato has been a constant in Rafael Casco. Photo by RC. his life and a staple in his kitchen. Former owner of Agave Azul and Soccer Taco, he now owns and directs Meksiko Cantina, in Farragut, Tennessee. “I want tomato to be the concept of my restaurant,” he explains, “I want people to know and appreciate Mexican food of the Pacific states.” Mario shows a couple of sketches by artist Rafael Casco, depicting his beloved tomatoes. “Any type of sauce has tomatoes, whether a tomatillo sauce, or green sauce… they are all made from tomatoes.” Mario worked for more than twenty years as an engineer. The change of career proved to be good! He recently was awarded the second best entry prize in a local Top Chef competition, against some to the most renowned restaurants in Knoxville. His restaurant features traditional Mexican food, family recipes past generation to generation, which he spices as it is customary in his state. “From my grandma I learned how to make less hot a hot chile pepper, how to give flavor to a sauce, which vegetables need salt and which ones don’t”.
Cooking in Mexico is more common for women than men, even at this time where women work eight hours a day. “Women are organized; they keep cooked and refried beans in the fridge. They may have salad or a cold soup. Then when they get home from work, you just heat everything up, and voila!” He makes it sound so easy! He recalls the first recipe he prepared on his own was pickled poblano pepper stuffed with tuna and seafood ceviche. He is about to open a second restaurant, featuring fish and seafood!
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ELENA LANDA (PERUVIAN FOLK DANCER, PAINTING, CRAFT, RECITATION) Elena Landa was born lucky. First, she is Peruvian. Second, she is bicultural. Third, she is an artist. She was lucky her parents knew how to feed her soul. Both were educators and as an only child, she did “everything they did.” From her father, she inherited his love for writing, storytelling, oratory, painting, and music. “He would play guitar, he sang, wrote poetry, wrote stories, he was very bohemian,” Elena explains. She grew up in a very artistic environment. “My mom, she loved dancing. She was all about reading and dancing.” Elena grew up reading and reciting poetry from Spain and Latin America, encouraged by her father. She narrated one of her father’s favorites by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Rhyme LII, aka “Dark swallows will return” :
Volverán las oscuras golondrinas en tu balcón sus nidos a colgar, y, otra vez, con el ala a sus cristales jugando llamarán; Pero aquellas que el vuelo refrenaban tu hermosura y mi dicha al contemplar, aquellas que aprendieron nuestros nombres... esas... ¡no volverán! Volverán las tupidas madreselvas de tu jardín las tapias a escalar, y otra vez a la tarde, aun más hermosas, sus flores se abrirán; Pero aquellas, cuajadas de rocío, cuyas gotas mirábamos temblar y caer, como lágrimas del día... esas... ¡no volverán! Volverán del amor en tus oídos las palabras ardientes a sonar; tu corazón, de su profundo sueño tal vez despertará; Pero mudo y absorto y de rodillas, como se adora a Dios ante su altar, como yo te he querido..., desengáñate: ¡así no te querrán!
Elena Landa by her paintings, 2012. Photo by RC.
Dark swallows will return to hang their nests on your balcony and again with their wings will rap playfully on its windows. But those who checked their flight to contemplate your beauty and my happiness those who memorized our names, those... will not return! Dense honeysuckles will return to climb the adobe walls of your garden and again in the afternoon even more lovely will open their flowers. But those drops of dew that we watched tremble and fall like tears of the day... those... will not return! Ardent words of love will return to sound in your ear, your heart will perhaps awaken from its deep slumber. But mute and entranced and kneeling, like worshiping God at an altar, like I desired you..., don’t kid yourself, no one will desire you like that!
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Recitation of Rhyme LII, by Elena Landa. Audio by RC. Click to play.
Jute art work by Elena Landa’s students at Centro Hispano, made by dying jute fabric and assembling as a puzzle. Photo by RC.
Elena Landa dressed in Afro-Peruvian attire with son dressed as the Inca, at the Parade of Nations, HoLa Festival, 2008. Photo by Jon Gustin.
Elena’s family traditions included a mixed religious background. Her dad was Jewish and her mom was a Protestant. She learned Hebrew prayers, and Christian Psalms. But the constant was music. She continues her tradition with her son. “We have a ritual each night, we say our prayers in Hebrew: Barukh atah Adonai Eloheinu, melekh ha’olam o de Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Ehad.” In English it would be something like “Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” Elena thinks this is very natural for him, as it was for her in the past. Her mother loved folklore. And she encouraged Elena to dance. “First I learned to dance marinera. It is sort of a Spanish waltz but acholado,” she chuckles, meaning mixed with Native American. The marinera is a coastal dance. “The dance I developed, my passion, is Afro-Peruvian folk dance. To me, that dance is the most beautiful in the world.” Elena brags that everyone loves dancing in Peru. Male and female learn folk dancing. If she were in Peru, her son would be taking dance lessons. Her son. “He does not fear those things he does not understand. He is learning Hebrew, English, Spanish.” For her it is important he learns his background, and he has represented Peru at HoLa Festival several years. “Once he was the Inca, next year he was a rainforest native.” When asked what type of artist she is, Elena cannot commit. “Well, it depends. I try to find that passion, that flame. Sometimes the flame is about painting. But other times I feel the flame in various ways.” If the flame is dancing, that is all she will do. “Since last November, that flame, that passion, came in the form of a story that I am trying to finish writing.” It is a 400-page novel, about archaeology, in Spanish, for young adults. “It is a cross of Indiana Jones and X-Men,” she jokes. She has ideas for illustrating it, and next she wants to write children’s books. HoLa provides an avenue for her to connect to other Latino artists and exhibit her work. Elena enjoys teaching art. At Centro Hispano she was co-teacher of a series of youth workshops on Latin American crafts, including traditional mask-making. This project was funded in part by a Folklife grant from the Tennessee Arts Commission. “We also did a project like a village, in jute. The fabric was dyed in different tones of red, or yellow. Then pieces were cut and glued to form the village. Like a puzzle.” Elena, multifaceted artist. World traveler. We are lucky she lives here.
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CECILIA STELLA MARTIN (COLOMBIAN PAINTER, FOODWAYS) Cecilia Stella Martin is a citizen of the world. She was born in La Plata, Huila, Colombia, and has lived in the United States since 1964. Presently she lives in Knoxville, with her husband, children and grandchildren. But she has traveled so extensively, that she considers herself a citizen of the world. Stella’s paintings are large and colorful landscapes, trees, flowers, and many magical places. She favors realism. Stella’s talent comes from her mother, who used to paint as a hobby. She recalls drawing was her favorite pastime. But she never knew she had a talent for painting. It was when she took a class with her grown daughter that she decided she was good at painting. Stella has a studio at home. Painting is an internal process for her. “When I paint I like to be completely alone,” Stella said. She finds inspiration in her memories and pictures of the many beautiful places she has visited. Stella has taken some university courses and a few private lessons, and she was part of several group shows. She participated for two years HoLa’s Latino Artists Exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art. Last year she had her first solo exhibit at Casa Hola. A Smoky Mountains painting of hers is in exhibit at Morristown’s Cultural Center. “I have sold only one painting,” she points out she often gives her art as a gift to relatives and friends who might compliment her paintings. “But now that my house’s walls are covered and my children’s homes are also full, I would consider selling some more.”
Colombian painter Stella Martin sits at her studio, in front of Spring in the Smoky Mountains, oil on canvas painting, on March 2012. Photo by RC.
Despite living abroad most her life, she speaks perfect Spanish with a harmonious Colombian accent. “My husband does not speak Spanish, but I have many Colombian friends!” She cooks many Colombian dishes that her family has learned to eat. Her husband now is the King of Coffee, she jokes. A tradition she keeps is the large family reunions every Sunday. Her children and grandchildren enjoy her sancocho, a soup made with chicken or beef, plantain, yucca, and potatoes, and tostones, fried plantain chips. They always take a week vacation together. “One of the things I really enjoy doing is sit-
Balcones en Cartagena, oil on canvas, 2011, by Stella Martin, inspired by a travel to Colombia. Photo by RC.
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ting down with my granddaughters to paint.” Stella thinks specially the oldest, who is 9 years old, has a very good hand. She encourages her often to paint. Her advice for those who have an interest in painting is “Just sit down and do it!” You will never know how good you are until you try, she said. As for herself, now that the traveling schedule has eased, she hopes to finish her Fine Arts education at the University of Tennessee. Her aspiration is “to learn more about technique. I want to make sure what I am doing is right”. “I would like to meet regularly with other Latino artists”, she hopes together they can explore. “And to find other opportunities to exhibit.”
Scene of Colombia’s capital in Museo bogotano, oil on canvas, 2011, by Stella Martin. Photo by RC.
Her paintings evoke many adventures, captured in time. Red tulips in Holland. Still waters in a Venetian channel. Colombian scene of balconies in Cartagena. And bucolic images of the Smoky Mountains.
KUKULY URIARTE (PERUVIAN/ARGENTINE VOCALIST, GUITARIST) Andrea Kukuly Uriarte Alvarez knows many people in Knoxville. And even more people know her! She performs regularly at different venues (restaurants, festivals, events) and her band’s multilingual and diverse repertoire promotes cultural awareness in our Knoxville music scene. A long way from her native Peru, she definitely feels at home here in East Tennessee. Kukuly is a young woman with artistic genes. Her father is an artist and her mother is a makeup artist, TV and cinema special effects artist, crafter, and painter. But Kukuly first love was music. Her grandfather could play guitar, “just a little”, she points out, but it was by attending concerts with her mother that her dream to become a singer/songwriter grew. As a child in Peru, she took some music lessons and learned to play the guitar. When her family moved to Argentina (where she lived from age nine to sixteen) and later to the United States, she absorbed “everything” and developed her own very personal style. Kukuly arrived to Knoxville about ten years ago and attended West High School. She was a very quiet girl struggling with her shyness and lack of English skills. She had left behind her Argentine friends. But she always had her music. Music was that constant which gave her stability wherever she went. “Music has been my companion as long as I can remember. I had to move a lot, from one country to the next, and one of the few stable things in my life was music. It is a part of me.” When discussing family traditions, Kukuly mentions food. Her family was of Argentine and Basque origins and they lived near the coast and ate many traditional fish dishes
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like colafra, a blend of indigenous, criollo and Peruvian influences. She remembers malfatos which are an Argentinian-Italian dish made of spinach, ricotta cheese, and nutmeg.
Kukuly Uriarte performing in her act Cantemos! at HoLa Festival 2010. Photo by Dana Everts-Boehm.
The music of her childhood included Leon Gieco, and other Argentine singer/songwriters like Charley Garcia and Fito Paez. She dreams of someday writing and singing her own songs. For now, she plays and sings in a jazz band. Though her soul is still filled by Latin American folk rock music like that of the recently deceased Luis Alberto Spinetta, she has a passion for jazz as well. In Knoxville, Kukuly discovered “gypsy jazz”. For three or four years after her arrival, “I had been longing to join a band, and jazz found me,” she said. By then, she was already performing with Bob Grimac at public schools, singing traditional songs from Peru, Mexico, Argentina, and Spain in cultural presentations.
For Kukuly singing is like storytelling, since Argentina is a country where songwriting was common, especially in the seventies, when writing songs was a way to express ideas in a repressive environment. Songs can teach about social issues, she said, “you may think that the song is about two people who meet and fall in love, while the truth is it is about reconnecting with your own personal freedom, your own country.” “Kukuly” means “dove” in Quechua, a spoken Andean language, one of the official languages of Peru. Kukuly was the name her grandfather wanted to give Kukuly’s mother. Though her given name was Sonia, her nickname was Kukuly. Her baby, Andrea, inherited her mom’s black eyes, curly black hair, and also her nickname. Now mother and daughter perform together as the Peruvian folk duo Cantemos! with an interactive show for young children that is very popular at events such as the HoLa Festival. Kukuly feels lucky to have a strong art community, whose members she considers her teachers. Everyone helps one another. She makes a living as a musician with her own band Kukuly and the Gypsy Fuego, her Peruvian folk performances with Cantemos!, and by teaching guitar lessons. When asked what she needs “to reach the next level”, she mentions the band is yet to travel to perform at other East Tennessee venues. Though the band has a website, they do not have an agent yet. Kukuly sings with her band in Spanish, Portuguese, and English. They interpret tangos, boleros, as well as more traditional American classics, which make for a very special mix. “Music is part of culture and learning the traditional music of a place is a way of adapting,” KuKuku explains. She is proud of her Latin roots. Through her music, she has carved out a special place in her community. Throughout the interview, Kukuly embraced her old companion, her guitar. At the end, she sang one her favorite Argentine tunes, “Sambita ribeña” (“Little samba from the coast.”)
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SANTOS ANTONIO ASCENSIO (HONDURAN VOCALIST, RANCHERAS, PUNTA) Santos is the man with a golden voice. He arrived in Sevierville just two and a half years ago. Today he is performing at a Cinco de Mayo celebration (see Video 50.) “I was born in Honduras, in the region of Olancho. My dream has always been to grow in my music. But I need a ladder. A person who would help me. Support, you know?” His singing talent comes from his father’s side. Santos’ brothers and father are singers too. From his mother he got he got the love of plastic arts. “I have made some self-portraits,” he said.
Santos Ascensio sings rancheras at Cinco de Mayo Festival 2012. Photo by RC.
“What I like the most is singing Ranchera music, like Vicente Fernandez,” and he surely can sing! “If someone requests a song, as long as we have the track, I can sing it.” Santos sings solo and also with a mariachi band. When asked about Honduran folk music, he quickly said “I can sing punta too!”
Punta is a Garifuna music and dance style originally from Honduras, whose popularity has spread throughout Central America and Mexico. The Garifuna are a distinct cultural enclave with a strong West African heritage mixed with indigenous, Spanish, and English speaking Caribbean influences. Originating as part of funeral customs, modern punta lyrics may be in English, Spanish, or the Garifuna language, with its West African syntax. (See also: Sandra Henríquez de Matute and Juan Carlos Gutierrez’ sections for more information on punta.) Santos hopes to find someone who will help him to further develop his music. He wants to meet and be known by more people; he hopes to perform at HoLa Festival, because that will help him promote his music.
JUAN CARLOS GUTIERREZ, AKA AZUL (HONDURAN FOLK SINGER) Juan Carlos Gutíerrez, alias “Azul,” has just arrived in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. He comes to us from North Carolina. His journey started in his native Honduras, the country he left about thirty years ago. But now, he takes a minute to travel back in time… (See Video 53, singing by Azul.) “I was born and lived, as a child, in a small Honduran village, named San Manuel Cortez. There I was born, I was raised, I went to school, and I performed many things that I still remember and am proud.” His voice sounds soft and calm. “Unfortunately, I never met my father. My mother was a working, single mother, of whom I am very proud. That is something that helped me, in raising my own children in a married family. They are all grown now. My mother is a hard-worker, a fighter. She got us ahead, she covered our basic needs. By work and sacrifice, as I said before. Yes, I am very proud of her, and my entire family.”
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Azul’s gift for singing came naturally to him. His mother was a singer; his aunt, also a singer, had a hit record in the seventies. “I always liked [music], I always loved it!” Azul’s has a dancing sparkle on his dark quick eyes. “We had civic Saturdays at school, which gave me the opportunity of showing my talent, and artistic skills through poems, songs… I was noted for my humor, my impersonations of famous musicians… things like that. I am grateful, for my entire family has been linked to music for generations.” But Azul did more than singing. At school, a dance group learned traditional Honduran folklore. They competed in the Nationals and his school, San Manuel Cortez, was number one! “That was something. My first time on a stage. And I am so proud of my classmates Honduran Juan Carlos Gutierrez, aka DJ Azul, and my teacher. We got first place in the region.” This experience, 2012. Photo by RC. he says, molded his future and his love of folk art. “Talents that we had dormant, or untapped, came out, and we realized we performed perfectly. That was a Garifuna dance ensemble. Honduran folk singing, the very root of Honduras, helped us score first place.” Azul explains that Garifuna music is ancient. It was a rhythm brought by Africans to Honduras. Africans spoke the Garifuna language as well as English and Spanish. “They had rituals for when people died. It was their tradition to celebrate death and to cry at births. Those [traditions] gained more and more respect. Their sound was incorporated in recordings by full orchestras, not just percussion. And that’s how the punta rhythm was born. It symbolizes Hondurans and we are very proud of it”. At this point in life, Azul would be happy to reconnect to his Honduran folk beginnings, and hopes to be part of a Honduran folk performing group in East Tennessee. Still homesick after thirty years in US, he stated, “I think if I ever have another life, I will be born Honduran again.” Azul lists famous bands he has played with: Los Terrícolas, Grupo Miramar, Carlos de Chile, too many to remember all. Silver Star, Casabe, Los Rolan, and many more. His favorite style is romantic song. There is a lot of talent in Honduras, both male and female singers, and many have gotten to big music festivals such as Viña de Mar and OTI Festival. Azul mentions another string of Honduran artist/performers. Working with so many groups has personally inspired him to “perform better, to have a dream, to never become complacent, to continue going because learning never ends.” Azul has performed all over United States as well. Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee, Iowa, Puerto Rican Parades. “It is one of the most beautiful things I have ever done. Standing and saying I am Honduran, this is our music. And that it is well received.” When asked how he would label himself, Azul speaks again with his paused and reflective voice. “I consider myself to be a humble person. I like music, I like dance, I like singing. I think we all have an artist inside. We just need a chance to evolve and to dare doing what we like. I believe that we all can set free our inner artist.” Teaching others his art is something he wants to do. “[Teachers] never die, because memories of learning will forever remain, and [their teachings] continue to transcend.” Now in silence, one can almost feel his soul, the spirit of Honduran cultural art. His final wish, “that Latinos are united, regardless of race or color. And for everyone to help those with talents, trying to get doors to open, to have a chance.” Azul. Honduran singer. Performer. Philosopher.
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Day of the Dead decorations at Casa HoLa. Photo by CG.
CONCLUSION This fieldwork project has shown how Latino immigrants keep their folk art and traditions for many years after moving to the United States. They strongly emphasize sharing and teaching younger generations, therefore enriching East Tennessee’s cultural life. For some, traditional family recipes or folk arts provide a link to the past; yet for others, it is a bridge to the future. Although a few may reach professional status, crafts and traditions are most often practiced as non commercial pass times, but some use their talent as a secondary income source. Personal stories shared were compelling and deeply enriching. Folk artists of every walk of life opened their homes to show their talents or their crafts. They conversed with field researchers in Spanish, sharing memories, parts of their native country that still live within them. The audio and video documentation in this work shows regional differences of spoken Spanish language. Other languages (Indigenous languages, Portuguese, Hebrew) surfaced as well, testament of a diverse cultural background, and the variety of cultures in the Latino World. Latino cultural traditions are practiced most often socially, folk arts and crafts are used or practiced on holidays or special occasions. Folk arts reinforce unspoken common bonds. A sense of community and belonging—both, for those who share or perform, and those who witness and understand—with profound psychological benefits. Various religious as well as cultural public events in the region provide an opportunity for the community at large to appreciate, learn, and generally participate. Artists often expressed they valued cultural organizations such as HoLa because of their desire to meet other artists and greater opportunities to share their art. Obviously this was not a comprehensive study; it’s just a beginning. We hope to inspire every reader, Latino or not, to explore their culture and that of others. Interested parties can contact us with referrals. Further research will help unveil even more Latino folk artists paint a better picture of Latino traditions in East Tennessee! For further information or referrals please contact: HoLa Hora Latina 865-335-3358 holahoralatina@yahoo.com 100 S. Gay Street, Suite 100 Knoxville, TN 37902 Website: holaknoxville.org Tennessee Arts Commission, Folklife Program (615) 532-0169 Fax (615)741-8559 Dana.Everts-Boehm@tn.gov 401 Charlotte Avenue Nashville, TN 37243-0780 Website: tnfolklife.org
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This work would have not been completed without the guidance, technical support, and hands-on assistance of Dr. Dana Everts-Boehm. We are thankful for the trust and financial support of the Folklife Division of the Tennessee Arts Commission, as well as the HoLa Hora Latina Board for embracing this project. Proofreaders for the English text included Terri Grove, Sandra Jácome, and Margot Kline. Carole Ann Borges assisted in poetry translations. Edy Recendez edited video and audio. And last but not least, we are very grateful to each and every one of the artists and groups we interviewed. We were touched by their passion. We received a gift of their knowledge. We appreciate the fruit of their work. And we hope to have transmitted to the reader their contribution to global richness of the diverse Latino cultures.
AUTHORS Rafael Casco Rafael Casco is a teacher and a visual artist living in East Tennessee. Rafael comes from Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where he was trained as an Art Therapist. His art work spans traditional crafts and fine art painting. Rafael was one of the two instructors for a Centro Hispano arts project to teach traditional Latin American crafts to children in 2009-2010, sponsored by Tennessee Arts Commission’s Folklife Program. Rafael has also been a panelist on the Community Learning of the Tennessee Art Commission for the last three years. He is an HoLa Hora Latina member and has participated every year in HoLa’s Latino Artist Exhibit at the Knoxville Museum of Art since 2008. He had a solo exhibit at Casa HoLa in 2010. His most relevant exhibits include a 2012 Collective Exhibition of Latin American Artists in Mayor’s Office, 2012 Sevier County Invitational, Arrowmont School of Arts & Crafts, and an Honorable mention at the 2011 Tennessee Artist Association Juried Exhibition for his work Book of Law. Coral Getino Dr. Coral Getino was born in Madrid, Spain. She has lived in Knoxville, Tennessee, since 1990. She is a former scientist and Fulbright scholar, and Spanish Lecturer at the University of Tennessee. She is now a self-employed Spanish interpreter and translator, as well as a Spanish editor of Achieve3000, a web-based reading comprehension solution. Her first arts-related article appeared in Breaking Ground, August 2009, a publication of the Tennessee Council for Developmental Disabilities. Her interest in folk arts heighted since moving to the United States, after joining an informal Spanish-speaking group that later evolved into HoLa. She was a founder and first President of the non-profit art cultural organization HoLa Hora Latina, and served in every board position since its inception in 2003. From 2009 to 2011, she was chair or co-chair of HoLa Festival, event sponsored by the Tennessee Arts Commission, celebrating cultural diversity during Hispanic Heritage Month. She stepped down from HoLa’s Board in September 2011 to become the director of this folk arts project, and remains working as a volunteer and grantwriter for HoLa. In 2011 she received the YWCA’s Tribute to Women award, in the Transformation category.
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LIST OF INTERVIEWS Cecilia Stella Martin: (March 3, 2012, Knoxville, by RC; Telephone, June 25, 2012, by CG; Colombian painter, foodways) Cinco de Mayo: (Media, May 5, 2012, Gatlingburg, by RC; Festival) Day of the Dead: (Edy and Lucy Recéncez, Héctor Saldivar, November 4, 2011, Knoxville; Juan Carlos Martín Trejo, November 6, 2011, Knoxville, by CG; Jose Luis Santiago, June 15, 2012, Knoxville by CG; Mexican Tradition) Elena Landa: (April 27, 2012, Knoxville, by RC; Telephone interview, April 6, 2012, by CG; Peruvian folk dancer, painting, craft, recitation) Grupo Folclórico Santa Cruz: (Ramón Armenta, Socorro Jerónimo, children, April 2012, Pigeon Forge, by RC; Telephone interview, June 2012, by CG; Mexican folk dance) Hector Saldivar: (November 4, 2011, Knoxville; March 2, 2012, Lenoir City, by RC; Mexican cartonería, painting) Juan Carlos Gutierrez, aka DJ Azul: (April 30, May 5, 2012, Gatlinburg, by RC; Honduran folk singer) Juan Carlos Martín Trejo: (November 6, 2011, Knoxville, by CG; April 27, 2012, Knoxville, by RC; Mexican paper marche, ixtle weaving, herbal medicine, wood crafts, music) Kukuly Uriarte: (March 3 2012, Knoxville, by RC; Telephone interview, Telephone, June 13, 2012, by CG; Peruvian/Argentinian vocalist, guitarist) Las Catrachas del Cerro de Plata: (Sandra and Lily Enríquez, Patricia Silva, March 1, 2012, Sevierville, by RC; Honduran folk dance, textile arts) Las Posadas: (Media, December 19, 2011, Knoxville, by RC; Jose Luis Santiago, June 15, 2012, Knoxville, by CG; Mexican Tradition) Lily Henríquez de Flores: (March 1, 2012, Sevierville, by RC; Honduran folk dance, storytelling) María E. Nuño: (December 19, 2011, March 2, 2012, Lenoir City, by RC; Mexican foodways) Mario Navarro: (March 3, 2012, Knoxville, by RC; Telephone interview, June 23, 2012, by CG; Mexican Pacific foodways) Novena de Aguinaldos: (Nora Cannatta, Patricia Van-Heyningen, December 16, 2011, Knoxville, by RC; Nora Cannatta, Patricia Van-Heyningen, Elsa Bryan, June 21, 2012, Knoxville, by CG; Colombian religious tradition) Our Lady of Guadalupe: (Media, December 12, 2011, Pigeon Forge; Ramón Armenta and Socorro Jerónimo, June 14, 2012, Telephonic Interview by CG; Mexican religious tradition) Patricia Silva Reyes: (March 1, 2012, Sevierville, by RC; Honduran folk dancing, foodways)
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Children dancing at Cinco de Mayo Festival. Photo by RC.
Peruvian Independence Day: (Blanca Primm, Carmen Holt, and Melinda Rodriguez, May 6, 2012, Knoxville, by RC, Telephone interview, June 19, 2012 by CG; Peruvian Tradition) Recendez Family: (Edy and Lucy Recéncez, November 4, 2011, Knoxville, by RC; June 27, 2012, by CG; June 28, 2012, by CG; Mexican foodways, embroidery, storytelling) Rodolfo Villalpando: (October 26, 2011, December 19, 2011, March 2, 2012, Lenoir City, by RC; Mexican sweets) SalsaKnox: (Waldo Solano and Jackie Sellers, May 5, 2012, Gatlinburg, by RC; Mexican folk dance, salsa) Sandra Henríquez de Matute: (March 1, 2012, Sevierville, by RC; Honduran folk dancing, foodways) Santos Antonio Ascensio: (May 5, 2012, Gatlinburg, by RC; Honduran vocalist, rancheras, punta)
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100 S. Gay Street, Suite 112 Emporium Building, Downtown Knoxville, TN 37902 holafestival.org
401 Charlotte Avenue Nashville, TN 37243 tnartscommission.org