Features - Colombian dance troupe a symbol of Latin diversity

Volume 134, Issue 3

Colombian dance troupe a symbol of Latin diversity

By April McGill

The Colombian Ethnic Dance Ensemble educates and entertains with their rhythmic displays of elegant and mystic motion.

The city's diverse Latino cultures, blended together to create its "mestizo," or mixed people population, includes many Central and South American indigenous cultures.

Because California is bordered by Mexico, people perceive it as the only Latino culture represented here through art and music.

Director and choreographer Beatriz Restrepo's traditional dance teachings create awareness of her Bogota, Colombia homeland among the communities of San Francisco. By teaching and performing Latin American dances for the North American public, she hopes the Colombian culture she shares will nurture the relationship between different human cultures with a professional artistic approach. "We are not just immigrants," Restrepo said.

Restrepo created Colombian Ethnic Dance Ensemble (CEDE) in 1996 with manager Beat Rettenmund, and members of the local Colombian and wider Latino community.

Restrepo's vision of a local Colombian dance group arose when she noted the absence of traditional dance, music or art that represented Colombia. "I wanted it to have a strong voice for my culture and show that there is not just terror in Colombia," Restrepo said. "It is a beautiful country."Resprepo first expressed her gift for dance at age six with her performance in the play Rin Rin Argucuajo by South American children's writer, Rafael Pombo. "In this play I had my first sense of art," she said with a smile on her face as she reminisced about her innocent Colombian girlhood. "I knew I was going to do this."

As a child Restrepo created dances and routines with neighborhood friends which led to pursuing a career in theater and dance after graduating with an arts degree from the Esquela Nacional de Dansa.in in Colombia.

"The group here came out of a necessity for the Colombian culture," Restrepo said. Three to seven dancers participate in a performance depending on the piece, its location and how big of a production the host can afford. "Economically it varies," explains Restrepo.

The dances vary from traditional to contemporary, from the popular dance Cumbia which means "rhythm" to El Mohan, meaning "The Water Spirit."

"I wanted to have a strong voice for my culture..."

- Beatriz Restrepo,
Ethnic Dance director

Cumbia is the folk dance of Colombia's Northern Caribbean Coast. According to Estrepo, in her homeland the dance expresses community unlike its social connotations when performed domestically. "It's ritual," Restrepo says with passion. Combining influences from Africa, Cumbia contains African rhythm and indigenous melody. Restrepo describes Cumbia as a combination of the two original people of the forest. By hip movement and the sliding motion of the feet, it represents the first African slaves in Colombia- "Simarones Los Negros" and the ball and chain attached at their ankles, with the upper body representing the indigenous U'wa people.

Colombian ethnic dances such as Cumbia and Garabato are practiced in the Northern Caribbean Coast. Others, such as Joropo originate in the Eastern Plains, while San Juanero comes from the High Plains of the Andes.

Tropical Colombian beats and consisting of rhythmic drumming such as the Alegre meaning "happy." In conjunction with the drum that speaks of joyful vibrant energy, musicians add flutes to make the dancer's pulse feel the music that represents both male and female energy.

The Colombian Ethnic Dance Ensemble, a nonprofit oraganization, performs the dance concert Working/Five.throughout September and October honoring National Hispanic Heritage Month celebrations.

Working/Five is a modern dance showcase featuring choreography by Restrepo and various other talented composers exhibiting their modern dance skills. Restrepo dedicates a dance called The Cumbia is Wounded to the people of Colombia and the hope of ending the chaos of violence and greed there and instead cultivating peace.

"We have a rich country," Restrepo says. "We have really smart and prestigious people who are fighting with the situation going on in Colombia." Restrepo organizes the late summer Festival of Colombian Culture. Restrepo cancelled what would have been the sixth annual festival this year due to controversial security measures and U.S. visa limitations which confined her to Bogota for two months, thus delaying planning. Heightened security measures following 9-11 have impeded various Latino artists from accepting invitations to perform stateside at such events as the Grammy Awards. The fear of art groups canceling performances at Restrepo's festival hindered her from scheduling acts. Restepo and Rettenmund stay hopeful for next year's planning.