Traditional music
For a long time under Spanish domination - like most of its neighbours - Bolivian artistic expression was largely fed by Europe. It was not until the 1952 Revolution - a working class revolution, but one that brought about a nationalist revival and sought to highlight indigenous cultures - that traditional music really took off. It was at this time that a wave of neo-folkloric groups appeared that were very important for the country. Starting with Los Jairas, an emblematic group formed in 1965 by Edgar "Yayo" Jofré, Gilbert Favre (a jazz clarinettist from Geneva), Julio Godoy and especially Ernesto Cavour. The latter, a great charango player, remains recorded as the Bolivian musician par excellence. In addition to founding Los Jairas, he is also famous for being the inventor of various instruments that have enriched the country's folklore, such as the star-shaped charango, the double-armed guitar and an improved version of the zampoña, popularized throughout the country thanks to Los Kjarkas. Los Kjarkas is the other big band of the folk revival. Composed of 3 brothers, they play mainly huayño, or more rarely, sayas, both dance music influenced by both indigenous forms and African music imported into Bolivia with slavery. Without knowing it, you probably know one of the greatest classics of Los Kjarkas, Llorando se fue, because the Lambada
is in fact a plagiarism.Also unmissable is the group Kala Marka, founded later in 1984 by Hugo Gutierrez and Rodolfo Choque. The duo fuses folkloric and modern instruments to traverse a wide range of traditional sounds such as the carnavalito, a dance with pre-Hispanic origins, the taquirari, inspired by nature, or the huayño and saya.
Also known internationally, the groups Savia Andina and Rumillajta are two good names to keep in mind. The first one, Savia Andina, was founded in 1975 and was one of the first to export Andean music outside the Bolivian borders. The second, Rumillajta was active between 1980 and 2001, taking Andean music to many festivals around the world and singing about nature, coca, but also about the rights of the indigenous people. Let's not forget to mention the great national voice, Luzmila Carpio, an emblematic mezzo-soprano whose intoxicating singing in Quechua has dazzled stages around the world, including those in France, where she was Bolivia's ambassador between 2006 and 2011.
Few groups and/or styles (mentioned above) do not feature the charango, the star instrument of Bolivian music. Also widespread in Peru, northern Chile and Argentina, the charango has travelled a long way, but remains an unrivalled instrument in Bolivian music. Its history goes back to the Spanish era, when the guitar was introduced in the country. The charango was born in the city of Potosí, the richest and most cosmopolitan city in South America during the two centuries of the colony. The charango has three, four or five double strings (or more, and even triple strings), all separated by an octave. In the past, it was only played as a musical accompaniment, but the instrument acquired its letters of nobility when it passed through the hands of masters such as Mauro Nuñez Caceres, Ernesto Cavour or William Centellas, and today it can claim a role as an original soloist. Omnipresent, the charango is not the only traditional Bolivian instrument. Alongside it, one often hears the sikus (panpipes), the quena (a flute), the tarkas (a wooden recorder), the hualaycho (a kind of lute), the bombo (a large drum), the huancara (drum), the reco reco (a scraped idiophone), the pinquillo (another flute), the pututu (a conch shell) and the chajchas
(rattles). If there is one place - or rather places - in the whole country to listen to Bolivian music, it is the peñas. It is in these halls, installed in all the main cities, that Andean musicians perform. They put on shows of indigenous music and dance, sometimes mediocre, often superb and festive. A must to really taste the artistic soul of Bolivia, especially since these stages have been and still are a breeding ground for talented artists. In the past, famous musicians (Savia Andina, Los Kjarkas, Rumillajta or Luis Rico, among others) made their debut in a peña. And often in the same one, the peña Naira, created in the 1960s (and unfortunately closed since) by the pioneers of Bolivian music: Los Jairas. In addition to the peñas, the country offers quite a few events punctuated by traditional music such as the carnivals of Oruro (one of the most important in South America in terms of attendance) and La Paz. Less known, the Chapaco carnival of Tarija, held the second weekend of February, is one of the most energetic of the country. There is a lot of dancing, singing and music. Also worth mentioning is the carnival in Valle Grande, a village in the province of Santa Cruz, which is well worth a visit with its four days of music and dancing off the beaten track. Otherwise, some celebrations contain their share of folk music as the Fiesta de Jesús del Gran Poder Barrio Chijini religious festival of La Paz or the anniversary of the independence of the department of Santa Cruz, very rich in concerts. Apart from these events, a few places in the country are recommended for a folkloric concert, such as Pan de Oro in La Paz, a rustic-chic restaurant that hosts them from time to time, Apekua in Santa Cruz, an establishment run by a French-Swiss couple with a bohemian atmosphere, or Lacacharpaya in Tarija, a peña that is perfect for a good evening.Classical music
If Bolivia is absent from the current geography of classical music, it does have a particularly interesting episode in its history. In the 18th century, Jesuit composers on mission - and more particularly Martin Schmid (1694-1772) - imported with them European music from the end of the Renaissance and the Baroque (Spanish, Italian and Eastern European). It was in the plains of the Amazon, far from the splendor of the baroque churches and the mundane salons of Sucre and Potosí, that these Jesuit missionaries accomplished one of the most beautiful and laudable achievements in the country's history. Installed in the "reductions" of Paraguay and those of Moxos and Chiquitos, the Jesuits, often outstanding musicians, taught baroque music to the Moxetenes, Guaranis, Guarayos and Chiquitanos, the tribes of the Bolivian Amazon. The ancestors of the Bolivians of the Amazon became themselves, in the space of half a century (1691-1767), remarkable musicians, capable of composing vespers, sonatas and operas. The expulsion of the Jesuits in 1767 put a stop to the process, but did not mean its end. For some reason, Bolivian baroque music did not receive the attention and recognition it deserved until the 1990s. Perhaps because these treasures of baroque music were composed by those whom some still call " los indios ". Preserved by the Chiquitos and Guarayos tribes for 200 years with a passion and love kept secret and in general indifference, this music of the Amazon finally knows the aura that it deserves and sees itself consecrated within a superb meeting: the Festival Internacional de Música Renacentista y Barroca Americana Misiones de Chiquitos. Since 1996, this festival, which takes place once every two years, aims to disseminate the musical heritage of the former Jesuit missions of Chiquitos (1691-1767) and Moxos (1681-1767) - including some 9,000 sheets of sacred music written during the 17th and 18th centuries by European and indigenous authors. Now one of the largest musical events in South America, the festival features more than 800 musicians from Europe and Latin America over more than ten days and nearly 100 concerts. A must-see event. Apart from this event, music lovers will find some interesting concerts in La Paz at the Teatro Municipal Alberto Saavedra Pérez, the main theatre of the city (and even of the country) where the great classical music recitals, operas and ballets are performed.
Traditional dance
The dances in Bolivia have preserved this social and cultural aspect that is so lacking today in the West. It is an opportunity for a village, a community, to meet, to laugh together, to remember... or to forget a bitter and grey daily life. They also have a small influence on the local economy, as thousands of people pass through, favouring the small sidewalk traders, the informal trade.
Among the most common dances are auqui auquis, which parody the dandies of the colonial era; callahuayas, which mimic the healers of the north of the country and their rites to ward off evil; cambas, which mimic the indigenous people of the tropical regions on the Altiplano; caporales, dances of the black communities of the Yungas that portray the black slaves who came from Africa; catripulis, where the dancers wear crowns and three suri feathers as well as a silver costume, evoking the supposed clothing of angels; chiriguano, a pre-Columbian war dance where the dancers wear ponchos made of jaguar skin; chutas, featuring the country cholo, and which is danced in couples; cullahuas, an Inca dance modified after the arrival of the Spaniards, involving both men and women, and featuring the ñustas or virgins of the Sun; diablada, the most famous of all dances, which tells the story of the battle between good and evil; kachua, an Aymara dance of fertility and abundance, performed by teenagers who mime seduction; kusillos, where clowns and jesters have a field day; lecheras, where dancers dress up as milk deliverymen; morenada, a masked dance representing the morenos, the blacks brought by the Spaniards to the Yungas; pulipulis, in which the singing of birds is imitated; takeadas, in which, to the sound of the tarka, a house is consecrated when the roof is finally finished; tinku, war dances from the south of the Potosí region, which are very violent (deaths are not uncommon); tobas, a dance in which the dancers perform a dance in which the blacks, who were brought to the Yungas by the Spaniards, are the main characters); tobas, a dance depicting the struggle of the jungle ancestors against the Inca invader Yupanqui; Waca, depicting bullfights and expressing both love and hatred of bullfights.
