Juan Formell said popular bands should always take into account the demands of the dancer. “He decides the game. If the audience does not dance, you have to check what happens, because what you are doing is no good “, the creator of the legendary Van Van once told me.
Last Saturday, when the fifth stop of the Artex tour through the neighborhoods was held at the Jose Marti Anti-imperialist Tribune in Havana, the place was really flushed with joy and enjoyment.
There then I thought of Formell´s valid analysis of popular dance music, in that quintessential element son as a genre has that is found in these musical groups, an aesthetic that inevitably bears the seal of the contemporary.
Each of the bands repeated the same phrase: “Hands up, asking for health” in the climactic moment of the songs. Prayer served me as a catalyst to reconsider his phrase. A brief observation of the public allowed me to measure if the proposal on the stage was effective or not.
It was an amazing exercise, which worked like a charm when Tania sang Se te están cayendo los pantalones, theme popularized by the singer during her passing through Bamboleo. Also happened in the moment Elito Reve asked the Charangón vocalists to please fans with singles like Esa soy yo, El nombrecito y Agua pa’ Yemayá; or when Maykel Blanco y Salsa Mayor invited them to move to the beat of Tremenda pinta. Also happened with La cuenta no da by Trabuco; and Me están llamando, by Pupy y los que son son.
The fact is that the leaders of the five groups that crowded the space agree with Formell that the best way to connect with the dancer of 2014, so influenced by foreign melodic trends, is by reflecting it on the music they defend.
Those songs they performed there where chronicles of everyday life with topics addressing religiosity, love, economy and respect for women. Composers do not leave out of these texts their views on certain negative phenomena present in today’s society, and they invite everyone to banish people like that living without earning a name thanks to the fruits of his labor (El nombrecito).
There were other important times in the night and gave a twist to the usual “script” of this type of presentation, which began last April in the town of Diez de Octubre, to bring the sound to Havana public, and celebrate 25 years of Artex .
Among the most interesting points of the day were two casual connections: the first starring Tania Pantoja and Manolito Simonet, who sang together Sueño de cristal, by Lazarito Valdés; and the second: a mano a mano at the piano by Cesar “Pupy” Pedroso and Simonet. Both actions were part of a special program, recorded by Cuban television, and that gathered the motivations of these song singers to participate in an initiative that has become necessary and has a wide public response.
