On April 30 and May 1, Jacob’s Pillow and Mass MoCA will co-present Los Muñequitos de Matanzas, acclaimed as the world’s finest rumba group from Cuba and amongst the highest regarded percussionists in the world and masters of Afro-Cuban ritual, rumba music and dance.
After nine years, they return to the U.S for a high energy music and dance concert, featuring work from their latest recording, tributes to legendary members, and new pieces created especially for this eagerly awaited and only New England appearance. Whatever the setting, their complex drumming, captivating vocals and spectacular dancing transport audiences to the vital streets of Matanzas and the soul of Cuba.
Named the “reigning regents of rumba” by the San Francisco Chronicle, the ensemble combines high-energy drumming, vocals, and dance in vibrant performances that call upon the deep African roots of their Cuban culture. Internationally renowned as one of the world’s finest rumba groups, Los Muñequitos returns for a 16-city national tour after a nine-year absence from the United States. They will perform Tambor de Fuego en Homenaje a los Ancestros at Mass MoCA’s Hunter Center on April 30 and May 1. Peter Watrous of The New York Times states, “Expect wild machete play, spectacular sensual dancing and some of the most complex drumming to be heard in this hemisphere.”
Primal dancing and machete play are on view.
Tambor de Fuego en Homenaje a los Ancestros (Drum of Fire in Tribute to the Ancestors) incorporates Afro-Cuban ritual dances with innovative new musical compositions and contemporary rumba in an exuberant two-part program. The first half of the performance merges rhythms, songs, and dances from Afro-Cuban folkloric heritage, including Yoruba, Brikamo, Kongo, Arará, and Iyesá, while the second half contains several subgenres of Cuban Rumba such as Yambú, Guaguancó, and Columbia. Sixteen drummers, vocalists, and dancers fuse the traditional elements of the rumba with contemporary forms of expression. The performance closes with the Conga Matancera, a high energy Carnival rhythm of Matanzas, Cuba.
Founded in 1952, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas was first composed of musicians and percussionists who gathered casually in Matanzas, Cuba. The original members were port workers, plumbers, and masons; workers who would create music from spoons, bottles, and tables nearby as a way to unwind. The name “Los Muñequitos de Matanzas” means “Sunday cartoons from Matanzas,” and came from the title of a well-received song on the first record they released in 1956. From these modest beginnings, the group grew in popularity and acclaim, and by 1965 had incorporated dancers into their ensemble. In 1989, the well-established troupe began to tour internationally; visiting England, Canada, Central America, South America, and Europe, and making their U.S. debut in 1992. The company first performed at Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival in 1994 and returned in 1999.
In 2001, the comopany received a Latin Grammy Award for Best Folk Album for their collaboration of El All-Stars de La Rumba Cubana – La Rumba Soy Yo. Since then, they have been nominated for three additional Latin Grammy Awards in 2003, 2007, and 2009. In 2003, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas’ 50th anniversary album, Rumba De Corazón, was named Best Folk Music Album at the 7th International Cubadisco Fair and was nominated for Best Folk Album at the Latin Grammy Awards. The group has been called “the essence of Cuba’s musical soul” by the San Diego Union Tribune, and has performed in more than 50 cities across the United States, from small music clubs to grand concert halls. The ensemble’s most recent performance in the United States took place in 2002, and they now return to the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade through a national tour produced by MAPP International Productions.
Saturday evening’s performance will feature a brief tribute to Irene Hunter, a Mass MoCA patron with a rich history in North Adams and emerita Board Member of Jacob’s Pillow. She was married to the late James “Bing” Hunter for 57 years and they raised four children in the northern Berkshires: Elizabeth ‘Beano’ Solomon, now of Park City, Utah; James “Jim” Hunter of Williamstown, Mass.; Bonnie Trotta now of Mount Kisco, N.Y.; and Susan Hunter now of Dedham, Mass. The James Hunter Machine Company (which was headquartered where North Adams City Hall stands) was founded in 1847 by James Hunter. Bing Hunter was the long time president of the company. James Hunter’s great, great, great grandson Jim Hunter has served as a Mass MoCA trustee since 1997, two years before the museum opened. Joan Hunter is Chairman of the Board of Directors of Jacob’s Pillow. Irene’s philanthropic interests were directed primarily toward education and the arts – dance in particular — and she was the recipient of the only Lifetime Achievement Award ever awarded by The National Association of Fundraising Professionals.
In December 2010, Mass MoCA announced that Irene Hunter’s estate had created a new endowment fund for dance. The purpose of the fund is to enhance the museum’s capacity to nurture and present innovative dance programming of the highest quality; to develop new audiences for dance in the Berkshires; and to encourage continuing collaboration between Mass MoCA and Jacob’s Pillow Dance, deepening the institutional connections that have been formed over the past twelve years, and encouraging new ones. The Irene Hunter Fund for Dance will support dance performances of the highest quality, together with dance residencies and creative development workshops focused on dance. The program will include major performance engagements inthe Hunter Center plus several dance residency workshops. It will also allow for the continuation of professional dance instruction that precedes Mass MoCA signature, and wildly popular dance parties.
Jacob’s Pillow and Mass MoCA have co-presented performing arts programming since the museum was founded in 1999. Together, they support the development of visual and performing artists, encouraging experimentation within and between various art forms, and expanding the public’s understanding of creative processes. Past co-presentations have included Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company, STREB, MOMIX, DanceBrazil, Stephen Petronio Company, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, and Armitage Gone! Dance.
Performance and Ticket Information:
Saturday, April 30 at 8pm and Sunday, May 1 at 2pm. Tickets in the orchestra section of the theater are $29, mezzanine tickets are $25, and student and children’s tickets are $10. The Mass MoCA Box Office hours: Wednesday through Monday, 11am – 5pm. To purchase by phone: call the Box Office at 413.662.2111. To order online: www.massmoca.org.
The MASS MoCA Box Office is located at 87 Marshall Street in North Adams, MA, 01247.
For additional information on Jacob’s Pillow and Festival 2011, visit www.jacobspillow.org.
