Haiti triumphs after all
If the February 8
Barbican performance of the Creole Choir of Cuba were to be described
in one word, it would be called ‘Triumph’. A triumph that derives from
weathered collective challenges like slavery, displacement, bad
governance and natural disasters; and on this occasion, the barrier of
language.
The Creole Choir of
Cuba is a harmonious union of sages with voices raised in their native
tongue to tell the world their communal history. The Choir is more than
10 individuals wielding musical notes and percussion instruments; it is
a projection of bravery, endurance, talent and warmth.
Beyond language
The stage was laid
out simply, with no busy background accoutrements to distract the
audience; the choir of six women and four men dressed in simple, loose
fitting traditional attire was the cynosure of eyes. And from the very
first song, ‘Mangaje’, which with powerful solo and back-up acapella
recounts the disillusionment of African slaves in the new world, the
audience is transported to a temporal space where not words but emotion
is the Lingua-Franca.
The predominantly
white audience was given more than a glimpse of the soul of these
Haitian descendants of Cuba, who rendered one melody after the other
with remarkable flourish and verve; undeterred that a majority of their
listeners did not understand the language.
Perhaps because of
this, their faces, bodies, and movements reached where their vocal
expressions could not. They swayed, crouched, danced, mimed, pumped the
air in defiance or waved in victory. We heard in dirges, chants,
invocations, and laments as one story after another of pain, loss,
injustice and suffering was told with alternating emotions.
Mundane themes such
as the loneliness of a cattle drover travelling at dusk are woven with
those of war and political denunciation to create a spectrum of
thoughts and cultural insights. And with many of the songs performed
solo, the audience was given a taste of the choir’s versatility –
individually and collectively.
A frenzy of drumbeats
While the first
half produced a reflective atmosphere for past disappointments and
difficulties, the second was more upbeat. A frenzy of drumbeats,
dramatic dances and applause accompanied songs like ‘Ou Pa Nan Chaj’ –
as playful jeers where thrown the way of the diminutive male singer who
played a man ridiculed because of his inability to successfully woo any
female.
The show got more
animated when audience members were invited onstage to dance with the
undulating women to the excited hoots from the audience. The invitees,
who seemed to be familiar with the Haitian melodies, did not disappoint.
As if the Creole
and French speaking singers had not pleased the crowd enough, they
inspired even more appreciative applause when they broke into a
rendition of Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’.
The performance was
marked with an amazing sound clarity further complemented by indigenous
percussion instruments such as drums, choucounes and Haitian merengues,
which formed the sinew of the tunes.
Ten middle-aged
singers with remarkable memories in folklore can certainly do a lot in
communicating the brotherhood of the black race, with sounds and dances
reminiscent of the West African cultures to which their ancestors once
belonged.
Universality
Michelle Johnson,
a member of the audience, commended the choir and spoke on the
universality of black culture and music. “This performance shows the
strength and durability of black culture. The costumes, sounds and
movements are very similar to what I see in Jamaica or any other
African performance. Black arts [are] really self-rejuvenating.” “How
simple can you get – 10 voices and a few random bits of percussion and
the packed crowd was spellbound from the first notes,” remarked
journalist, Andy Snipper. Much as that is true. The Creole Choir of
Cuba, established in 1994, is no haphazard assortment. It is made up of
descendants of Camaguey (an old Cuban colonial town), who studied music
and nurtured the folk songs passed down orally to them since the early
19th century then gradually fusing it with modern Haitian sounds.
The smiles of appreciation at the end of the closing performance, ‘A
Tribute to the Sun’, told of the transcendental quality of music. This
Cuban choir eventually had the audience leaning out of their seats to
grab handshakes as they abandoned the stage and still singing, sashayed
into the crowd in a show of warmth rarely experienced in UK shows.
