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Berkeley World Musical Festival Kickoff Party!
June 9, 2017 @ 8:00 pm - 11:55 pm
The Berkeley World Music Festival opens Friday, June 9 with a FREE kick-off party at La Peña Cultural Center!
The party features the cross-cultural exchange between Spain, Peru & Cuba. Afro-Peruvian master percussionist Peta Robles leads multi-textured drumming of the Cajon. Cuban Rumba musicians will give context to the congas, bongos and other African-diaspora expressions in Cuba.
La Mandanga headlines with passionate Spanish Rumba (also known as “Rumba Flamenca”) dance music that fuses the elements of Afro-Peruvian Cajon and Afro-Cuban rhythms with flamenco music. The genre originated in the 19th century in Andalusia, southern Spain, where Cuban music first reached Spain through traveling Flamenco musicians. It was not until the 1970s that the great flamenco guitarist Paco de Lucia incorporated the Afro-Peruvian cajon into Flamenco music – and it is now an integral part of both Flamenco and Rumba Flamenca (Spanish Rumba).
Come celebrate these cross-cultural musical fusions and their original elements at our official Kickoff Party at La Peña!