Welcome to La Peña! Promoting social justice & intercultural understanding through the arts since 1975.
Thank you to Johanna Castañeda, Carlos Rienzo, Ronald Polo, and Andrés Fonseca for leading these wonderful Afro-Colombian Music Workshops! We learned about the history, meanings, instruments, sounds, patterns, and variations of some of the most prominent Afro-Colombian musical traditions, including Cumbia, Mapalé and Bullerengue. Wednesday, August 24th, 2022. Photos by Clara Pérez.
WHAT IS LA PEÑA’S ARCHIVE?
La Peña’s Archive is a big compendium of physical and audiovisual material that has accumulated over the past 49 years and that represents an important part of the memory of La Peña and of the communities that have given life to this space. It includes materials that portray: support for the Chilean resistance in the US and abroad, resistance movements in Chile from the early 1970s to the present, La Peña’s own cultural events, Bay Area’s political activities, Central American solidarity movements, and more.
WHAT WE ARE WORKING ON NOW
La Peña’s Archive Committee has been working for the past three years to identify options to preserve the La Peña archive. Based on their research, which includes conversations with experts, potential collaborators, and ongoing community conversations, they are now actively creating the inventory and online catalog of our materials! This is a massive endeavor that should be ready for the public to utilize and benefit from within the upcoming years. Thank you to our Archive committee for all the incredible work to honor, preserve, and share the La Peña Archive!
LA PEÑA’S ARCHIVE FEEDBACK | ¡DANOS TU OPINIÓN!
Please go to this link (ENGLISH) o este link (ESPAÑOL) to fill out the form and share your thoughts about the process of preserving and making our archive accessible for the community! This information will be very useful for us to continue this process in the best way possible, attending our community’s needs and priorities.
Finally, stay tuned for updates on this, and contact us if you’d like to support this work or have any resources to share with us!! This is a community-led effort and all contributions are deeply appreciated.
Thank you!
OTHER ARCHIVAL PROJECTS
Proyecto La Peña: Max, Abigail, and Lulu developed this site as a project for an American Studies class at the University of California, Berkeley. Through a series of short analyses, participant narratives and, a glimpse into its historical past, we feature La Peña Cultural Center as a site of transnational social-political resistance grounded in community, arts, and culture. Check it out here!
BAILA is back and stronger than ever: put September 16th on your calendar and get ready to remember how fun life can be when you’re dancing! Get your discount tickets NOW, as this event will sell out!
If you are short on funds but still want to join us, you can VOLUNTEER and enjoy the night for FREE! Each shift includes free food and drinks as a thank you. Click on the left button to choose the shift that fits you better.
The night will include:
The vibe of this party will be like a spontaneous dance party that broke out in your kitchen, only if your kitchen had big wood floors, a great live band and sound system, and 200 of your friends, chosen family, and a few intriguing strangers…
Like all events at La Peña, this gathering will be beyond inclusive of all cultures, ages, orientations and identities so you can bring your whole self to the dance floor and be properly celebrated.
PLEASE NOTE: We will require ID & Proof of Full Vaccination at the door. Booster shots and the use of masks inside will both be encouraged but NOT mandatory. See our most updated Covid-19 Policy here.
Aida Salazar is an arts activist and an award-winning author whose work focuses on issues of identity and social justice. She is the author of the novels The Moon Within, Land of the Cranes and the forthcoming, A Seed in the Sun. She is a founding member of Las Musas, a Latinx kid lit author collective.
Denise Masiel is a writer and poet based on stolen Ramaytush Ohlone land. She publishes articles weekly about interpersonal relationships and cultural criticisms on her substack “Through another lens” and performs her poetry in creative outlets throughout the Bay Area.
M.B. Kritikopoulos is a poet and undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. She had her first spoken word performance at La Peña with an outstanding piece written with help from Porsche Veu, the Poetic Activist.
Khalid Akil White is an educator/author/parent in the Bay Area who has recently co-written a new bilingual children's book series, "Hermanita and Hermanito". The books focus on youth literacy, strengthening family engagement while centering cultural equity and inclusion, and feature Latinx/Afro-Latinx characters. Learn more and purchase the books at blkmpwr.com/books!
Jewel Sánchez is a Queer Latina Woman currently working as a 7th & 8th grade teacher. Her poetry talks a lot about voice, language, place and identity.
Diana Medina is a educator, writer, poet and storyteller originally from Los Angeles who uses poetry and creative expression to explore issues of identity, culture, and mental health. Her mission in life is to manifest more poetry, connection, and healing into the world so she can leave it better than she found it.
Kim B. Miller is the First African American Poet Laureate for Prince William County, Manassas & Manassas Park, VA. She will be Poet Laureate Oct. 2020- Oct 2022.
Alberto Gutiérrez a.k.a. Muchacho Mandanga, is a writer, poet, and musician who recently published his debut novel, Los Ladrones de Ganado.
Website | Facebook | Instagram | lamandanga.net | dosbandoler
TJ Sykes is a working artist, writer, and educator living in Richmond, California. His current work focuses on supporting youth in the Richmond Community. His first book, Section 8, contains poetry and art based on his lived experience in Section 8 housing, some of the things he's seen and been through.
Patricia Saunders is an Award Winning Author, Poet, Blogger and Motivational Speaker. She is inspired to write after the passing of her mother who had Alzheimer's. She wanted to have her legacy of her words let you know she was here until the pen stops!
Vida Manzo is a dancer and interdisciplinary artist from the San Francisco Bay Area. She has written and choreographed her own one person show titled “Caterpillar”, as well as a poetry chapbook called “Cool Aunt”.
Riss Myung is a 2nd generation Chinese Indonesian and Korean organizer, writer, and cat lover. She hopes her words get you agitated in a good way to learn together!
Maud Alcorn is an author, spoken word artist, & event curator that speaks of her experience as a Black woman in America, fighting to love herself in spite of everything that tells her she shouldn’t.
Josiah Luis Alderete is a full blooded Pocho, Spanglish speaking poeta who first learned how to write poesia in the kitchen of his Mama’s Mexican restaurant. He was one of the founding member of Bay Area outspoken word group “The Molotov Mouths” and is the curator and host of the long running monthly Chicano/Latinx reading series “Speaking Axolotl”. His first book of poems “Baby Axolotl & Old Pochos” was published in 2021 by Black Freighter Press.
Lyzette Wanzer is a San Francisco writer, editor, and writing workshop instructor. She received her MFA in Fiction from Mills College. A flash fiction connoisseur and essay aficionado, her work has appeared in over twenty-five literary journals, magazines, books, and newspapers. Her book, Trauma, Tresses, & Truth: Untangling Our Hair Through Personal Narrative, is due out from Chicago Review Press in Fall 2022!
Tony Aldarondo has performed music and poetry in venues throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, overseas, and once while standing up on a JetBlue airplane. He is also a theatre and film actor, and a voiceover artist. Tony has just released his first full-length poetry book titled “Big Heart Poet”. But most of all, he wants to be known as a great Dad.
Ayodele Nzinga is an Oakland-based writer, arts & culture theoretician and practitioner working at the intersections of cultural production, community development, and community well being. She holds a PhD in Transformative Education & Change.
Arati W (she/they) is a South Asian American poet from Austin, TX, by way of diaspora. Familiar with both the stage and the page, Arati has been on five slam poetry teams, was awarded “Best Poem” at the national collegiate poetry slam, and you can find her work in Junoesq Literary Magazine, The Aerogram, and BOATT magazine.
Susana Praver-Pérez is a Pushcart-nominated poet and a winner of the San Francisco Foundation/Nomadic Press Literary Prize for Poetry (2021). Born and raised in New York, Susana currently resides in Oakland, where she works as a Physician Assistant at La Clínica de la Raza. Susana’s work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Her first full-length book of poetry, Hurricanes, Love Affairs and Other Disasters, is now available from Nomadic Press.
Learn about Afro-Colombian music and enjoy the depth of its history and rhythms!
We are pleased to present at La Peña these two workshops that go deep into the history, meanings, sounds, and variations of some of the most important Afro-Colombian rhythms like Cumbia, Bullerengue, Puya and Mapalé.
This is a unique opportunity to learn directly from Colombian musicians who have dedicated their lives to honoring, practicing, and preserving these fundamental musical traditions!
One workshop: $30
Both workshops: $50
(15% discount)
WORKSHOPS:
1. “Afro-Colombian Rhythms” | 6:30-7:30pm
This workshop will focus on some of the most prominent and influential rhythms originated in the North Coast of Colombia, including Cumbia, Bullerengue, Puya and Mapalé.
We will go over the Afro-Colombian traditional instruments like the tambora, the tambor alegre, the gaita, the flauta de Millo, and more. We will review the materials that these instruments are made of and how they are traditionally crafted by hand to provide their unique sounds!
Instructors will show you the instruments and the rhythmic patterns that form these traditional sounds that have traveled the Americas since the 17th Century and that influence so many different cultures to this day. You will learn and enjoy the basic patterns to play a cumbia rhythm in the respective drums as well as the pattern of a fast tempo rhythm called Puya. Come and dive into the history and artistic value of these Afro-Colombian music jewels!
2. “The Origins of Cumbia” | 8:00-9:00pm
Curious about the history of Cumbia and how it has become one of the most widespread rhythms of our continent? Come to this workshop and learn about where Cumbia originated, what it symbolizes, what’s the importance of its cultural background, and what are some of the many variations that it has undergone throughout time and across different countries.
In this workshop you will learn how to play Cumbia in the traditional Colombian percussion instruments! You will understand how they are made and how you tune them to get the best sound. Instructors will show you not only the instruments themselves, but also the specific rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic patterns that form the traditional sounds that we are able to recognize today.
This is a GREAT opportunity for anybody who wants to deepen their knowledge of this traditional music form that dates back to the 17th century in Colombia!
INSTRUCTORS:
Ronald Polo is one of the most respected Colombian composer singers and musicians currently based in New York City and former member as lead singer and composer of the city’s best Colombian ensembles “Folklore Urbano”, “La cumbiamba eNeYe”, and “Grupo Chonta” among others. Polo has toured the entire globe since his teenage years in Colombia with La Corporación Cultural Barranquilla, a company in charge of representing Colombian music with their unique and traditional dances and music.
Carlos Rienzo was born in Barranquilla, Colombia in a family of musicians where playing and singing came naturally. In Colombia, Carlos was a member of several local bands where he had the opportunity to grow as a musician. He was part of many regional and national festivals across Colombia representing the Caribbean music of his region. He was able to participate in the biggest festival in Barranquilla “Festival De Orquestas” in several occasions, including one where he and his band won the prestigious award “Congo De Oro”. In 2014, Rienzo decided to move to New York to continue with his dreams. He is currently part of several recordings and cultural bands as “La Cumbiamba NeYe”, “Aires de Folklor”, “Son de Chande”, “Maraca Bruja” and “Grupo Rebolu”.
Johanna Castañeda, born in Bogotá, Colombia, grew up in a modest home full of artistic tradition. She started her career dancing at an early age by attending the Centro Cultural Llanero, a school of folkloric music in Bogotá that specialized in rhythms from the eastern Colombian plains where she was exposed to typical rhythms, songs, dances, and instruments of the region. At the Centro Cultural Llanero, she learned how to play the cuatro and began to sing. At eight years of age she enrolled in the music conservatory of Tunja, Boyaca, Colombia where she alternated her regular academic curriculum with harp, music theory and singing lessons. The next shift in her life was at age fifteen when she and her brother Edmar Castañeda, now a renowned harpist, migrated to the U.S in 1994. As a singer of many artists, Johanna was able to travel all around the world playing at many prestigious venues.
Andrés Fonseca “Drukas” is a drummer, composer, producer and educator based in Brooklyn, born and raised in Bogota, Colombia. He moved to the US with a scholarship to Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. His talent and outstanding adaptability to play the diverse range of music he’s surrounded by, has gotten him to perform at major music venues across the US including the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, the Apollo Theater, and Carnegie Hall, amongst others. You can find him playing with several music and artistic projects in NYC from traditional afro-Colombian music to modern contemporary jazz, as an accompanist for dance ensembles to playing Disco Psychedelic Cumbia.
COVID-19 POLICY: Please note that we will require ID & Proof of Full Vaccination at the door. Booster shots and the use of masks inside will be encouraged but are NOT mandatory. See our most updated Covid-19 Policy here.
