• Submitted by: manso
• Arts and Culture
• 04 / 03 / 2011

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Chuy Varela, Special to The Chronicle. San Francisco Chronicle April 1, 2011 04:00 AM. Los Munequitos Once an all-male ensemble, Los Muñequitos de Matanzas now.

On their last visit to San Francisco, in 1992, Cuban folkloric troupe Los Muñequitos de Matanzas did a rumba version of Scott McKenzie's "San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)." At the standing-room-only show at Mission High School, it brought the house down.

"This music has a spiritual element that creates unity, peace and tranquillity," says Diosdado Ramos Cruz, director of Los Muñequitos de Matanzas.

Later, in 2002, Los Muñequitos got in under the wire to perform at the Calvin Simmons Theatre in Oakland before the war on terror slammed the door shut to cultural exchange with the socialist nation. The Obama administration has cautiously reinstated better cultural relations with Cuba, but given the sluggish visa approval process by the State Department, arts presenters are wary about booking Cuban acts.

On Monday, the San Francisco International Arts Festival brings Los Muñequitos back to Mission High as a prelude to the forthcoming festival May 18-June 5. Festival Executive Director Andrew Wood was sweating it out until very recently as he awaited visa approval for the group.

"Even if you set aside all of the regular skepticism about the war on terror or heightened levels of security that cause the U.S. government to routinely inflict humiliation on - and/or shake down - nearly all international artists invited to share their work with Americans, the treatment meted out to Cubans is still disgraceful," Wood said.

Los Muñequitos (Little Dolls) are revered as keepers of the rumba flame in Cuba. The story goes that in 1952 a group of young men were at a bar in Matanzas called El Gallo (the Rooster) listening to Arsenio Rodriguez on a jukebox. The music was so infectious they started singing and playing along on tables, glasses, spoons and bottles. Surprised by their organic talent, the patrons gave them a rousing round of applause.

It was enough to encourage the budding rumberos to form the group Guaguanco Matancero. From the African-rich neighborhoods of Simpson and La Marina, they were working-class folk with professions as plumbers, bricklayers and dockworkers. Getting started was not easy, but their determination led them to Florencio "Catalino" Calle, a professional musician who became their first director.

They specialized in three variants of rumba: yambu (from Matanzas), a slow rhythm danced by couples; Columbia, a rural rhythm that men dance alone with knives and machetes; and guaguanco, a contemporary urban style. Rumba in itself is a musical complex of rhythm, song and dance that evolved in Cuba from the meshing of African and Spanish influences during colonization. It flourished in communities where enslaved Africans resided near docks or sugar plantations.

In 1953, the group was invited to perform in festivals around Havana and appeared on radio and television. In 1956, they were offered the opportunity to record for the Puchito record label. Their debut 78-rpm record had a song called "Los Beodos" and, on the flip side, "Los Muñequitos," a tune about comic strips.
Struck a chord

"Los Muñequitos" struck a chord as people heard about the exploits of "la huerfanita Anita" (Little Orphan Annie) and other popular characters. Soon fans started referring to the group as Los Muñequitos de Matanzas. The name stuck.

Their authenticity brought the real rumba to Cuban radio and television as black Cubans confronted racism and discrimination during the regime of Fulgencio Batista.

The group was an ensemble of drums and voices until 1967, when Cruz joined. A former boxer, he had given up sports for dance.

"Florencio Calle was my first director. I was the first dancer to join Los Muñequitos in what became the second generation of the group. As the original founders died, I worked hard to keep the group active."

State-run label

Los Muñequitos would not record again until 1970, when the state-run label Egrem brought them in to produce the album "Oyelos de Nuevo" (Hear Them Anew). The 1970s were uplifting for rumba as young cultural workers searched the island for hidden treasures of its culture. That helped stabilize Los Muñequitos.

"After 1977, being a rumbero became a profession," Cruz says, "and we were paid to do our cultural work. It helped our folklore to flourish and gain acceptance around the world."

Los Muñequitos began as eight men, Cruz adds, "but as we progressed, the women asked, 'Where are we?' So a woman was added. ... There are women who are very good rumberas.

"Rumba is a male-female ritual. The steps draw much from nature and the interaction of animals. The guaguanco dance has what we call vacunao (a pelvic thrust by the male dancer). The female emulates a chicken and the male a rooster. The woman teases the man to pinch her and creates a mating ritual."

Fourth generation

"Tambor de Fuego" ("Drum of Fire"), the show the Grammy-winning group will present in San Francisco, features 16 members of the fourth generation of Los Muñequitos. All the founding members are dead, but the young members are well rooted in rumba and are evolving the Afro-Cuban dance by adding hip-hop moves inspired by Michael Jackson and MC Hammer.

"Now Los Muñequitos is made up of my sons, daughters and grandchildren," says Cruz, who still lives in Barrio La Marina in Matanzas, Cuba. "I am more than satisfied with their participation and proud of what I have done in maintaining the legacy of those founding members. Being a Muñequito is the best experience I could ever have." {sbox}

Los Muñequitos de Matanzas: "Tambor de Fuego" ("Drum of Fire"). $20-$50. 7 p.m. Mon. Mission High School, 3750 18th St., S.F. Also: Informal rumba show. 7 p.m. Tues. $15-$20. Mission Language and Vocational School, 2929 19th St., S.F. (800) 838-3006. www.sfiaf.org.

This article appeared on page Q - 34 of the San Francisco Chronicle

Source: www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/03/PKC91II5T2.DTL