Night of museums with the Cucalambé group

Under a white tent decorated with the typical banners used for Mexican parties, with a temperature of about 17° Celsius and in the middle of a heavy rain with hail, the Cucalambé group performed at the National Museum of Popular Cultures.

On a small rectangular wooden platform was the group made up of Juan Pablo Sosa Reyes, Javier Sánchez Jiménez, Francisco Sandria, Fernando Cadena and Daniel Salas. They performed many musical pieces supported by their instruments composed of the lioness, which is a jarocho bass, the guitar that carries the entire melody of the piece, and the jarana.

“It seems to me that it was a very good idea to have organized a fandango (happy and partying rhythm in which everyone participates), after the Covid it has been difficult to access cultural spaces. It seems to me a success that they have decided to do it, since it is necessary to have moments to share and be able to perform our music”, said Lucia Escobar Torres, who attended the event.

The participants brought their musical instruments and got on the stage to accompany the presentation, among them they had: wooden güiros, donkey jaw, jaranas, maracas and tambourines. They also practiced tapping, some with tennis shoes and others with colorful folkloric dance shoes.

“We want the community to feel that this is a safe space to share and we are very happy with the attendance that was received despite the rain. Throughout the 40 years that the museum has been in existence, these groups have already come to perform, this is the first fandango of the year, it is the dance around a platform. We hope that the community knows that every museum night they can come to dance and sing,” said Aidé Balderas Medina, who is in the museum’s planning and content area.

The event was held as part of the ‘museum night’, they did not use microphones because they wanted all attendees to participate and share their verses. It is noteworthy that most of the women wore colorful skirts that enhanced the event, but yes, all with coats and umbrellas that covered them from the rain. Despite the bad weather, a smile always shone on the faces of the attendees and good cheer floated in the atmosphere.

“The name Cucalambé is a tribute to the Cuban decimist Juan Cristóbal Nápoles Fajardo better known as El Cucalambé. It was very important within this stream of tenths and that is why we decided to use the nickname of this person as a name”, said Juan Pablo Sosa, a member of the group.

All those who make up the group are originally from Tlacotalpan, Veracruz and have participated in many fandangos. Also, they want to show people what Mexico is through folk music, so in June they will perform every Wednesday at a bar called Jazzatlán in Mexico City.