In New York City, celebrating our
difference by revisiting our history in a
time of globalization.
What is it?
Who are they?
How do they do it?
Why do they do it?
Let's find out.
Making the invisible visible.
Gagapa al Pueblo is an activity that takes place in the summers in different
parks in New York City. It's part of a tradition from the Dominican Republic
which involves music, it involves dance, it involves drawings, it involves
chanting, so a typical Sunday would start with you know the participants and
the coordinators of the event coming together and you know setting up the
the space, setting up the instruments, the altar that goes with with the
tradition followed by a class usually led by the Catalania.
One of our goals is to bring together the cultural workers inside
of the Dominican community in New York City. Another goal is that the
community can reach a bigger audience to make possible the cultural products we
create. The community will be able to receive the products.
Gagapa al Pueblo means to me a sense of community, connecting with my ancestors,
connecting with my family, learning about being an African Dominican and
learning about my culture because I was not raised in Dominican Republic, I was
raised here and so it gives me the opportunity to to learn about Dominican
culture, learning about the music and because they offer different types of
music, Gagapa al Pueblo and it's just a great learning experience.
Gaga is not going to be the music exclusive genre in Gagapa al Pueblo
because that would be a limitation to who we are as Dominicans. As Dominicans, we
are not only Gaga, we have more than 70 music forms so limiting to Gaga would
only be limiting myself as a Dominican. This last one is used in secular
themes in which we also play with the banderos or Balcie. We also play congos
and we have done Sarandunga from Bani. As a choreographer and dancer, Gagapa al
Pueblo has a big impact, it's very close to my heart. I am very serious about
researching the Afro-Caribbean traditions as part of my process as a
choreographer and dancer and so for me as a dancer and a choreographer, I make it
a point to be there as much as I can. I have a commitment to myself to go
because I know that that's a place that feeds my heart, my soul, it's where I
will imbibe and learn more about my own self as a Dominican and so yeah it's an
inspiration for me. In Gagapa al Pueblo we have different activities which
complement what the entire event is during the afternoon. Some of them are
percussion, dance, we teach chants, also we take care of the visual arts by
teaching traditional drawing. Basically the teaching part is in the shoulders
of four professionals who have had extensive experiences, teachers like
Henaro Ozuna and myself Ricardo Ureña. In addition we are open to other
colleagues who have a lot of experience as musicians, dancers, painters, sculptors
they can come and work with us. In other words we're not a close group. As a
photographer it is important for me to document the music and I know that it
sounds a little bit crazy to say document the music because there are
images that don't have a sound. What I try to do is to try to capture the
expression of the artist whether it's the dancer or the percussionist or even
the people that are attending. The reason why I choose to do that is
because I want other generations to have that as a record but I also want the
current generation to see that and share with others and to ask questions.
Gagato Pueblo for me means united culture, happiness and freedom. Freedom to
express who you are as a Dominican. For myself as an Afro-Latina it is about
giving an opportunity to people to express themselves and to say from where
they are coming. Then to expose different generations. Dominicans and non-
Dominicans to the work Agapal Pueblo is doing implies that we are really
hoping to conceive a Dominican identity that helps itself to run away from the
traditional Dominicans identity that we have there in the Dominican Republic and
to have one that better fixes our experience here as immigrants where we
are supposed to amass of all the culture values from all the ethnic group. Well I
think that Gagato Pueblo means to me it's a space, it's a space that it
doesn't matter what type of creed, what type of religion, what type of nationality
you have. In this space the political orientation either national or becoming
important. The common denominator is the drum, the music, the artistic
expression at the moment which are manifested. And when everything become
part of the common denominator it becomes like a famine which I think is
very important for living in New York because New York is a very big city or
when you have no famine it can become something very lonely. Well the Agapal
Pueblo means many things to many people. I've seen people go there just for the
joy of it, people doing research, recording you know a moment in time in our
history, in our cultural space, for healing and for me has been really all of
that. I've gone there to take photographs, to spend an afternoon with friends, to
delight in our culture, our music, to learn. It's a space for learning as well so it means
many things. It's a wonderful event that has been put together more than an
event. But quite frankly it's an act of love, it's an act of joy, it's a coming
together of people in a very special way that means an awful lot to our
community. It's something rich, it's something that will just help you grow
spiritually and emotionally, mentally. It's a call to action, to come and
celebrate, to come and dance, to come and play, to come and learn our culture, to
come and maintain that connection to the island and to pass it on to our
children. I bring my daughter, I believe that it's an amazing way to share our
traditions and to keep them going here.
Agapal Pueblo's target audience is everyone. It's women, it's children, it's men, it's
old people, it's young people, it's Chinese people, it's European people, it's
everybody. The activities of Agapal Pueblo impact the diaspora in a very
direct and very strong way because it provides a mechanism for that diaspora
to express itself, to say here's who we are, this is what we are all about, these
are the things that are meaningful to us and it's a sharing not only amongst us
as members of the diaspora but it's a sharing with the rest of the city of
New York.
Agapal Pueblo's target audience is everyone.
Agapal Pueblo's target audience is everyone.
Agapal Pueblo's target audience is everyone.
