We Travel in Circles by Raisa Galofre published on 2022-05-30T11:11:40Z A commissioned work for the SAVVY Contemporary project: 4+3=1 There are Stories to be forged for common denominators to come forth and social balance to be restored. Radiobook 8: COSMOS / TIME-SPACE / COMMUNITY We Travel in Circles WITH Graciela Salgado and Las Alegres Ambulancias, Rosalina Cañate Pardo, Emelia Reyes Salgado "La Burgo", Joselina Llerena Martínez, Diana Miranda Herrera, Rosa Caraballo, Luis Carlos Cassiani Simarra, and Raisa Galofre. By echoing mutual resonances through the presences and voices of the cantaoras (ancestral female singers) we are taken on a journey with the Afrocolombian baile cantao (sung dance) bullerengue. Traveling for centuries from generation to generation – since its birth in the first town of free enslaved people in America, San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia – this force and knowledge emanates and manifests through los tambores (the drums), los cantos (the chants) and the collective support by las palmas (the collective clapping). Rooted in African traditions and using repetition on a call-and-response basis, bullerengue defies the linear conception of time bringing and projecting at the same time past/present/future as dimensions where encounter, healing, storytelling, empowerment, and shared community are possible. In this sound piece, this multidimensional and relational space of circular temporalities is lived and embodied in la rueda de bullerengue (bullerengue circle). The cantaoras stay at the core of this communal becoming, as storytellers and guides for present and future generations. While initially women had been the source as the storytellers and singers in bullerengue, for many decades now, the role of the cantaora has become open to all genders to sing and to recount. ______ This RadioBook was recorded in San Basilio de Palenque, María La Baja, Arjona (Bolívar) and Barranquilla (Atlántico), Colombia 2021–2022. The recordings of "Sambangolé" and "Chi man nkongo" by Las Alegres Ambulancias were taken from the documentary film "La Hija de La Luz" (2010) directed by Roberto Flores Prieto (Kymera Producciones and Universidad del Norte, Barranquilla), where Raisa Galofre worked as direction assistant and script. With immense gratitude for the support in the production of this RadioBook to Tyler Miranda, Xenia Cortés and Marvin Systermans. We Travel in Circles was aired on May 29th at 4:00pm on SAVVYZAAR.
