Astrich is a 25-year-old girl who left her native Equatorial Guinea with her family. With a single suitcase full of high hopes he arrived in Spain 13 years ago. Her mother wanted a good education and a dignified life for her, something she would not achieve in Africa. He arrived in Madrid with the sadness of having left his grandmother and with only one idea in mind: to dance . «Since I was little I learned the folk rhythms of my country and I liked them. Dancing makes me very happy. It is a passion that is felt, lived and transmitted, ”he says. His eyes shine with joy and a smile is drawn on his face, the same that he retains when he teaches afrobeat in different places in the capital.
This rhythm, the coupé decalé , the kizomba and the sabar are African dances that have become part of the language of Madrid and have achieved recognition of the independent scene, getting involved in artistic centers or dance academies that at first sight nothing They have to do with them. This is the case of Amor de Dios , an emblematic space of flamenco and Spanish dance that since 1953 has trained artists and some of the most important dancers in Spain -Joaquín Cortés, Antonio Canales or Sara Baras- and that for a couple of years years has opened its doors exclusively to African dance.
«We are a fundamentally Flemish center, which comes from a culture of marginalization and people affected by society. This culture knows a lot about all the nuances of human pain. In that sense, the fact that flamenco welcomes a dance of marginalized peoples, such as African dance, is a process of recognition and empathy with the suffering of these cultures, ”explains Joaquín San Juan, director since 1994 of this place, who understands that «cultural and artistic aspects have always been a good means of understanding between different peoples» and «an opportunity to integrate migrants» .
Lavapiés breathes African rhythms
But in addition to these types of places, African culture is present in some parts of the city. When walking through Lavapiés , a neighborhood where more than 88 nations intermingle, you can find traces and features of this society . Among its streets there are restaurants that move diners to Senegal or Ivory Coast, beauty salons that offer afro hairstyles for 5 euros and bars that provide a space for musical and dance proposals in Africa. And in El Rastro, between the stalls of clothing and second-hand objects, you can always see some group of Africans who, to the sound of the drums, sing, applaud and transmit their energy through the movement of their bodies.
African rhythms have made their way in Madrid through independent workshops created and promoted by dancers and migrants who, in addition to seeking an economic outlet, intend to spread these dances. Like Koffi Anselme , a dancer from Ivory Coast. His specialty is the coupé decalé , a rhythm that was born in Paris within the Ivorian community and is characterized by hip movements . Anselme began teaching three years ago at Danzation Madrid, a dance academy that is a few steps from the market of Anton Martin, but dance has accompanied him all his life. «In my country I started dancing, in a folk ballet group where we practiced and made presentations of traditional regional dances», he details while combing some long dreadlocks that reach his waist.
Koffi mentions that "being a dancer, migrant and African in Madrid represents a challenge" since "African dances are not promoted from official institutions" and "devoting oneself only to dancing in this city is not profitable. You have to find other activities to compensate the salary ». Therefore, on Fridays Koffi becomes a DJ at Café Doré, a Lavapies bar where between song and song he shows his dance skills and which some of his students attend.
The Guinean Astrich also denounces that in Madrid "other disciplines such as classical and contemporary dance are given more priority ... and that the Afro does not yet have that support because he has no professional bases." "As there are not so many African dance companies and there are few places, what remains is to teach," he says, although they do not get so many resources.
Promote your culture, online
In spite of everything, the dancers look for a way to promote their activities. Koffi has created Afromoves Spain, a virtual network in which special content is created to explain the different rhythms that exist in African dance and where the public can find announcements of the classes he teaches and other dancers he knows.
Although the drivers of African countries are its drivers, there are people born here who also help to promote it. Blanca Martín García is an enthusiast for this art and creator of African Dances in Madrid , a movement that through social networks seeks to motivate more people to attend different events organized by African dancers such as workshops, intensive classes or performances .
Upon returning to Madrid after living in Senegal, Blanca began looking for classes. " There was a lot of misinformation on the subject, on the web pages they shared incorrect data, and from there came the idea of concentrating in one place all the details of the African events that are done", tells about his project, which was born with 400 members and now add 3,000.
Sonia Sampayo, one of the first Spanish dancers who taught African dances in Madrid, points out that "they are not visible is because there is a marginalization prior to their society . " "Let the marginalization continue is our fault," says the dancer, who believes that practicing these dances is a way to create a dialogue with African migrants that is based on understanding.
African dance opens its ground in Madrid ...
... is the journalistic / academic result of the Master's Thesis at Evelyn Velázquez in the Official Master's Degree in Edition, Production and New Journalistic Technologies (Master's Degree in EL MUNDO / CEU) and that has been tutored by Olga Rodríguez, a journalist for El Mundo, and Belén Jiménez, coordinator of the Master @Master_ElMundo
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
Know more- Madrid
- culture
- dance
- Africa
EconomyThe Pound crisis threatens the tourism campaign in 2020
ExpeditionDiscovering the fountains of the Blue Nile with Spain Heading South
Literature: Death Toni Morrison, the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature