24 May 2020, Son de la Bahía.
Approaching the little park at the corner of Peralta, I hear the music first--from Mexico, of course--and almost in the same moment see the two figures on the plaza below, positioned perfectly against the trees. I recognise them, of course---the harp playyer is Nidiaz a neighborhood friend. It's Cinco de Mayo (the balloons around the entryway to Talavera a reminder) and the line of people outside, well-spaced, waiting for pick-up... Some of the women (and their daughters) can't resist dancing...
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And then on Friday evening, again. Nidia seated with with family and friends--all of them her brood, in a way, for she's a mother hen. La reina de las gallinas. With her jarana player alongside, and sitting nearby, on the railing ledge, someone who looks almost familiar --she lowers her bandana a little, and I see that it’s Estefania, from the México class years ago. She's decided that the corporate life as an investment house gopher in NYC isn't what she wanted after all--and now she's back, five years later, playing sones. Nidia gathers people like this--part of her gift.
I used to see her with the ensemble in full mariachi attire, near the Albany pool. climbing into a van, about to head for a quinceañera. The Mariachi Femenil Orgullo Mexicano. But now it seems that these sones-indigenous folk songs--have taken hold of Nidia's musical imagination. Plus she's learned to play the harp ("My teacher gave me no choice, but now I'm very glad I did...") They come up to the little Peralta park sometimes to hold forth. Such a delight to approach on an evening, after a good walk--the sound first, then always the red flower in Nidia's hair, her forthright smile...and the music, unfailing.
She told me once she's actually from Argentina--with Guarani roots. The Guarani, who survived the strictures of the Spanish Jesuits by applying their musical gifts. How one survives in the Bay Area these days, too, perhaps. She went to Cal in anthropology (I learned only recently) and it seems she does community arts with the Albany schools--but it's clearly this musica mexicana that she loves best...
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Another connection, which became apparent in reworking the drawing. (The left side went though several changes.) One of Titian's big paintings from Ovid--the story of Acteon, the huntsman, who surprises Diana and her maidens in their bower. (Titian shows Acteon pulling back a curtain--a touch of domestic theater set in the Veneto woods. ) Angered at the surprise, Diana dashes water into the intruder's face--Acteon will soon be turned into a stag...
Maybe a little of a carry-over from C today, tending the koi pond, tired but happyy. The fish like the new streams of bubbles...
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The posted name of Nydia's ensemble is Los Soneros de la Bahía.
