TICKET SALES:  805/756-2787

Cal Poly Arts Brings Afro-Carribean Sounds with Peru Negro March 16

SAN LUIS OBISPO – Cal Poly Arts presents PERÚ NEGRO on Sunday, March 16, at 3 p.m. at the Cohan Center as part of its popular world music and dance series. 

This matinee is ideal for audiences of all ages who want to experience the pride and vibrancy of Peru’s African heritage through traditional music, authentic instruments, buoyant movement, and vivid costumes.

Perú Negro has an all-new 2008 program that brings a carnival of wildly celebratory Afro-Peruvian sounds to 46 cities on a three-month tour, showcasing songs and dances that trace their history to the arrival of African slaves in Peru in the 1600’s. The 20-piece ensemble sizzles with rhythms of black Peru.

“A non-stop carnival of rhythm…filled with exultant energy…with music that dances and dances that dare!” raved the Los Angeles Times.

“One of Peru’s most celebrated groups” agrees the New York Times.

The intersection of African rhythms and Latin song have a special resonance for American audiences who are discovering the electrifying song and dance ensemble, Perú Negro.

“From these tragic beginnings came a joyous art form,” declared the Village Voice in its review of Perú Negro’s live performance.

The group has ignited a craze for Afro-Peruvian sounds in their home country that has only recently hit North American shores.  Ronaldo Campos de Colina started Perú Negro over three decades ago as a 12-person family troupe and directed the ensemble until his death in 2001.

Their repertoire is as complex, unique, and exhilarating as Peru’s own rich cultural history. The group has now become the standard for Afro-Peruvian music, emulated by other groups in Peru, and achieving their government’s official title of “Cultural Ambassadors of Black Peru.” 

The pioneering 20-member group’s new 2008 CD, Zamba Malató, is the long-awaited follow-up to their last release, 2004’s Jolgorio, which scored both Grammy and Latin Grammy nominations.

In addition to a worldwide touring schedule, Perú Negro runs their own school in Lima, developing the next generation of performers in a junior troupe of dancers and musicians called Perú Negrito (Little Black Peru).

General public tickets for the performance are $28 & $34, with student discounts available on all seats, and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Ticket Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. 

To order by phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088. 

Order on-line at www.pacslo.org.

Sponsored by American Airlines/American Eagle, with additional support provided by KCBX 90.1 FM.

For more information on all Cal Poly Arts events, including audio and video samples, please visit www.calpolyarts.org.

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