Andy Zayas

When I arrived at Andy Zayas’s home in York, Pennsylvania, I did not know what to expect. He had been recommended to me as a person who was actively practicing Puerto Rican dance traditions in the Central Pennsylvania region, but at seventeen was by far the youngest person that I would interview about their art. Wearing a tee-shirt with the words “Hard Core Puerto Rican” written inside an iron cross in the “chopper” fashion, his excitement and eagerness to educate me and others about the rich Puerto Rican culture that he has already invested a lot of his time into exploring was clear. In fact, it did not take very long before a person could see how this high school senior was able to organize a group of his peers to learn traditional Puerto Rican dances and coordinate performances. This group is called El Grupo Folklorico Pasaeos Caribenos de York.

Andy’s parents moved here from Puerto Rico before his birth. However, every year they would return to Puerto Rico to visit family and friends who still lived on the island, and from these trips Andy became very interested in his cultural heritage from a very young age. He told me, “Puerto Rico is the most beautiful island in the world and I am quite proud of it…. Every region is different. The North is very ‘fun in the sun’ type, the West is more relaxed, the South is very upbeat and party-like, and the East is more for fishing, and the Center is jíbarito—which is county.”

Making connections: Think about your state that you live in. How would you describe the different areas and people of the state? Is it fair to say that everyone is the same? Probably not. Every state is made up of diverse people and communities. What differences and similarities can you identify? Sometimes people assume that everyone who speaks the same language or are from the same country are alike. Why could it be bad to assume that everyone who lives in your state is the same? What about assumptions about other countries?

Andy spends much of his time in the central region of the island because his family roots are there—his grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins still live in this area. The city that he and his family would spend most of their time in was Jayuya (hah-YOO-yah), the hometown of his mother, but especially as he grew older they traveled to other cities around the island as well. Jayuya is located in central Puerto Rico near the city of Utuado (oo-too-AH-do). This area is known for its close connection to the indigenous people of the island, los Taínos, as well as for Jíbaro music. Puerto Ricans use the term “jíbaro” to describe the people, the region, and the music, among other things. While some feel that the term can be taken negatively, most Puerto Ricans understand “jíbaro” to refer to someone who is of the country areas and steeped in Puerto Rican traditions—and often the Jíbaro is seen to represent an “authentic” Puerto Rican identity. Jíbaro music is one of the genres that is very popular and closely identified with the music of the island.

When I asked Andy why he has worked so hard to learn the Puerto Rican music and dances, he told me: “My family is very heavy into music. If you are not into music, you just can’t be a member of the family. You either have to dance, or sing, or play instruments, or do something.” Later, he further explained that “my grandmother, she loves Jíbarito music…and Papa, my grandfather, he also loved the Jíbarito music too. They loved the cuatro, they loved listening to that stuff. And I was very interested in what they wanted to hear.”

“Puerto Rico is not like any other country. A lot of times when they (people in the United States) say Latin America, they think: one big country; they are all the same; Mexico is not any different from Puerto Rico, and Puerto Rico is not any different from Panama…. I want to teach people, to show people that Puerto Rico is not the same as the other countries. Every country is different. In Puerto Rico we have our own stuff. What I want people to know is that 1) Puerto Rico is different and 2) we have a rich culture.”

Each genre of music in Puerto Rico has particular instruments that are very closely associated each type. In Jíbaro music, this is the cuatro—an instrument that has gained prominence as the national instrument of Puerto Rico. The word “cuatro” means “four” in Spanish, and the old cuatros, los cuatros antiguos, used only four strings. However, today you will more often see cuatros with 8 or 10 strings being played in a variety of groups. Andy’s great-grandfather was an accomplished cuatro player in the Jíbaro style. Now he has an uncle in Jayuya who plays the cuatro in the Jíbaro style.

While Andy does not play the cuatro or sing in the Jíbaro style, he does dance jíbaro. The dances will include elements such as the machete—a tool associated with the hard work of the Jíbaro in the fields and with sugar cane, an important crop in Puerto Rico. While women who dance in the Jíbaro style wear full skirts and white blouses, the men are best known for their straw hats called “Pava.” Like the cuatro, this Jíbaro object has gained significance as an icon, and has been used by the Popular Democratic Party—a political party in Puerto Rico—as their symbol.

Making connections: How do you think the current political parties of the United States got their symbols? What do they mean? Conduct some research into the history of these popularly used, but little understood icons of the political process.

There are two other musical styles that Andy’s dance company performs: the Plena and Bomba. Both of these styles are percussion-driven genres that not only encourage people to dance—in Bomba it is a requirement! Both the Plena and Bomba attribute their origins to African influences; however, they are each a distinct style with specific rhythms and nuance. As Andy relates to me, Plena is often called their “sung newspaper.” This is born out of the need for people to pass on news to each other when they may not have had the resources to write or read a newspaper. This oral tradition is very rich, and is especially associated with the city of Ponce, in southern Puerto Rico.

Did you Know: The use of oral traditions in some cultures to provide news, remember important stories or events, and pass on messages is very important. While most communities in the United States value the written word over oral, written records should not be seen as “better” or “more important.” In fact, the written word is in the grand scheme of human communication has not really been around very long at all—and electronic news and communication via the world wide web is a very new event that is only beginning to develop its own traditions for the dissemination of news events and important stories. Are there certain events or stories that you remember because of how they were told to you? Maybe they were sung and you remember the rhymes and melodies, or maybe it was a story that captured your attention so that you wanted to also retell it how you heard it. Create a song or story that will tell others about an event that you think was important in your life or in your community. For more information about oral traditions and activities, visit http://www.oraltradition.org/

Bomba originated in Loiza. Its origins are African and date back to when Africans were enslaved on the island. Bomba is distinctive for the relationship that the dancer has to the drummer. While in many genres of drumming the dancer reacts to the drumming rhythms, in Bomba the drummer needs to closely watch the dancer and follow her. It becomes a challenge as they both work closely together to create the music and event.

Andy continues to learn about Bomba and Plena dance and music both from resources in Pennsylvania and New York, as well as in Puerto Rico. He notes, however, that there have been some changes in these traditions over time—some are the natural changes that every living tradition experiences, while others are due to immigration. The traditional dances of Puerto Rico do not have a “set” way to always do things like you would see in a classical art such as ballet. However, Andy points out that some changes were more significant when Puerto Ricans began to move to places such as New York City. Plena music used to mostly only use a pandereta (a small drum that looks like the tambourine without the cymbals) and voice, but then they started to add other instruments to the groups such as the trombone, clarinet, trumpets, and accordion.

Even with the changes, however, he thinks that this is a very important tradition that he wants to continue to bring to the York community. He tells me that an important phrase that he grew up hearing was: “Que sigue la tradicíon,” or, “Continue the tradition.” He wants to use his group of young people to continue the traditions of Puerto Rico, and he hopes that they will in turn pass it along to other teens so that the dances are not forgotten. He told me, “It’s a rich culture that shouldn’t be forgotten…. In Puerto Rico there is a support system for the traditions. In York it is different. People are more hesitant; they don’t instinctively know [the traditions]”. He thinks too many people just want to “see it” here, like an entertaining show or movie, rather than practice and live the dance and music traditions. For Andy, the perfect audience is an interactive one. It claps to the music, knows the music and sings along to the songs, and most importantly, dances.

He sees a greater distance between people and tradition in the Puerto Rican diaspora and hopes that he can start to close the gap through his work. It is to bridge the gap and continue the tradition that he so passionately invests his time and energy into organizing and leading Pasaeos Caribenos. However, this group is not meant for only Puerto Ricans. Within the group people who share Mexican, Dominican, and Chinese ethnic heritage as well. Therefore, he has chosen as the group’s colors white and red. These two colors can be found on all of the flags of these nations, and symbolizes a point of unity that they all share together.