Balkanbeats concert in Managua

Cinthia Membreño | Jul 14, 2011

Merging two cultures on one stage stage. This is what the organizers - and the musicians - of the Balkanbeats concert aim to do this Friday, July 15th, at the French Alliance (Managua). The event, which will start at 8:00 pm, will have the special performances of DJ Tadaga (France) and DJ Soko (Bosnia) who, along with the national group La Cuenta Son Machín and the Philharmonic band of Ticuantepe, will mix the folkloric music of the Balkans, chinamera music and electronic rhythms.

Sara Bolt Kalfon, Coordinator of Culture of the French Alliance, one of the organizers of the event, stated that they chose musicians who were compatible with what the new generation of Nicaraguan artists is currently doing. In this case, mixing popular sounds with electronic beats. "These are all genres that have lost popularity over the years. When those are combined with other rhythms a whole new style is created," she assured.

Robert Soko (DJ Soko), a Bosnian musician who moved to Berlin back in the 90's - informed that the music they are going to play is a combination of folkloric music from the Balkans (one of the largest three peninsulas in Southern Europe), which is a mix of Yugoslavian, Gypsy, Jewish and Asiatic influence with electronic beats. "This kind of music is quite popular in Europe, but it wasn't 10 years ago," he said. In addition, Soko also stated that the word "Balkanbeats" refers to that merge of these two musical genres.

The French Ignace Corso (DJ Tadaga) was also present during the conference. He explained that he became Soko's collaborator after he started playing this kind of mixes back in 2004. The Parisian DJ said to be very excited about coming to Nicaragua for the first time and talked about the role that new technologies play when it comes to promoting folklore music worldwide.

On this visit to Nicaragua, both DJs will share their knowledge with La Cuneta Son Machin during previous rehearsals, so they can evaluate their techniques and create new mixes. Carlos Emilio Guillén, a member of the band, said that they have high expectations of the show. "Each artists is going to perform individually, but we also want to do it simultaneously," he told journalists.

Finally, Sara Bolt explained that the DJs will play the musical set they promote during their Balkanbeats performances. The slogan of the concerts is "You can have many problems but you still dance". According to Tadaga, the goal of their events is that people get to dance, jump and feel happy. This is what they want to accomplish during tomorrow's performance, which will have an entrance fee of C$50.

Translated by Cinthia Membreño