They jammed with local musicians in Hyderabad, held a workshop with students of KM Music Conservatory in Chennai and performed giddha with dancers in Amritsar.
This all-women troupe is making most of its time in India, imbibing some of our culture and influencing us with theirs. Apart from being known as the all-women band in the usually male-dominated Mariachi music, Flor De Toloache from New York City is known for its unusual fusion of folk Mexican music with genres like Jazz and Salsa. Mariachi is a form of folk music from Mexico that began as a regional folk style called Son Jaliscience in the center west of Mexico originally played only with string instruments and musicians dressed in the white pants and the shirts of peasant farmers. But Mireya Ramos, who founded the band in 2008 was determined to break the mould. So when she and Shae Fiol, singer, songwriter of the band, were designing their costumes, they chose black pants with some visible Mexican influences borrowed from traditional Mariachi costume.
“Traditionally men wore pants and women skirts, but we realised that we will be moving for our performances often and we need to be comfortable so we decided to opt for pants. It gives a different character to the band and also speaks volumes on our music, as we are not just playing Mariachi we work on fusion with different instruments,” shared Mireya, while she was in Delhi for a concert at the American Center.
Flor De Toloache is on a five-city Indian tour. They were received very warmly by the audience and some showed great interest in their music. They particularly mentioned the audience in Hyderabad which “interactive and informed”. In Delhi, violinist Maya Shankar’s Khoya Khoya Chand took the audience by shock and surprise. Maya has her roots in India and she has been listening to some Bollywood classics since her childhood. “I listen to Hindi music but not too much the new one. I find the classic music very soothing,” she said. Maya has been performing (on the violin and sometimes other things) and writing within many musical genres and techniques, and was completely new to mariachi when she became a part of the band. “It is interesting as we work on variety and what we play has got very popular in New York and is spreading to other parts of the globe,” she said.
Mireya is of Dominican and Mexican descent. Her training in Mariachi began early at home, thanks to her dad, who was also a Mariachi. “I had known the style and was already a Mariachi performer in New York City. Then I met Shae through her music and that was the beginning of the band. We kept meeting other members too, sometimes at school, performances and other venues. All members come from different parts of the world but have played Mariachi before but since beginning we were sure that we won’t limit ourselves to Mariachi. Music across the globe is going through such a revolution. There are so many experiments happening and it is fun to work with a fusion. Mariachi has been popular form of music but the kind of music we were creating wasn’t very well-known initially. We kept working on different concepts and today we get an opportunity to go to places. It is very encouraging,” she said and added that she keeps looking for more band members as “the more the members the better the music.” She is also looking forward to working with some Indian artistes. Being an all-woman band is empowering, they say. “There are challenges but we have received love from the audience in every part of the world. It is a special experience,” ended Mireya.
photo Pankaj Kumar