The groups of mariachis composed of women, to whom time ago almost no one gave a good omen, are helping to globalize even more Mexican music, as has been demonstrated in the Fifth International Festival of Mariachi Femenil, which takes place this weekend in Los Angeles California.
With presence in different states of the USA and in other countries such as England or Canada, the inventiveness of women has led her not only to present simply this traditional music (rancheras, the Guadalajara syrup and the corridos), but also to adapt the original songs of other countries to the interpretation of the mariachi.
“I see that women are coming together all over the world, we are getting to know each other and when I bring them to the festival, they establish communication networks to help each other”, said Dr. Leonor Xóchitl Pérez, musicologist and organizer of this event. He has been organizing for three years.
According to the researcher, with the leadership of women there are already groups of female mariachis in countries as different as Italy or Ireland.
“In addition to the traditional Mexican songs, we make arrangements in English in the Mariachi style,” explained Anna Csergo, director of the Mariachi Las Adelitas UK ensemble, based in London, in the United Kingdom.
The last of the adaptations of this group emerged in 2013 is the theme “Back to Black”, by the famous deceased interpreter Amy Winehouse, that Las Adelitas UK play “in guapango version”.
However, the “strong” is still the interpretation of traditional Mexican music, according to Csergo.
“In recent years, mariachi music has become very popular among English people,” says the founder of the group when she realizes that they are hired for weddings, birthdays and other events.
The group, Csergo says, like both Latinos and English alike, mixing interpretations of the classic repertoire of mariachis with adaptations of British and “eighties” themes such as “Sweet Dreams” by Eurythmics.
The Adelitas UK are presented today along with the already well-known Mariachi Divas, winner of two Grammys, and Mariachi Alma del Folklore, the first female group of its kind in Denver, Colorado.
They will be accompanied by the Ballet Folklorico de Los Angeles, directed by Kareli Montoya, and the mariachi singer Junko Seki, a native of Chiba, Japan, who sings in Spanish but does not speak the language.
Michelle Cormier, founder and director of the group Mariachi Estrellas de Vancouver, of Canada, a team that also acts this Saturday, met Dr. Pérez at a festival in Rosarito, Baja California (Mexico) and from there emerged an important strengthening for the group mariachi that this Saturday is presented at the festival, whose headquarters is located in San Gabriel, northeast of Los Angeles, California.
“We are not the first women’s mariachi group in Vancouver, but we are currently the only one and I think in all of Canada,” Cormier said in an interview with Efe.
With her vision as a music professional, the director and her group interpret mariachi music in a traditional way, although “we also have a lot of openness to do other things, such as the recent adaptation of two themes from the well-known group Influence,” he said.
In that search for new ideas and experiences, Cormier contacted a group of son jarocho, from Guanajuato, Mexico, with whom they already have six songs mixing the repertoire of the two groups and whose harvest they will present on a forthcoming tour.
The novelty of a group of only women is also very popular with Canadians, says Cormier.
“The Mexican community there is not very big, but it’s growing and they are with other Latinos and the Canadians themselves are very interested in that idea of a women’s mariachi group, they get a lot of attention,” he said.
