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Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.299.1, Connecticut Historical S ...
Fiestas de Loíza, c. 1995-1996
Connecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collection, 2015.196.299.1, Connecticut Historical Society, Copyright Undetermined

Fiestas de Loíza, c. 1995-1996

Sponsor
Datec. 1995-1996
Mediumslides
ClassificationsGraphics
Credit LineConnecticut Cultural Heritage Arts Program collections
CopyrightIn Copyright
Object number2015.196.299.1-.29
DescriptionPhotographs of Fiestas de Loíza, c. 1995-1996.

(.1) Performers on stage.

(.2) The audience at the festival.

(.3) A jewelry vendor at the festival.

(.4-.5) The audience at the festival.

(.6) An announcer on stage.

(.7-.8) Vejigantes, bomba dancers, and musicians on stage.

(.9) Drummers on stage at the festival.

(.10-.13) Vejigantes, bomba dancers, and musicians on stage.

(.14) A bomba dancer.

(.15) Vejigantes, bomba dancers, and musicians on stage.

(.16) A bomba dancer, possibly Menen Osorio, announcing on stage.

(.17-.18) Vejigantes procession holding a “Bienvenidos Fiesta de Loiza” banner.

(.19) The procession with a group from the Boston Loiza Society.

(.21) Drummers on stage at the festival.

(.22) The procession with a group from the Boston Loiza Society.

(.23-.25) People in vejigante costumes standing near the festival banner. The vejigantes procession holding a “Bienvenidos Fiesta de Loiza” banner.

(.26) Young bomba dancers in the procession.

(.27) The procession with a group from the Boston Loiza Society.

(.28-.29) Young bomba dancers in the procession.
NotesSubject Note: Flechas Inc. was a long running Puerto Rican arts, culture, and advocacy organization based in New Haven, developed in 1977 by Menen Osorio and others who came from Loiza, as do many in the New Haven Puerto Rican community. They organized an annual festival beginning in 1978 – Fiestas de Loiza En Connecticut Honor al Apostol Santiago - celebrating the festival held in Loiza, Puerto Rico, that commemorated St. James (Apostol Santiago) defeating the Moors in Spain. In this festival, both in Loiza and in New Haven, folk dances featuring costumed vejigante dancers were a major element of the presentation. Many of the most prominent Puerto Rican musicians in Connecticut and nearby performed over the years. Loiza is a town on the north coast of Puerto Rico with strong African-influenced traditions from its roots in the sugar cane industry and the culture of its enslaved people. Flechas devoted its work to educating audiences about the African heritage of Puerto Rico.

Flechas also held educational events throughout the year in New Haven, such as the Commemoration of the 1873 Abolition of Slavery in Puerto Rico and performances by the group’s Folkloric Bohio Dance Troupe. Lydia Perez of Yoruba II bomba y plena group also performed often at the Festival, and she was a mentor to Menen Osorio’s dance troupe in 1998-1999 under the Southern New England Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program.


Additional audio, video, and/or photographic materials exist in the archive relating to this event and these artists.


Cataloging Note: This project was made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services MA-245929-OMS-20.
Status
Not on view
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