STREAMING: The concert will be available for streaming on this page and our Youtube channel until January 15th, 2022

The San Cristóbal de Regla group was founded in 1953 in the Havana neighbourhood of Regla, one of the old slave landing ports. Today, led by Andres Balaez, the group performs daily rituals associated with the practice of various Afro-Cuban cults. In Cuba, the relationship between people and the spirits is the result of a long process of inter-African and Afro-European syncretism. Each musical ensemble is characterised by a specific percussion 'orchestra', and addresses various spiritual entities (Catholic saints, orichas or deities associated with animist-type beliefs, forces of nature and the 'dead'). As officiants, the musicians creatively exploit the melodies and rhythms associated with these different worlds, creating remarkable polyrhythms. The Balaez family is one of the island's great lineages of musicians, a veritable dynasty in which the secrets of musical knowledge are passed on from father to son.

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Andres Jacinto Balaez Chinicle : batá, cajón, tumbadora and singing
Andres Lazaro Balaez Gutierrez : batá, catá, campana, güiro and singing
Osvaldo Cáceres Balaez : clave, campana, güiro, bombo, singing & dance
Bartolomes Espinoza Peraza : batá, cajón, tumbadora and singing
Jorje Alberto Duquesne Mora : clave, campana, güiro and dance

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To go further ...

Saturday 11 dec. - 18h30 - MEG, Genève
Free admission

Conference/concert presentation

with Ana Koprivica 

The calling of the spirits in Afro-Cuban music

In Afro-Cuban repertoires, music structures the time of the ritual, creates emotion, but also participates in the induction and socialisation of the possession trance and the identification of the spirits (orichas, muertos). As ritual officiants, musicians creatively exploit melodic systems and rhythmic patterns associated with a wide range of musical genres and spirits. This lecture will illustrate how musicians adapt this skill to each context, allowing for a connection between people, while at the same time materialising this connection with an invisible world. In a way, music makes tangible what is considered elusive.

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In Partnership with the 24e Festival de l’Imaginaire.