Buenos Aires & Rosario: Murgas, more than just the same old song and dance

Action
On the first day of our first visit to Buenos Aires, we were walking through the residential neighborhood surrounding Parque Centenario when the drums started to echo in the distance. As we strolled along, the distant sounds became distinct and vibrant rhythms, resonating along the streets. Turning a corner, we discovered the source: a group of around 20 people, marching and dancing through the streets with drums in hand. Our hosts explained that the group was a local murga troupe, a type of musical theater that is native to Argentina and Uruguay.


During Carnaval in Rosario, we discovered the more theatrical side of murgas, when they stop marching and start performing. At a special murga stage set up alongside the Carnaval parade, murga groups from across the region took the stage to perform different types of theater involving singing, dancing, drums, and/or political satire and commentary. One group of young children did a simple song and dance about growing up. Later, a murga troupe of teenagers sang a tale about some of the basic problems in their neighborhood (e.g. no work, not enough food to eat) and the luxury in another neighborhood (e.g. swimming pools, fancy cars), rhetorically asking the audience if this was fair and just.


Reflection
A few weeks after seeing these murga groups, I had the chance to read an article about murga’s role in creating an educating city. The article explained that murga groups are usually formed independently by community members in a given neighborhood (usually in working class areas), and that the group members generally produce their own songs, dances, costumes, and even instruments. Or in other words, that the murga groups enable ordinary kids to become the independent producers of their own culture.

Many murgas are inherently political, posing questions about life in the local community and city to both the murga members and their audiences. Regardless of the political messages, murgas are by definition based on voluntary and collective groupwork in pursuit of a common objective. There are no “stars” in murga theater – rather, the group members are involved in all aspects of the production, in a non-hierarchical way. Murga advocates therefore suggest that, in a world increasingly dominated by globalized commercial culture, murgas enable kids to practice and develop their own identity, creativity, and self-esteem through a process that instills values of active participation, solidarity, and community.

Question
What kind of culture have you produced, as a kid or adult? When have cultural productions affected your way of thinking? When has music, art, dance, or performance been political for you?