We've announced that Mariachi Mixteco Ensemble was going to perform in Korčula on three occassions. Well, they've outperformed themselves!
Their final performance in Korčula was on Wednesday night, at the Memorial Square, and the venue was so crowded, the atmosphere so great and the performance so inspired and entertaining, that we had to find out the story behind the group of Mariachi musicians, singers and dancers who decided to come to Korčula to perform (which is, you have to admit, not an obvious choice for a performance of this type of music). We were instructed to talk to Petar Šain, president of the Kumpanjija Pupnat Folk Music Association, who was the key organizer of the mariachi's visit to Korčula.
Mr. Šain explained to us that Kumpanjija Pupnat visits Balingen, close to Stuttgart in Germany for the festival that's held there, and that's where they met the people from Mixteco Ensemble, who were also performing there. They invited them to come visit Korčula, and participate in the celebration of August, 5th (the biggest party on the island, celebrating the St. Lady of the Snows in Pupnat as well as the national holiday of Thanksgiving day) and Mixteco accepted the invitation. 20 members of the ensemble arrived, 11 musicians, 4 dancers and 5 supporting staff and they have been in Korčula for a week. After that they are going to Stuttgart to perform there for another week, making it a small European tour.
They performed in Port9 Resort first, then at the big party in Pupnat, they wanted to play some more so they had an impromtu-performace at the Pupnatska Luka beach - yes, you read that right, AT THE BEACH, they also performed in Lumbarda and Orebić, they've enjoyed their stay on Korčula and would love to come back if possible.
Many of the musicians in the ensemble are professional musicians, who work as music teachers, and they save some money from all of their performances during the year to help them finance the trips they make abroad to promote the culture of Mexico. From what we've heard from Mr. Šain, they made the right choice to come to Korčula this year, as they've fallen in love with it, and the crowds in different places in Korčula where they performed fell in love with them, their culture and their unrelenting energy!
