HOT SPRINGS – Musical ensemble LADAMA is coming to Fall River County next week, courtesy of Chautauqua Craftsmen and Artisans of the Black Hills (CCABH) and Custer Area Arts Council (CAAC). The visit is made possible through the World Fest program, a performing arts residency program of Arts Midwest that tours world music ensembles to communities in the Midwest connecting cultures through music.
Mafer Bandola (Venezuela), Lara Klaus (Brazil), Daniela Serna (Colombia) and Sara Lucas (U.S.) are LADAMA with each bringing their own unique style and original compositions to create unique combinations of South American and Caribbean styles like cumbia, maracatu, onda nueva and joropo and blending them with soul, R&B and pop.
“Their music transcends a specific language with primordial aspects that engage and empower,” said Terry Slagel, CCABH Chair, of LADAMA. “It represents our South American female performance artists in a positive electric way. You feel the beat and want to move.”
The group met while touring the southwest in 2014 and was drawn to each other and to their united dream to build connections through sound and empower women and youth through music.
By 2017, they had released their debut album with great fanfare. Riding that high tide they released their second album in 2020 using their music to channel the personal experiences of being human in the midst of global crises, climate destruction and immigration.
With a free community performance to be held at the Mueller Center on March 10, from 2 pm to 4 pm, Slagel believes that introducing youth and communities to varieties of music brings more than just entertainment.
“Music brings an avenue for people of all ages, socio economic status, and beliefs to come together; to appreciate and celebrate our connections with one another as a community,” said Slagel. “To feel we belong together here, in this place and time and can enjoy something positive together.”
Additionally, music from other cultures can inspire, entice and ignite that connection we all have to music.
“Music brings the outside world to our doorstep,” said Slagel. “Through music, humans are allowed to share a universal language that taps into their beingness; differences fall aside. Music provides a common ground to learn from and of each other as individuals and societal groups. As LADAMA members share, music helps us “activate our existence”.”
With performances also scheduled for Custer, Edgemont and Oelrich schools, Matt Fridell, President CAAC, sees these kinds of programs having a measurable impact and a lasting impression on youth.
“These types of programs affect our kids long after the day of the program by opening their minds to learning about global cultures and providing exposure to really creative people and talented musicians,” said Fridell in an earlier interview regarding World Fest.
CCABH and CCAC has a threeyear commitment to host World Fest in their communities with a performance group coming in October 2024 hosted by CAAC and another group coming in the Spring of 2025 hosted by CCABH.
A program of Arts Midwest, World Fest is generously supported by the National Endowment for the Arts and Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies. Arts Midwest is also generously supported by Illinois Arts Council Agency, Indiana Arts Commission, Iowa Arts Council, Michigan Arts and Culture Council, Minnesota State Arts Board, North Dakota Council on the Arts, Ohio Arts Council, South Dakota Arts Council, Wisconsin Arts Board, 3M, Crane Group and individual donors and partners.