Waila Festival
Tucson, Arizona, USA
Late MayDescription
Tohono O’odham bands will perform social dance music. The public is encouraged to join in the dancing to waila (polka), chote (schottische), mazurka and cumbia tunes. Food booths will offer frybread as well as traditional foods such as tepary beans, squash and cholla buds. The Arizona Historical Society has sponsored the Waila Festival, co-founded by Angelo Joaquin, Jr. and Karen Seger, since the inaugural event which was held at the Tucson AHS museum in 1989. Sponsored by the Arizona Historical Society, UA School of Music, Desert Diamond Casinos, Pepsi Cola Bottling Co., Native Seeds/SEARCH, and Tohono O'odham Senior Services Mission The mission of the Waila Festival is to encourage and facilitate the artistic development of waila music and musicians, to showcase this hundred-year-old musical form in a professional setting, and to bring this aspect of Tohono O’odham culture to the public of southern Arizona for its appreciation and enjoyment. What is Waila? Waila is the social dance music of the Tohono O’odham, or "Desert People". The Tohono O'odham Nation, located west of Tucson and at just under three million acres (about the size of Connecticut), is the second largest Indian reservation in the U.S. The O'odham share a 60-mile common boundary with the Republic of Mexico. The word "waila" is derived from the Spanish word for dance (baile). Also known as “chicken scratch”, a term today met with much disapproval by O’odham, waila evolved from the music of earlier acoustic fiddle bands that adapted European and Mexican tunes heard in northern Sonora. Origins The fiddle was introduced to the O'odham by missionaries who needed music for church services. Fiddlers expanded their repertoires to perform a new social dance music. The earliest documented performance of a Tohono O’odham fiddle band took place at the Tucson presidio in the late 1860s. Fiddle bands were generally composed of twin fiddles, acoustic guitar, a snare drum and a bass drum. Bands and Music The evolution of today's waila sound was undoubtedly influenced by the musical styles and wind instruments of marching bands that Tohono O’odham youth encountered at government boarding schools. Contemporary Tohono O’odham waila bands include button accordion, alto saxophone (sometimes two), electric six-string and bass guitars, and a drum set. The musical arrangements may have disparate phrases from familiar tunes woven into them. Some waila pieces are adaptations of music heard on Mexican and American radio stations. For those new to waila, it may be a surprise to hear the melodies of “The Battle Hymn of the Republic”, “Jesus Christ Superstar”, and “Never on Sunday” played with a waila beat. Often waila tunes do not have titles, at least not until the names must be produced for a recording. To make a request, or to refer to a particular tune, one simply hums a few bars of the music. Occasions The traditional setting for waila music is an all-night feast,
Venue
Bear Down Field
Times
5:00 pm - 11:00 pm
Admission & Parking
Admission: Free
Website
http://www.azhistory.org
Infophone
520--628-5774
Email
000info@wailafest.com