Historia General del Pueblo Dominicano Tomo VI

752 Popular Music and Identity since the Nineteenth Century independent couple dance choreography with local, Afro-Dominican, elements suggests that they developed form the contradanse-derived nineteenth-century ballroom forms. While most of the regional merengues are rarely played today, a vital pri-prí culture persists. This music utilizes one singer, the single-headed balsié drum, the güira, and the one-row accordion (instead of the more common two-rowmodel). Its 12/8 rhythmismarkedlydifferent fromthe 4/4ofmerengue cibaeño. While pri-prí’s choreography differs from those of merengue cibaeño, both variants are independent couple dances performed in the ballroom position. Many residents of Villa Mella are avid pri-prí dancers, and functions, called « pri-prís» , are held especially for its performance. Pri-prí often serves as a secular component of religious rituals and figures prominently in the annual festival of a Villa Mella mutual-aid society called La Cofradía de los Congos del Espíritu Santo. This author once attended a banco ritual commemorating a funeral, performed by a Villa Mella mutual aid society which included pri-prí performance. A musician informed the author that this music was featured at the banco because the deceased woman had been an enthusiastic dancer of pri- prí: «She would dance pri-prí for one or two weeks at a time». At the banco, the spirit of the deceased woman montó the body of a woman, who proceeded to dance pri-prí for several hours. While only family members are generally mounted at such events, musicians informed me that this woman a very close friend of the deceased, like a sister». 120 A fro -D ominican M usic as a C ounter -N arrative of N egritude Although merengue is central to Dominican life and identity, some have argued that it is not a representative symbol of the Dominican Republic, which is home to a wealth of African-derived styles. The cultural importance and sheer beauty of the Afro-Dominican music have often been denied by the country’s dominant Hispanophilic ideology. In efforts to heal racial complexes regarding national and racial identity, as mentioned above, Fradique Lizardo suggested that palos drumming be adopted as the national music already in the 1970s. 121 Martha Davis proposed that Dominican music of greater African influence [than merengue] ...be recognized by all as genuinely Dominican and gradually become