‘Women of Latin America’ Plays Paul Porter Center

            Three Latin American divas perform in “Latinas; Women of Latin America,” at the Porter Center for Performing Arts a Brevard College at * p. m. on Thursday, Oct.28.

            Tickets are $25 and $23.  Call the Porter Center Box Office at 884-8330, Monday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 to 4 p.m.

            Toto la Momposina is the queen of Colombia’s roots cumbia; Bêlo Velloso sings the popular samba and MPB of Brazil; and Mariana Montalvo performs an updated take on Chile’s Nueva cancion.

            While the artists featured on the Latinas tour reflect different styles and histories, they share a connection to local traditions, showing the influence of European, African and native American cultures at the heart of Latin American music.

            Totó La Momposina is “a flamboyant singer and dances with a direct, show-stopping delivery.  Drawing on the music and dance of the Colombian Caribbean, her work is inspired by a cultural mix that combines elements of African and Spanish traditions.

            Though Mariana Montalvo was forced into a life of exile in 1974, living in France since a coup that brought military regime of Augusto Pinochet to power, her connections to her roots have remained steadfast.  Mariana’s compositions feature the charango (a type of small guitar), quena (pan pipes) and traditional percussion.      

            Belô Velloso, the niece of Brazilian-music superstars Caetano Veloso and Maria Bethânia, was raised in Bahia, the Brazilian region with the most profound American cultural influences.