Why Did the Candombes Decline?

 

 

In the second half of the 1800s the events organized by the African nations became less populated. There are several possible explanations coming together. When Justo José de Urquiza defeated Rosas and became provisional director of the Argentine Confederation in 1852 his unitarian government adopted a policy of enforcing selective curfews against dances sponsored by African societies. The decline of the African nations, which could be due to the heavy European immigration that had started around 1880, also led to a decline of the Candombes. Additionally, young Afro-Argentines sought to integrate themselves into Porteño society and adapted European music styles while rejecting the African influence on music (Edwards 75). Candombe, as a gathering, as a dance, as a performance, provided room for choreographic changes as already discussed above, leading to a new form of dance called Tango.

 

We will talk about Candombe's relation to Tango in the following section, but first we would like to highlight Candombe performance in carnival. Parallel to the African Candombes in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, the African music of the slaves had influenced the Buenos Aires carnival at the end of the eighteenth century. In 1836 black Comparsas were allowed to participate for the first time (Andrews 160). During the carnival celebrations the members of the different African nations would wear distinctive clothing to identify themselves and dance together in the streets. The Candombe tambores were heavily adopted into the carnival music. (Edwards 74). After Rosas and the decline of Candombe celebrations Candombe became mainly celebrated during Carnival.

 

Around the turn of the century several observations can be made. There was a massive rise of the population at the end of the nineteenth century due to the heavy immigration from Europe. Second, the decline of the visibility of the Afro-Argentine community and a transformation pressure to modernize the Argentine capital coming from its elites can be noticed. (For further information on the increasing invisibility of Afro-Argentines, please go to “History”)

 

The carnival celebrations at the end of the century reflected the tensions that underlay Buenos Aires' transformation (McCleary 2013, 102). During the Rosas era carnival had thrived, he had used the celebrations to reach the popular classes. Afterwards, carnival began to reflect the interests of the elite rulers over those popular classes. Starting in the 1870s, around the same time as in Montevideo, blackface comparsas appeared in the Buenos Aires carnival. This performance change accompanied the class change that took over the carnival. Between 1880 and 1920 carnival in Buenos Aires was almost fully absorbed by the middle- and upper-class to manifest and consolidate their social status (104). At this point we can discover similarities between the two capitals. First, the appearance of blackface comparsas happened almost at the same time on both sides of the River Plate. Second, the modernization of carnival through European influences hit both carnivals at the same time. In Buenos Aires we find that this was due to the strong ideological stance of the elite to transform Buenos Aires into the “Paris of South America” and as that reflect the nation's 'progress' (104).

Within this mindset carnival, with its strong Afro-Argentine influences and attendance of popular classes, seemed like a thorn in its side. The capital's elite, similar to Montevideo, enforced strong regulations on the carnival celebrations. Beginning of the 1900s they transformed the carnival from an outside festivity into happenings within interior social spaces (107). Additionally, they moved away from an African-influenced carnival to a Europeanized version, which was also displayed in a transformation of the costumes. While in the nineteenth century Afro-Argentine costumes were worn during the events, the twentieth century carnival gave room to costumes such as the Harlequin, known from European carnivals (108).