Dancing across frontiers

It was 2011 and the author of this article met Hugo and Frankie and their friendly dog in a pub on the edge of Victoria Park in Hackney, to talk about a decade they had spent organizing Afro-Latin parties in London and collecting music in tropical latitudes.

As they described it they have been through a continuing musical education, which led them from a love of the English Dance and House music scene in the '90's, through noticing occasional Latin tracks which they and their audiences liked, to entering a new world of Latin and Afro-Latin music. Exploring the music of some African countries, especially Nigeria, the two Congos and Angola, they soon realised the continuity of rhythms, which have bounced back and forth across the south Atlantic since the days of slavery, often following political changes like the long Cuban involvement in the Angolan liberation war. In the era of World Music (a term they object to) the cross-fertilization has become intentional, with the likes of Manu Dibango and Ali Farka Toure making joint tours on both continents.

Their biggest inspiration from the travels of the music and their collecting expeditions is that dance music makes people feel included, "it may not be easy listening" says Hugo, "but it's easy dancing: so dance to it".

This interview a long time ago and unfortunately was temporarily lost after a hacking attack at The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper, but it has since been re-published and can be read in full with links and photos, here:

https://theprisma.co.uk/2022/04/25/dancing-across-frontiers/