Tú y Yo and the Puertorican Danza

Reflections on Tú y Yo and the Puertorican Danza

by Edgar Colón-Hernández

As mentioned in my program note at the end of the score of Tú y Yo, the danza is Puerto Rico’s national dance. Originating around 1840, the stately, elegant danza soon replaced the waltz as the favorite dance in the formal ballrooms of mid-nineteenth century San Juan and other major cities and larger towns of the island. Indeed, most danzas were specifically created for the ballroom, but some were composed as art songs, while still others led a double life. The latter is the case with Angel Mislán’s Tú y Yo. To this date it is still unclear whether it was originally composed as a song or as a dance piece, although the fact that Mislán was a famous band leader could tilt the balance towards this danza premiering in the ballroon rather than in the salón de música. One aspect that differentiates Tú y Yo from most other danzas in song form is that the lyrics the composer chose are by a Spaniard rather than by a Puertorican poet as was usually the case. Although at the time strong nationalistic sentiments against Spanish rule were already taking hold in Puerto Rico, Tú y Yo was a major success in both arenas (concert hall and ballroom) and the piece remained quite popular until the mid-twentieth century when pop culture, both local and imported, began to change musical tastes.

I’ve been asked why I decided to craft this arrangement and, specifically, why I chose this danza in particular. While I was born, by “accident,” in Miami, FL, I was raised and lived in San Juan, PR until the age of 22 when I concluded my studies - and ultimately stayed to live - in New York City; thus, while I am vehemently proud to be an American, my self-identity has always been that of a fully-fledged “native" Puertorican. As such, I have always striven to bring authentic Puertorican music to the attention of the choral industry in the United States. Furthermore, as salsa, boleros, hip-hop and rap keep taking precedence in the Puertorican cultural climate, and the danza keeps sinking further into obscurity, I wanted to do my part to keep the form alive, if just for only a little while longer. Incidentally, this arrangement was the seed from which blossomed my set of "Classic Latin American Love Songs" from the late-19th- and early-20th centuries.

I wrote this arrangement for the 1991 “May Concert" by the Chamber Choir of the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus. At the time, NYCGMC’s Chamber Choir was led by Dean X Johnson, the only mentor I ever had before he sadly passed away in 1998; Dean X always encouraged and highlighted creativity within the ranks of the Chamber Choir. I chose Tú y Yo not because it happens to be my all-time favorite danza, but because it was my mother’s favorite as well and I wanted to surprise her during one of her visits with my Dad to New York - a visit which I knew would coincide with that year's "May Concert.” My Dad and I managed to keep the secret until she read the program at the church; she was thrilled! Now that my parents are both gone, Tú y Yo also still reminds me of the long road trips my parents and I used to take through different parts of the island. Not having any radio reception in the car while traversing the inland mountains, and since Walkman cassette players were still about fifteen years in the future, we would entertain ourselves by singing danzas and other folkloric songs in improvised harmonies, with my parents alternating on the melody; she would sometimes create alto lines with her warm mezzo voice, he often valiantly sang shaky tenor lines, and I always provided my often-convoluted bass lines. Some of those harmonies actually made it into my arrangement. Tú y Yo was always a favorite in our car.

Shortly after creating my arrangement of Tú y Yo I sent it to the then-choir director of the Escuela Libre de Música in San Juan, PR, my high school alma mater. I never heard from anyone at the school and as far as I knew, the score went into a file or box, never to be seen again. Then one spring evening in 2013 a message was waiting at home. In this message, Dr. Ana Rosario, who was now directing the school’s Concert Choir, informed me that she was taking the kids to participate in the 52nd International Choral Singing Competition “Seghizzi," held every summer in Gorizia, Italy. She further informed me, much to my surprise and jubilation, that they were including my arrangement of Tú y Yo in their program. As it turned out the Escuela Libre de Música Concert Choir won the Bronze Prize in the Folkloric Music category and won the Audience Vote Gold Prize at the 2013 Seghizzi Competition. Sadly, and I don’t know the details why, the school’s Concert Choir ceased to exist in 2014.