ARTS IN MOTION - Gabriela Esquivel & Catherine Shapiro (Costa Rica and USA: A Fusion through Music)

Twenty years have passed since Gabriela Esquivel left Costa Rica to live abroad and only two years ago she became a United States citizen. For many years she has been searching for her true identity and through this research project she aims to “construct her new identity through music.”Establishing a self-identity has been a common subject in many fields of study, and music is not an exemption. Several articles, books, and doctoral research projects study the relationship between music and identity.What would be the best way to create a musical fusion between Costa Rican and North American music that can represent the identity of a Costa Rican-American artist? What contribution to the music community of both countries can this project bring to the table? To answer these questions, Gabriela began her research project by first reading about the musical history of both lands. She learned about specific musical genres, styles, rhythms, and dances from each culture. Some of these are parrandera, tambito, calypso limonense, cumbia, swing criollo, blues, honky-tonk, swing, doo-wop, and more.