The author is a university professor. Lives in Santo Domingo
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An authentic musical genre from San Juan is La Comarca, a rhythm played with the accordion, tambora and güira similar to merengue, but with particular chords and songs dedicated to praising the local god Liborio Mateo and exalting the symbolism of his cult.
In the region, the mission, healing work and revolutionary gallantry of Liborio Mateo, a character who lived at the beginning of the 20th century and built a powerful movement of popular religiosity in the Maguana Arriba area, municipality of San Juan de la Maguana in the region, is extolled. southern Dominican Republic.
The genre “la comarca” is played in the rural area of San Juan and recreates the mythical-religious liborist work. The songs of the region only deal with the deeds of that god of Maguana.
The comarqueros, as “popular minstrels” go from field to field, especially in the northern part of the province of San Juan, playing and singing melodies that recreate the work of Papa Liborio.
The region is danced in pairs, in a rhythmic way, with the bodies nearby intertwined or loose, holding hands or free, very similar to merengue, without sudden hip movements.
The festivals of the region are generally daytime celebrations, although they can last until the night. The alcohol intake in these sprees is abundant.
In the regional festivities, an altar decorated with elements of Catholic saints stands out, an image of the cacica Anacaona, candles and lighted candles and sometimes an image of the character.
Liborio Mateo is for his followers the God who gives them encouragement and healing. His supporters in the province of San Juan, in the Valle region and some Cibao towns -close to the central mountain range-, continue to believe and adore him intensely, after considering him a deity who guides them spiritually.
His faithful, exclaiming so much -Oh Liborio- have corrupted his name, transforming it into Oliborio.
Those who follow Liborio Mateo with particular faith are waiting for a third coming of their messiah, as happened with his reincarnation in the twin brothers of Palma Sola in Las Matas de Farfán, in 1962.
Unfortunately, the region is a genre that is in extinction due to the successive deaths of its followers. One of the greatest exponents of this rhythm was Américo Ramírez Valdez (Meco), artistically known as “Américo el Músico”, who He was born on April 5, 1945 in the community of Higuerito, Municipal District of Las Maguana and died on July 30, 2015. His son Chilo Mateo has inherited his father’s gifts and continues to play in the northern area of San Juan de la Maguana.
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