Tigers of a Different Stripe: Performing Gender in Dominican Music

292 Pages·2016·4.677 MB·English

by  Sydney Hutchinson

Tigers of a Different Stripe
Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology
A series edited by Philip V. Bohlman, Ronald Radano, and Timothy Rommen
Editorial Board
Margaret J. Kartomi
Bruno Nettl
Anthony Seeger
Kay Kaufman Shelemay
Martin H. Stokes
Bonnie C. Wade
Tigers of a
Different Stripe
Performing Gender in Dominican Music
Sydney Hutchinson
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2016 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2016.
Printed in the United States of America
25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 40532- 2 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 40546- 9 (paper)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 40563- 6 (e- book)
doi: 10.7208/chicago/978- 0- 226- 40563- 6.001.0001
Publication of this book has been supported by the Manfred Bukofzer Endowment of
the American Musicological Society, funded in part by the National Endowment for
the Humanities and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Hutchinson, Sydney, 1975- author.
Title: Tigers of a different stripe : performing gender in Dominican music /
Sydney Hutchinson.
Other titles: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology.
Description: Chicago ; London : The University of Chicago Press, 2016. |
Series: Chicago studies in ethnomusicology | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016015754 | ISBN 9780226405322 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN
9780226405469 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780226405636 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Popular music—Dominican Republic—History and criticism. |
Gender identity in music.
Classification: LCC ML3487.D66 H88 2016 | DDC 781.64097293—dc23 LC record
available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016015754
∞ This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
Para todos y todas los merengueros y merengueras,
seguidores y seguidoras, viejetes y viejetas que me han
acompañado tan gentilmente en este largo viaje.

Contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 1
2 A Gendered History 26
3 Tatico Forever 54
4 Fefita the Great 83
5 Filosofía de Calle: Transnational Tigueraje 113
6 Temporary Transvestites: Cross- Dressing Merengue,
Bachata, and Reggaetón 149
7 Listening Sideways: The Transgenre Work of Rita Indiana 173
8 Dispatch from an Imaginary Island 211
Appendix A: Dominican Musics Mentioned in This Book 219
Appendix B: A Comparison of Two Accordionists’ Botaos 225
Appendix C: Movement and Gesture Analysis of Fefita
la Grande Performing “La chiflera” 237
Notes 243
Works Cited 253
Index 269

Illustrations
Figures
1.1 Tresillo rhythm 2
2.1 Concho Primo 31
2.2 Julián Ramírez, “El Viejo Tíguere” 35
2.3 La India Canela 47
3.1 Tatico Henríquez 55
3.2 Bust of Tatico in Nagua 58
3.3 La muerte del merengue: Homenaje a Tatico Henríquez,
painting by Raúl Recio 60
3.4 Tatico’s botao for “La mamajuana” 65
3.5 Gaspar Rodríguez at home with portrait of Tatico 80
4.1 Fefita la Grande 85
4.2 Santa Fefa divirtiendo a unos chivos sin ley, painting by Chiqui Mendoza 92
5.1 Flyer for La Organización Típica 119
5.2 Comparison of tambora rhythms for merengue derecho and maco 120
5.3 Comparison of forms for merengue derecho and merengue con mambo 121
5.4 Shino Aguakate 133
5.5 Geniswing 139
6.1 Tulile 159
6.2 Mala Fe 166
7.1 Rita Indiana with tambora 175
7.2 El Juidero 185
7.3 Logo for Los Misterios 186