When my 7 or 8 year old daughter I began to notice her natural talent for music and when I played American music on the disco, I was surprised to hear her singing fragments of the song The Way We Were sung by Barbra Straisand and I took advantage of my knowledge of English language to sing it in unison with my daughter.
With its high-pitched voice it reached records that I could not reach "Memories like a calling of my mind ..." until the whole song was learned. But she was shy to sing it in public in the Church. She does not know the meaning of the lyrics but the children, if they are taught early, sing any language if they are taught well.
We also made a duet with the song of Nat King Cole and his daughter Natilla Cole "Unforgetable" in which we fit together perfectly, until something happened.
In the corner they opened a pizzeria in the corridor of a house and put techno-cumbias of the Texo-Mexican singer SELENA and that's where my daughter's fascination with American music ended.
I had to get her a Walk Man with a Selena cassette and with it's headphones on she rolled over in bed with her eyes closed as if she were dreaming but she did not sing those melodies, she just liked to listen to that girl in a new rhythm that had just entered in Cuba.
With its high-pitched voice it reached records that I could not reach "Memories like a calling of my mind ..." until the whole song was learned. But she was shy to sing it in public in the Church. She does not know the meaning of the lyrics but the children, if they are taught early, sing any language if they are taught well.
We also made a duet with the song of Nat King Cole and his daughter Natilla Cole "Unforgetable" in which we fit together perfectly, until something happened.
In the corner they opened a pizzeria in the corridor of a house and put techno-cumbias of the Texo-Mexican singer SELENA and that's where my daughter's fascination with American music ended.
I had to get her a Walk Man with a Selena cassette and with it's headphones on she rolled over in bed with her eyes closed as if she were dreaming but she did not sing those melodies, she just liked to listen to that girl in a new rhythm that had just entered in Cuba.
To the point it was her obsession with Selena that I had to take her to the América movie theater - the largest in the city of Guantánamo - that by then had no movie pieces to project on the big screen and for a small fee they placed an old television in colors where They passed documentaries and movies. Among these, the life and murder of that Texas singer, who at the pinnacle of her glory was shot in the shoulder of her by her assistant Yolanda Zaldívar at the young age of 23 years. My daughter cried when a dramatic performance of Selena in the Hotel lobby dies.
Still had not filmed the life of the singer, steralizada by Jennifer Lopez, I do not know if my daughter saw it-I doubt it because I had taken refuge in Uruguay and saw the film here in 1997-. I do not think they have spent it in Cuba.
That's how I left my daughter. In her first letters she mentioned the song of Barbra Straisand and Nat King Cole, but she did not talk about Selena anymore. Her talent for music she forgot in part because of me, among other reasons that I do not want to mention here, when I "stay" in Uruguay.
Years later, being a beautiful young lady, she came to Uruguay to accompany me and to work.
I asked her recently if she remembered the afternoons when we sang the American songs and she told me. -No Pa, that is in the past and out of my memories.-
I was sad for a moment but life is like that. You can not be anchored to the past, now look forward and remove all traces of Caribbean and North American culture, but I do not see in her any enthusiasm for the music of the Rio de la Plata.
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (Lake Jackson, April 16, 1971-Corpus Christi, March 31, 1995) was a n American singer of Mexican descent from Tex-Mex, ranchera, ballad, Latin pop and Mexican cumbia, as well as a businesswoman, model, actress and fashion designer. Yolanda Zaldivar was given a life sentence and she in the documentary murmured that between the singer and her there was a special connection that would lead to death as a great secret that only belonged to both of them.
DR ORLANDO VICENTE ALVAREZ
CUBAN URUGUAYAN,GENIUS
Cuando mi hija de 7 u 8 años empecé a notar su talento natural para la música y cuando yo ponía en el toca disco música norteamericana, me sorprendió escucharla cantando fragmentos de la canción The way we were cantada por Barbra Straisand y yo aproveché mis conocimientos del idioma ingles para cantarla al unísono con mi hija.
Con su voz aguda llegaba a registros a los que yo no podía llegar “Memories like a calling of my mind…” hasta que se aprendió la canción completa. Pero era tímida para cantarla en público en la Iglesia. No conocía el significado de la letra pero los niños si se les enseña tempranamente cantan cualquier idioma si se les enseñe bien.
También hacíamos dúo con la canción de Nat King Cole y de su hija Natilla Cole “Unforgetable" en la que nos acoplábamos perfectamente, hasta que sucedió algo.
En la esquina abrieron una pizzería en el corredor de una casa y ponían tecno-cumbias de la cantante Texo-mexicana SELENA y ahí se acabó toda la fascinación de mi hija con la música norteamericana.
Yo tuve que conseguirle un walk Man con un casete de Selena y con los auriculares puestos se volcaba en la cama con los ojos cerrados como si soñara pero no cantaba aquellas melodías, solo le gustaba escuchar a aquella joven en un nuevo ritmo que recién había entrado en Cuba.
Al punto fue su obsesión con Selena que tuve que llevarla al cine América-el más grande de la ciudad de Guantánamo- que para entonces no tenía piezas de películas para proyectar en la gran pantalla y por un módico precio colocaban un viejo televisor en colores donde pasaban documentales y películas. Entre estos, la vida y el asesinato de aquella cantante texana, que en el pináculo de su gloria recibió un disparo en el hombro de su asistente Yolanda Zaldívar a la temprana edad de 23 años. Mi hija lloró cuando en una representación dramática de Selena en el lobby del Hotel fallece.
Todavía no se había filmado la vida de la cantante, esteralizada por Jennifer López, que no sé si mi hija la vio-lo dudo pues yo me había asilado en Uruguay y vi el film aquí en 1997-. No creo que la hayan pasado en Cuba.
Así dejé a mi hija. En sus primeras cartas me mencionaba la canción de Barbra Straisand y de Nat King Cole, pero ya no me hablaba de Selena.
Su talento para la música lo olvidó en parte por mi culpa, entre otras razones que no quiero mencionar aquí, al “quedarme” en Uruguay.
Años después, siendo ella una bella señorita vino al Uruguay a acompañarme y a trabajar.
Le pregunte recién si se acordaba de las tardes en que cantábamos las canciones americanas y me dijo. –No Pa, eso quedo en el pasado y fuera de mis recuerdos.-
Yo quedé triste por un momento pero la vida es así. No se puede estar anclado al pasado, ahora mirar hacia adelante y remover todo trazo de la cultura caribeña y norteamerica, pero no le veo ningún entusiasmo por la música del Rio de la Plata.
Selena Quintanilla Pérez (Lake Jackson, 16 de abril de 1971-Corpus Christi, 31 de marzo de 1995) fue una cantante estadounidense de ascendencia mexicana de tex-mex, ranchera, balada, pop latino y cumbia mexicana, además de empresaria, modelo, actriz y diseñadora de moda. Le dieron cadena perpetua y ella en el documental murmura que entre la cantante y ella existía una conexión especial que se llevaría a la muerte como un gran secreto que solo le pertenecía a las dos.
DR ORLANDO VICENTE ALVAREZ
CUBANO URUGUAYO,GENIO
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