Articles | Latinolife

The History of Latin Music in London

Notwithstanding the cheesy album covers, Latinolife explores the rich and idiocyncratic story of Latin Music in London.

Music, Baseball and Cacao

It’s not only Rio Ferdinand who sees himself as the next Simon Cowell, baseball legend Bobby Abreu has put his weight into promoting Venezuelan music worldwide, with a marketing strategy only fitting for a baseball star.

Alí Primera’s ‘Necessary Song’

Ali Primera, Venezuela’s own Silvio Rodriguez, was long-discarded to the official cultural sin-bin. But his popularity never waned and now his voice is being resurrected by the establishment that once scorned him.

Our Tribute to Sandro

The man known as The Argentine Elvis was a national treasure. The funeral was held on January 5th at the Argentine national congress, usually reserved only for presidents or former presidents. The streets where lined with…

The History of Reggaetón

For those of you who've come to it late, here's a beginner's guide...

The End of the World As We Know It

Roxana Silbert, the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Argentine born Associate-Director, talks to Elizabeth Mistry about the RSC's joint venture with Mexico's Teatro Nacional which opens in Stratford before transferring to…

Clash of the Literary Titans? (and THAT black eye)

Candela explores the beef between Gabriel García Márquez and Mario Vargas Llosa that has long been the intrigue of the literary world. Now that the Peruvian has won the Nobel Prize for Literature, is it time for Latin America…

The Unusual Spaniard

As daughter of Hollywood legend Charlie Chaplin, Geraldine Chaplin was destined for fame or failure in her own film career. Instead, she became an unlikely icon of Spanish cinema through some unusual choices of her own.…

Macedonio Fernandez - The Non-Believer's Belief

This week it is sixty years since the death of Macedonio Fernández, the Argentine writer and philosopher, who Jorge Luis Borges admitted he imitated ‘to the point of devoted and impassioned plagiarism.’ Yet virtually nothing is…

Argentina finds a New Kind of Meat to Export

They're on the television all the time, they're in the magazines, they're on the arms of footballers, politicians and businessmen in all the smart restaurants and nightspots of Buenos Aires.........they are the new…

Cheap Frills Better than No Frills for Argy women

In post-crisis Argentina, middle class women have been forced to lower their lingerie standards.

At Last Reflecting Everyone's Culture

Richard Gott, author of 'Land without Evil' and 'Hugo Chávez and the Bolivarian Revolution' explains why Chavez' cultural policy is doing exactly what it should be in a social revolution.

The Politicisization of Venezuelan Culture

Gloria Carnevali, Venezuelan Cultural attaché 1995-2006, says Chavez' cultural policy poses both benefits and dangers to Venezuelan culture.

WRITING BEYOND MACONDO

Do modern Colombian authors still lurk in the shadow of Gabriel García Márquez? Candela explores Colombian literature in light of the 2010 celebrations of all things Latin American: a new list published by Granta magazine of the…

In Oaxaca The Walls Speak

In a country whose history simmers with political resistance and art, graffiti has come to reflect a post-modern merging of the two. Far away from the Banksy hype, we celebrate the art of Mexican political graffiti and the…

The Taste of Colombia

London's most celebrated Latin American chef and owner of one of London's finest Latin American restaurants describes his passion for the cuisine of his homeland, Colombia. Can we sense a touch of nostalgia, Esnayder?

Venezuelan Cinema in Search of 'Our Language'

Can Venezuela’s new state-sponsored cinema live up to its Cuban and Russian precedents or will it drown in the accusations of mediocrity and dogma that surrounds it?

I am a feminist, non-feminist writer…(or whatever it takes to stop them talking).

Can you be a socially conscious, female writer in Spain, or anywhere, and not be labelled a feminist? Few hispanic authors have had to battle the gender trap and its scrutiny more than Rosa Montero, one of Spain’s most popular…

Dance

A Deeper Love

In Part two of her response to the article 'Did Salsa dancers KIll Salsa Music', Kerry Ribchester argues that Britain's love affair with Salsa (Cuban salsa at least) has not died but evolved. Like with any true…

Dance

Freedom Control

Whilst the dazzling visual impact of muscular control and freedom can be startling and seductive, Tam Davidson peels away the mysticism of Capoeira to reveal its’ development through one people’s struggle against slavery.

We haven’t killed Salsa! Part 1

Earlier this year we published a piece 'Did Salsa Dancers Kill Salsa Music?' which generated much controversy. In a passionate response, Kerry Ribchester argues that we haven't killed Salsa, we are more in love…

Dance

It Takes Two Worlds to Tango

Representatives of 25 countries converge on the River Plate for the Third World Tango Summit.

In Praise of Jairo Varela

A tribute to the founder and band leader of Grupo Niche, who put Colombian salsa on the global music map and helped make Cali the renowned capital of Salsa that it is known as today.

Copán: The jewel on the southern tip of the ancient Mayan Empire

Located in western Honduras only an hour from the border with Guatemala, Copán was an ancient Mayan city that dominated trade and commerce in the area. It holds great importance in Mayan history due to its geographical position,…

Dancing Salsa like a Nicaraguan (Not)

The Carnival in Granada occurs once a year and each year people from all over the country flock to the city to celebrate. One of the biggest events in the Nicaraguan calendar, Candela decided to hop on a float.

Looking for Che: Bolivia's Revolutionary Road

Sixteen years after translating Che's 'Motorcycle Diaries', made famous in the Hollywood movie with Gaél García Bernál, Ana Wright goes on the hunt for Che in Bolivia as she seeks inspiration whilst translating a…

Fuerte Apache, BUENOS AIRES

Our Candela visitor finds more heart than hostility in the notorious gangland estate on which Carlos Tevez was raised, as she visits the famous mural, homage to Fuerte Apache's favourite son.

Andalucia's Feria de Sevilla

Come rain, crisis or shine, Sevilla is always ready for a party.

Lonesome George - The death of a subspecies

The very last of his subspecies, the Pinta Island resident passed away at the estimated age of a hundred.

...Guatemala

From a mansion to a school trying to make ends meet, this couch surfer found a warm welcome in Guatemala.

Roberto Bolaño: Literary Hot Property or Hot Air?

Roberto Bolaño is being hailed as the best author to come out of Latin America in the past 40 years. Why, after years of success in Spanish, has the Chilean author only now come onto the English-language radar and does he live up…

Acting Almodóvar

Maria Delgado looks at the acting styles of one of the Spanish-speaking world’s most iconic directors and the importance of acting in Pedro Almodóvar’s work.

In the shadow of Lorca

The poems of Federico Garcia Lorca have touched and inspired people and poets worldwide. Yet his passion, defiance to oppression and his unique vision of Andalucía as a tolerant fusion of cultures makes him particularly special…

The Understatement of Talent

In a world of media hype, it is rare to be shocked and awed by talent. Perhaps that's why one has to travel to Cuba, hwich is where Sara Livero found Salvador Galindo Ruiz working silently in his workshop as she walked along…