Cascada De Flores Performs At Head O’Meadow
Mexican folk band Cascada de Flores once again returned to Newtown and performed for students at Head O’Meadow Elementary School on Friday, January 3.
The group took the stage in the school’s cafeteria and charmed students and staff alike with their children’s show, “The Treasure of Aquiles,” also known as “Aqui-les Va un Cuento.” Cascada de Flores member Arwen Lawrence wrote the narrative, while fellow member Jorge Liceaga composed all of the music.
As Head O’Meadow Principal Timothy Napolitano described when introducing the group to everyone, “Cascada de Flores tells stories using the music and dance that they most love: that of Mexico and Latin America.”
The show combines storytelling with traditional Mexican music and dances to engage and delight children of all ages. As they sing together, Lawrence and Liceaga use traditional Mexican dances, “zapateado” or footwork, and instruments, such as the big “huapanguera” guitar, to tell the story of a boy names Aquiles as he ventures out of hometown for the first time.
Their performance also used call-and-response prompts with age-appropriate Spanish vocabulary, so students learned in-between numbers where they clapped and sang along to the beat of every song. The group also invited several students as well as staff from the audience to dance in front of all of their peers.
Lawrence and Liceaga were joined on stage by Jorge Michangos and Cynthia Holberg, who are also members of the Cascada de Florence family.
Michangos regularly performs with Cascada de Flores in California, according to Holberg. She said that he was invited on the group’s recent Connecticut tour to sing and play the bass, as well as play the “chaquiste” or “jarrana mosquitio,” which is the smallest guitar in the world. For the group’s special performance at Head O’Meadow, Michangos performed on a chaquiste that he carved himself.
Holberg started teaching music in Newtown back in 2009, and is a music educator at Head O’Meadow and Sandy Hook Elementary School.
One of her goals as an educator, Holberg said, includes developing a comprehensive list of traditional folk songs for Newtown’s elementary music curriculum that also supports and reinforces the elementary Spanish curriculum.
She added, “[Lawrence] and Liceaga’s dynamic presentation of Mexican music and culture is an exciting way to enrich both of these curricula, and is a beautiful way to celebrate the New Year.”
According to Holberg, Cascada de Flores was co-founded in 2000 by Lawrence and Liceaga and is based in California’s Bay Area. Holberg said that she met the pair during her music masters program at Holy Names University in Oakland, California.
When she and Lawrence sang in class together, Holberg said that they noticed how well their voices blended. It didn’t take long for Lawrence to ask her to sing alto, or “segunda,” and play percussion in Cascada de Flores. Holberg performed and toured with the group from 2006-2009 while she was studying in the Bay Area, and they recorded songs together on two of their albums.
When asked how it feels to bring the group that she’s performed and been friends with for years to town, Holberg said their goal is to build tolerance and a world view beyond Newtown.
“That’s the whole point, to bring in a love of other cultures,” Holberg explained.
Holberg described how she learned to speak Spanish as a young person, and that it eventually led her to meet the “chosen family” when they were studying music together.
“Our friendship was naturally born because we love music, we love food, we love Spanish ... We just love each other’s company and singing together,” Holberg said.
Cascada de Flores’s recent performance at Head O’Meadow marks the group’s sixth visit to Newtown since 2009. The group has performed at several other schools in the district, such as Hawley Elementary School and Middle Gate Elementary School. They first performed “The Treasure of Aquiles” for the first time at Sandy Hook School in 2023.
While Cascada de Flores showcases the music and dance they fell in love with to students, they give students the same opportunity to bond over it the way that they have for years. Even though half of the performance was in Spanish, Holberg said that students understood not only because of the group’s “amazing acting and story,” but also because music “transcends language.”
“It’s a universal language that we can all understand and feel,” Holberg said.
For more information about Cascada de Flores, cascadadeflores.com.
Reporter Jenna Visca can be reached at jenna@thebee.com.