Manuela Josefa Cabrera Taveras, best known as Fefita la Grande or La Mayimba, is the OG of accordion-bearing merengue típico women.
I've only seen her once, at the 1997 Quisqueya on the Hudson fest, and was in awe, at her flying fingers decked out in chunky multi-knuckled gold rings, her raspy voice full of travesura, and her cascading electric red hair. Ivy Queen should go to one of her shows and take notes.
According to this story, she's been unable to get a visa to perform in the U.S. since 2001 due to human trafficking charges -- essentially, that she tried to bring a relative into the U.S. on someone else's passport. Allegedly, her ability to get a visa was suspended, not eliminated, but has not yet been restored by the US State Department.
Remolacha reports on the campaign by Spanish-language radio DJ El Pachá on La Kalle to get her a visa. If there's a petition, I'll be happy to sign it.
Please note that in one of the choruses in the video below, Doña Fefa requests, "perréame, papi." She's my hero.
And if you're wondering about all the teenage girls in yellow t-shirts, note that in the DR, school groups are often taken to afternoon TV variety shows as a field trip. I went on one of those when I was a kid, and it seemed like the most natural thing in the world.
[Portrait of Fefita by Nicole Sánchez via her Flickr page]
Comments