Belle Delouisse turns a feminist anthem into a ‘love letter’ to women of Yucatán
Afro-Mexican singer and composer from Merida Yucatan, Mexico.
Thanks to her family she had a call for the music and show at a very young age, she started developing a passion for genres like R&B, Reggae, and Hip Hop; years later she discovered her biggest inspiration on the free notes of Jazz and Blues.
During her career, she prepared herself as a mezzo-soprano at the opera, also with disciplines like musical theatre and now days studying Jazz music.
“Canción Sin Fiedo” by Vivir Quintana was performed for the first time on March 8, 2020 in the Zócalo of Mexico City, since then it has traveled the world and accompanied feminist mobilizations.
Its significance has made the piece become an anthem against gender violence. Thus, with the intention that the women of the Yucatan Peninsula feel more identified with the song, the jazz interpreter, Belle Delouisse adapted the composition by launching a message of love to the women living in Yucatán.
Through a documentation process that began in August, the twenty-year-old singer took up the stories of girls and women victims of femicide in Yucatan in 2020, to make them part of the lyrics of the song.
“For all the compas marching in Montejo. Poor all the girls fighting in the Port. For the mestizos of the north and south. For all the mothers fighting in Tahdziú. We sing without fear, we ask for justice ”, is heard in the new adaptation.
“I am Jessica, I am Silvia and I am Fernanda. I’m Norma, I’m Maria and I’m Ana. “
In an interview, he indicated that this is his first musical project, in which he also decided to sing half of the melody in the Mayan language in order to overcome the language barrier between Spanish-Mayan. “This project is a love letter dedicated to women who live in the Yucatan Peninsula.”
Belle Delouisse pointed out that the project arises after the femicide of Fernanda Gual last August, being a case that disrupted her person and triggered the realization of those other cases that occur in the municipalities, outside the peripheral ring and are not heard.
“The title of the” City of Peace “really is something that comes and goes, and these titles do not mean anything, it does not mean that women who live in the state do not experience gender violence. Rather, it is something that is not talked about. “
“This song awakens strong emotions because of what it represents, what it means, and because unfortunately, we identify with it as women,” explains the jazz performer.
Despite feeling lucky living in one of the safest states in the country, this does not prevent her from recognizing that data still indicate violence against women.
“In the song, they mention the cities where conflicts are greatest, but I wanted to emphasize that in Yucatán they also happen. The modification is not done just because, there was a process of meditation and study ”, she added.
Once the video was ready, she shared it on Twitter and tagged Vivir Quintana.
To Delouisse’s delight, Vivir shared the video on her networks and also congratulated her, noting how artfully part of it was translated into Mayan.
“Although it was not possible to make an exact translation for the melody, an interpretation was made with the help of Henry Tun Poot,” she said.
Mariana Piñeyro participated as an illustrator in the musical project; Fernando DeEva in audiovisual production; Henry Tun Poot in the Mayan language translation and Luis Escalera in the audiovisual production.
The young, self-described Afro-Mexican performer started singing at 15 and has participated in cultural events in Mérida and Campeche, but considers this to be the first formal project.
She has taken classes with the Yucatecan troubadour Alfredo Gamboa Pixan, guitar classes at the State Center of Fine Arts and studied at the Center for Jazz Studies in Xalapa, Veracruz.
The singer stressed that she will soon be releasing songs of her own and participating in cultural festivals for five years.
Source: 2020yucatan.com, yucatanexpatlife.com, belledelouisse.wixsite.com