By: Cindy Ortiz
Do I desire picós? Yes.
Am I scared of picós? Yes.
And the prejudices of picós? They are there.
I always wanted to experience a picó (similar to the English word pickup) different from the artist Rey de Rocha but the fears would not let me. They say it's unsafe. What if a fight would erupt and I got caught in the middle of knives? They tell me that's why picós were banned in the Plaza de Toros and that if I want to go to a picó now, I would have to cross the city to arrive at El Pozón - a popular neighborhood of Cartagena. But! What if I enjoy the picó? What if I leave happy? And what if the only thing that hurts after the picó is my feet, due to so much dancing? The only way to find out is to go! I will do so!
It is Sunday, and today Volume 15 of The Empire is released, which, judging by the name, promises a good night: The Professional. Jeans, sweater, hat, and I'm ready ... And my fellow adventurers? They have not arrived, but I'm already dressed, and it's decided: I am going!
My Experience
The gates of The Empire opened at 4:30 in the afternoon, but my eyes were amazed by the glowing lights of the picó around 9:30 at night.
Arriving at the Patio de las Antenas, in El Pozón, a popular neighborhood of Cartagena, I begin to feel cold with sweaty hands, while my heart starts to accelerate like the car I arrived in, accompanied by my three daring friends. Harold Iriarte, son of the owner of El Imperio, received me and I tried to hide my nerves in front of a couple of police officers and street vendors who are on the outskirts of the dance event. In the background, I hear the powerful sound of the genre champeta accompanied by the voice of Jader Tremendo. Beforehand, Jader was only familiar to me in the songs of his brother Zaider. Now I recognize him for what they have told me about him: He takes over the stage in such a way that it makes the lovers of the champeta hallucinate, let's see. At the door, a 1-meter-70-centimeter long brunette smiles and opens her arms, and not just to hug me… it's time for the requisition.
I enter the picó! They welcome me with a cold beer, which I open right away because I need to disguise my fears in front of the more than 400 people who are here, to show that everything is normal and that I am one of them.
I walk towards the side of the stage and see several familiar faces: Jeivy Dance and Mickey Love, have come to support the Empire in its great night. The music sounds, the powerful machine seems like a heart that beats loudly and suddenly, in the middle of a song I hear: "Cindy Ortiz, thanks for coming." I look up and see DJ Tremendo, who found a way to break the ice and welcome me to the heart of the "Imperialists."
The nerves are fading. Now it's hot, and the excitement of being here surrounds me. And guess what, there has not been a fight, and the atmosphere is so 'safe' that I can even pull out my cell phone as many times as I want. I can move my hips at my own pace, without any stranger taking me out to dance or look at me as a weirdo.
The music continues, and we go rolling until we are right in front of the platform, then the best starts: DJ Tremendo takes out his entire arsenal of fireworks. I suddenly see flares on both sides of the stage. When it seems that it cannot get better, the DJ puts on a mask and begins to do what he baptized as a 'champetrap'. The euphoria takes over the place, and it seems that the man recharged himself with energy with each shout of his fans who took out their cell phone to record it and asked him to greet him live. DJ Tremendo drives the fans crazy similar to Michael Jackson! DJ Tremendo even throws himself into the public, who every time seems to go crazier. They besiege him. He has to flee from the daring hands of his faithful fans, they even want to remove his hat.
Several stars of El Imperio pass, but DJ Tremendo stole the show. I hear him say that he is the “savory pasta," I see how they applaud his particular way of dancing and his famous phrases: "What does not work is thrown away in a transparent bag so that everyone realizes the mistake that goes in there," he says smiling.
My legs gave up, the beers ran out, and the clock reminds, to my displeasure, it is time to leave The Empire. Now I know: the picotera culture is still alive, no matter how crazy you are, you are not going to look bad and there are still spaces where you can dance champeta effectively without fear of being attacked.
I'm leaving, but the clothes soaked in sweat, my runny makeup, the muddy shoes and my smile from ear to ear mean, as the security guard tells me on the way out, "I enjoyed the dance." The prejudices and the fears were gone, and now I think DJ Tremendo and his combo are not professionals, they are "doctors" of the champeta.
Do you feel like attending a picó? I hope you do!
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