Conserve, adapt, and reconverge: Rationalizing a template in hawai’i puerto rican musical performance

The electric echo from the cool, cream-colored plaster walls dies away as the couples finish their waltz, men delivering their partners back to the long tables, seating themselves again among the drinks, ash trays, dishes of pasteles (pronounced here, in Caribbean Spanish fashion, as “pa’tele”) and gandule rice. The uninhibited gregarious chatter is all in English, but the accents are pure Hawai’i. The musicians stand, exchanging a few words; one lights a cigarette. Sound hangs; the drinker/talkers are attentive to whatever comes; they are dedicated dancers as much as drinkers and talkers, and they know that whatever this group plays will inspire them to dance-no question about that-no danger of disco, hip hop, rock, or even salsa, for that matter. They have a comfortable sound world, immune to unwelcome surprises.