An unprecedented documentary by the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project
The Décima Borinqueña
AN ANCIENT
POETIC SONG
TRADITION
THE DÉCIMA BORINQUEÑA DVD 27 minutes Produced by the Puerto Rican Cuatro Project Directed by Myriam Fuentes Scripted by David Morales and William Cumpiano In Spanish with available English subtitles Vicente Martínez de Espinel (1551-1624), poet, novelist and musician from Andalusian Spain, is recognized as the one who revived and refined the poetic genre known as décima, a ten-line octosyllabic verse now known as décima espinela. The tradition of the décima of the Puerto Rican jíbaros and it's singing troubadours can be traced back to popular poetic forms of the Island's colonial past. In them, one can discover medieval Spanish and Moorish roots. The jíbaro troubadour confronts a difficult task: to sing and improvise, on the spur of the moment ten octosyllabic verses that rhyme in consonance with a strict rhyme scheme that follows the pattern A, B, B, A, A, C, C, D, D, C. To these challenging exigencies of meter, rhyme and improvisation, another is added: the singer must conform the improvised lyric to what is called a "forced foot"--which means the décima must be constructed on top of a concluding last line which is provided written on a slip of paper right on the spot. In the documentary, four of the greatest Puerto Rican troubadours revive the vanished countryside tradition of the Mesa Redonda (Round Table) in front of the cameras, as they honor the greatest literary work in the Spanish language: Don Quixote of La Mancha, in celebration of the 400th year anniversary of its publication. As they improvise on this theme, notable elder troubadours recount the story of the décima: its history, its rules and its significance to Puerto Ricans and their culture. LISTEN TO SOUND CLIPS FROM THE DOCUMENTARY
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