Last night I went to see the weekly comparsa with Leo's candombe group, called La Roma (named after the street where the clubhouse is, nothing to do with Italy), and Leo told me that there were videos of them up on YouTube. Lo and behold, one of the videos can now be watched on this blog. It shows the group preparing for Las llamadas, which is the name of the procession of candombe groups that is held during Uruguay's carnival. Oh, and that bearded guy in a hat that shows up in the beginning of the video - that's Leo. If you're wondering what the fire is all about, it's used to heat up the drumskins. Incidentally, it makes the winter comparsas very cozy.
For more information about candombe, take a look at this article on Upside Down World: http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1145/48/
And some of my own photos of La Roma can be found in the right hand margin under 'Tambores'.
Enjoy!
