Bolivia’s Past Is Due for Return : Folk: Ayllu Sankayo, which overwhelmed its San Juan Capistrano audience last fall, performs again tonight.

Ever since Ayllu Sankayo, a Bolivian folk group, played to a standing-room-only crowd at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library last fall, library director Jose Aponte has received countless requests for a repeat performance.

“They brought the house down,” Aponte recalls. “The audience was overwhelmed by all the drumming and dancing.”

The group will be back tonight at 7:30 and 9:30 in the library courtyard. Latin American food and crafts will be sold to benefit Arte y Cultura, a local Latin American cultural group.

Ayllu Sankayo’s performances, Aponte said, are “part of a renewed effort to preserve Indian culture, brought about by the upcoming celebration of the 500th anniversary of Columbus’ arrival. Latin American Indians want people to know that for them, Columbus’ arrival is no cause for celebration. Their culture was nearly eradicated.”

Ayllu Sankayo, headed by its founder, Miriam Mita, plays traditional instruments-- bombos (drums), tarkas (wooden flutes), and a variety of string instruments such as charangas , small guitars usually made from armadillo shells--handmade by Mita’s husband, Edwin Ramos, who performs with the group.

Unlike other Andean groups performing in the United States and Europe, Ayllu Sankayo refuses to embellish its sound with synthesizers, or to weave contemporary songs into its repertoire.

“The goal,” Mita said through an interpreter, “is to keep alive the words and rhythms passed on for generations. The old melodies are like Haydn in my country, and we want to preserve them.”

The group consists of six self-taught musicians who learned their country’s native music while growing up in the Bolivian countryside. All songs are performed in Aymara or Quechua, languages indigenous to Bolivia. Performing with the group tonight will be Tomas Tarifa’s Danzas Bolivianas, a Bolivian dance group, in authentic costumes.

Last fall, Ayllu Sankayo participated in the L.A. Festival, a weeklong arts extravaganza that showcased a worldwide assortment of musicians, dancers and poets. Ayllu Sankayo has performed at similar festivals in Latin America and Europe and has recorded five albums. Tonight’s concert is part of the San Juan Capistrano library’s ongoing Multicultural Performing and Visual Arts program.

Ayllu Sankayo plays and Tomas Tarifa’s Danzas Bolivianas dance tonight at 7:30 and 9:30 in the courtyard at the San Juan Capistrano Regional Library, 31495 El Camino Real. Admission: $2. Information: (714) 493-1752.