Reviews and Reflections

1

 
DAN 411

Jiaxi Lin (Vicky)
May 2, 2020   

My Reflections of  ”The Soul of the Peacock”

        In the depth of darkness, one hears sad music slowly floating out, helpless and sentimental. The lights converge on a lone figure on the stage, a dancer spinning, spinning. A white shining dress in the light, show purity and beauty, as the light gets gradually stronger. She gently stops spinning and prostrates herself on the ground, with her thumb and the forefingers of one hand slightly touching, the other three fingers tenderly raised. She models the feathered collar on a peacock's head. She carries the skirt to jump here, then to spin there, now to make people laugh, now to make the eagle-about-to-fly posture, as if telling its dreams, its memories, and its own happiness.

       Liping Yang, a Chinese dancer and choreographer of Bai ethnicity, known across China for her her performance of the Dai peacock is in front of me. Her beautiful dancing peacock, the most conspicuous peacock, at this moment, becomes the focus of everyone in the audience. Graceful dance, elegant skirt, focused look... she remains in the eyes of the audience.  This peacock, keeps rotating with the peacock’s skirt, as she seems to dance up, spreading its peacock’s tail, just like the white lotus wing waggle dance, like the peacock’s swagger. Her soft hands are almost the most outstanding part of this dance. Suspended in the air, like a wave flowing, like a snake ‘walking’, like a painter’s perfect line. What a beautiful peacock she makes.

       I see the dancer suddenly kneeling on the ground and twist her arms, like two thin snakes sliding, swimming; she suddenly stands up again, her eyes staring at the distance; she is an illusion. I see her eyes; they don't shed tears nor show any pain, but she is still jumping, twisting, taking her breath in peace, fiercely.  The lights go out; the yellow moon rises gradually, leaving us missing the lonely figure.

       The background is deep black, and her white dress and the patterns on it are particularly dazzling, shining with a kind of sad mood. It occurred to me that in the past, a peacock dance was lively and light. Why was the spirit of a bird so sad? I can't read her dancing. She was now stretching out her arms, which moved up and down to the beat, not stiff, but as soft as the waves of a breeze. These waves do not pass from side to side, but shakeup at the same time, concealing in the middle like a winged bird.

       Her long, slender fingers moved with her arm, making one wonder whether there were bones in her fingers, arms, and back. This doubt can be seen in the audience's eyes too.  She seems to be not a person; but a real peacock! Better yet, she is just a conspicuous peacock. With the flow of the dance, she begins to slowly change her posture. Each one of her postures is so focused, so steady, so charming. Although the stage is wide, it is not empty because she is dancing alone.  She is not afraid of this large stage, because she embodies the personality of a peacock. Ms. Yang shows people, once again, her most beautiful dance.

2

Xianqin Zheng

Carol Kaminsky，Jorge Morejon    

Dan411

A un Panal de Rica Miel: Alberto Grau's Oeuvre

A un Panal de Rica Miel, is a critically acclaimed chorale melody written by Venezuelan composer Alberto Grau. This piece lends a colorful touch to an already exotic collection of youth choirs written by Grau. It adds a new dimension to the eurhythmic movements, while also promising a better structured symphony. For example, there is one part for solo voice and another for piano that helps to inculcate the element of rhythmic precision to the composition and brings new colors to clarity. Another thing worth mentioning here regarding the composition is its division into individual parts. Research also confirms that “the upper two vocal parts are written for equal voices and the third voice is for altos and young men” (Earthsongs). Grau based his renowned composition of opulent intricacy on the fable, The Flies and The Honey Pot, where a swarm of wasps intending to feast on honey leaking from an overturned honey pot gets stuck inside, smeared with honey, and dies from suffocation.

The piece under discussion in this paper made for a big discover among the Venezuelan pieces as it features absolutely gorgeously sung choral parts, giving the chorus the look of a singing forest. Grau, as a refined master of chorale blessed with a great poetic prowess, seems to boisterously explore the exuberant recesses of South American sound in this composition. The piece aptly excites the curiosity of an avid listener like an alluring melody with a mystifying charm. It makes the listener imagine a fantasy place of impossible opportunities that existed a long time ago. It feels like a journey with an exciting ebb and flow of emotions and memories. It is to be agreed that the definition of reality is not only confined to what the eyes clearly see, rather a magical dimension can be added to reality as well. In my opinion, it seemed after listening to the composition that Grau, through his symphony of unfathomable depth, seeks to spread the message that reality is much more than just what meets the eye. He actively urges his audience through A un Panal to take a legitimate pleasure in enhancing the reality, if they so desire, to make the trying journey of life a little less trying.

            It is an unequivocal reality that Grau’s A un Panal is a fond, engaging melody that transports the listeners to a vividly alluring journey through South America. It focuses on the choral music of Venezuela and uses an old fable as its pivotal point. It is very easy to identify with, like most of South American compositions, but what makes this piece a true work of fascinating art is that it does not seem to be anything like other compositions. Instead, Master Grau manages to make this composition shine like a sun through the clouds of obscurity without making it sound in any way like other chorales from Venezuela. This is because the folklore of Venezuela is evoked in the music with the solo singers working in beautiful harmony with full choir. Grau’s treatment of an old fable demonstrates exquisite taste and refined skill and there simply could not have been a better treatment. This piece stands unique in respect that it helps the audience to scrutinize a hidden side of the country’s musical life, one that is not so well-acknowledged in the rest of the world as its orchestral side.

 Work cited:

Earthsongs. Las moscas. Earthsongsscholarmusic, 2020.

http://earthsongschoralmusic.com/index.php?main_page=product_sheet_music_info&       products_id=2650. Accessed 7 May 2020.

      

Verde Mar de Navegar: Merging Dance Phrases

Students' Work

Ashley

Saskia

Verde Mar de Navegar: Song, Dance and Carnival

One characteristic of this style of Brazilian music is its dissonant harmonies; so do not be surprised if the voices sound off tune. This music emerges from local musical experiences rooted in popular religion, dance and celebration. Its driving force, as you saw in the study of the lyrics in our last post, was the emerging identity of "poor urbanized blacks following the abolition of slavery (Treece 1).

Lia de Itamaracá - Verde Mar de Navegar

References

Treece, Davis (1997). Gun and Roses: bozza nova and Brazil's music of popular protest 1958-68. https://www.jstor.org/stable/853435?seq=1

Verde Mar de Navegar: History and Lyrics

This piece is about Brazil's struggle to get independence from Portugal in the XVIII century. this struggle like in the rest of the Caribbean, was manifested in their carnival music and dances. Thus, Verde Mar de Navegar is a carnival song that commemorates this struggle by singing to the names of not only martyrs, but also important carnival artists.

Verde Mar de Navegar

Lyrics/Translation

Batuqueiro que baque é esse?

Drummer what beat is that?

É o baque de nossa alteza

It is the sound of our highness

E não há mais que outro baque

And there is nothing but another thud

Ó senhor mas é só tristeza

 Oh Lord but it is very sad

Cadê Leão Coroado

The case of Coronado Leão (1)

Cadê Cambinda Brilhante

The case of Cambinda Brilhante (2)

Cadê Cruzeiro do Forte

The case of  Cruzeiro do Forte (3)

Maracatu Elefante

Elephant Maracatu (4)

Olha o céu olha para o mar

Look at the sky on the ocean

Verde mar de navegar verde mar

Green ocean to sail green ocean

Olha o céu olha para o mar

Look at the sky on the ocean 

Verde mar de navegar verde mar

 Green ocean to sail green ocean

 "Paixão pelo Pernambuco pelo P de Portugal

Passion for the P of Pernambuco for the P of Portugal

Por Olinda por Holanda por Mauricio de Nassau

for Olinda (5), for Holand, for Mauricio de Nassau (6)

Pelo Recife magia no dia de carnaval"

In the magic day of Recife's carnival

Batuqueiro que baque é esse?

É o baque de nossa alteza

E não há mais que outro baque

Ó senhor mas é só tristeza

Cadê Leão Coroado

Cadê Cambinda Brilhante

Cadê Cruzeiro do Forte

Maracatu Elefante

Olha o céu olha para o mar

Verde mar de navegar verde mar

Olha o céu olha para o mar

Verde mar de navegar verde mar

(1) Captain José de Barros Lima, or Leão Coroado (Recife, 1764 — Recife, July 10, 1817), was a Brazilian military revolutionary.  His reaction to the arresting voice of Portuguese commander Barbosa de Castro, killing him with sword blows, was the trigger of the Pernambuco Revolution. He was condemned to death.  De Barros Lima was hanged, his head was severed, his hands were cut off and his body was tied to two horses and dragged through the streets of Recife.

(2) The Cambinda performed in the Paraiba city of Lucena, was a festival on Easter Sunday to celebrate the emancipation of African slaves in Brazil in 1888. This is the oral tradition passed on by Joao Marcos Chagaz, king of the group of fishermen who constituted the Cambinda Brilhante de Lucena. Formed up in two files, with the royal family between them, the participants danced through the streets accompanied by zabumba bass drums and shakers (Retrieved from Rhythms of Resistance: African Musical Heritage in Brazil, By Peter Fryer).

(3) Cruzeiro do Forte is the oldest Maracatu Rural of Recife city. In 2009 they celebrated their 80 years aniversary. The CD below was a goal of the community of the Southern Cross in order to register their 75 year old performance history that is no longer practiced. See also video. (https://www.womex.com/virtual/selo_mundo_melhor/maracatu_rural_do_de)

 

(4) Maracatu Elefante: Maracatu Elefante or (Elephant Maracatu) Group was founded in 1800 by the slave Manuel Santiago, after his discontent with the direction of Maracatu Brilhante (Shiny Maracatu Group), taking many members of the old group with him.A maracatu group in the nação (nation) or baque virado style, Maracatu Elefante became popularly known as Maracatu de Dona Santa (Mrs Santa’s Maracatu Group), the group’s most famous queen, whose reign spanned from 1947 to 1962.In their origins, maracatu groups were a representation of the African royal courts in Brazil, in an attempt to preserve the uses and customs. With the influence of Catholic traditions, its procession was more or less in the mold of the Portuguese  monarchy, with the king, queen, princes, vassals, flag-bearer, ambassador, baianas (women from Bahia), spear holders and a slave bearing the royal canopy, a cover supported by poles to protect the person honoured in the procession. (http://basilio.fundaj.gov.br/pesquisaescolar_en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1150&Itemid=1)

 (5) Olinda: A historic city in the Brazilian State of Pernambuco, located on the country's northeastern  Atlantic Ocean coast, in Greater Recife (capital of Pernambuco State).It is noted as one of the best-preserved colonial cities in Brazil. Olinda features a number of major tourist attractions, such as a historic downtown area, churches, and the Carnival of Olinda, a popular street party, very similar to traditional Portuguese carnivals, with the addition of African influenced dances. 

(6) João Maurício de Nassau-Siegen; (17 June 1604 – 20 December 1679) was called "the Brazilian" for his fruitful period as governor of Dutch Brazil. He was  Count and (from 1664) Prince of  Nassau-Siegen, and Grand Master of the Order of Saint John (Bailiwick of Brandenburg).

Choral Arrangement

Verde Mar de Navegar - Bel Canto Choir Vilnius