I was mind-boggled by the mask-changing man in the Chinese opera today, and the mixture of acrobatics in the opera immediately made me think of the Chinese State Circus. They performed Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, and it is absolutely AMAZING! I know this doesn't necessarily have to do with their music culture, but I realized acrobatics were intricately linked throughout most of China's performing arts. This version of the ballet is a great form of syncretism, and it will BLOW YOUR MIND!!
I was also intrigued by the intricacies of the Indonesian gamelan and the dances that mimic their many layers. I found a clip with "a montage of a few different dances -- Kupu-Kupu Tarum (butterflies), Oleg Tamulilingan (flower and bug), and Jauk Keras (demon)." I LOVE THE COSTUMES, and sometimes you can see the gamelan in the background. This is obviously a very fancy production.
I also found this really soothing Call to Prayer. I chose this one because of the comments section. Everyone -- from Christians to Jews to Muslims to Atheists -- loved this piece. It's so powerful because it shows how "music" can provide a means of understanding and connection between different cultures of the world.
Oh.
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GOSH!! MEAGAN!
1) You were 100% spot-on; my mind is BLOWN AWAY by the Swan Lake. !)@&#^$*&^@)%*)(!* How is that even possible?! That was truly some of the most beautiful body movement I have ever seen. The precision, the form, the confidence. MY GOODNESS! That! Is the embodiment of "cool stuff." (Although... look at the Chinese in the Olympics in sports like gymnastics and figure skating. Should we expect any less precision in their ballet? Probably not.)
2) I listened to the Call to Prayer with my eyes closed and, I must confess, it evoked tears and completely relaxed me simultaneously. I agree with you on your statement of this "music"s power, and the power of music in general. It never ceases to amaze me, the power a simple sung melody has over all cultures across the globe, even when a melody may not be deemed "music." I could go on for days...
Great, great, great blog Meagan.
Holy Jammoli in a bucket full of icecream! That first video was really, really incredible! I think it is amazing the amount of strengtht that those two dancers have! The guy is just like "I'll let you balance your WHOLE BODY on my head, no problem, it's whatever." Craziness! Okay, now I'm finished showing how much I was blown away. I also really thought the second video was interesting. The more I watched that kind of dance, the more that I started to realize that the big difference between our dance culture and theirs is that we tend to use our feet and legs a lot more. They tend to use their faces and eyes, and we don't really do much in that sense. And last, but not least, that last song was really beautiful!
ReplyDeleteMeagan, wow that Chinese acrobats are just awesome. I loved that video, thank you for posting it. The Indonesian culture also seems to be really into detail. The dance was very exotic.
ReplyDeleteThe Islam call to prayer is soothing. I have grown used to the call to prayer being apart of my sound culture back home. I hear this everyday. I guess you could say that this sound is apart of the sound scape of my culture. Thanks for the videos,Meagan
Swan Lake is incredible. Watching that video almost makes me wish I could dance...but that will never happen, haha.
ReplyDeleteI also loved the Call to Prayer song. It is truly beautiful. I really didn't know a lot about the singing in the Islamic culture, but I'm glad we covered it; it's very beautiful.
1] So the Swan Lake video was completely unbelievable. I think I watched it with my jaw dropped the entire time! Just... whoa.
ReplyDelete2] I found these far more enjoyable to watch than the ones we watched in class. & the younger girls dancing at the beginning, the "Butterfly" dance was my favorite of these. Thoroughly thoroughly enjoyed. The costuming on the "Demon" dance was insane. I'd love to see it in person.
3] I can understand why the comments offer such support for this performance. It's not as abrasive as some of the recording we heard and I loved it.
-Maggie.
Yes, what everyone else said. AND I'm so glad to see so many Islamic Calls to Prayer on the Cool Stuff blogs--I think they're wonderful, too.
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