Favorite Video of the Week: Explorations in Dance

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My life is measured by dance parties, they are the occasions that define my time here on this planet. Such festivities sustain me through long work weeks and bureaucratic appointments. This weekend I played DJ for an impromptu gathering of people ready to bust some moves. We went from flamenco, to vallenato, to Bulgarian chalga and some banda and nortenos thrown in for good measure. The following videos are ones I’ll be watching to prepare myself for future dancing adventures.


Bulgarian gypsy – Sevgilim Apaz taifa – Mis Dibi

Luckily, one of my good friends has spent time enough time in the Balkans to have learned a few of these moves and share them with us. The rhythm in Bulgarian music is notoriously difficult to follow, add the Romani touch and man, I’m gonna need a lot of practice!
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Semmame Govend update

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Popular semmame clip on YouTube

One of the best features of YouTube, besides the obvious access to clips from around the world, is the comments section. I must admit, ugly sentiments and vile comments can be often be found but more times than not, there are active interesting and informative conversations taking place.

After watching a good chunk of the available Kurdish Halay clips and scouring the commentary for bits of English to further my education on this intriguing dance, I finally decided to ask questions. And I am happy to say, I received answers.

I was told that “semmame” is Kurdish for a small, aromatic melon but it is also a traditional name for Kurdish women. My new YouTube friend also said:

“Another possibility is that in Kurdish tradition, when they love their daughters or young girls, they call them with the names of flowers and fruits. This song is Semmame buka.. buka means little lady.”

Ah, nice!
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Favorite Video of the Week: Cinema Cigani

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This week I’m presenting a few clips from some of my favorite Romani* themed movies.

Clip from “Ko to tamo peva”

Ko To Tamo Peva (Who’s That Singing Over There?), 1980. Directed by Slobodan Sijan, filmed in Yugoslavia (Serbia)

From a youtube commenter: The two Gypsy musicians provide a running commentary through the film, like a Greek chorus. One of them plays an accordion and sings, while the other plays a Jew’s harp. The movie begins with them singing their recurring song, to which the refrain is “I’m miserable, I was born that way, I sing to sing my pain away, I wish Mama dear that I had but dreamt it all.” t’s about people taking a bus ride to Belgrade, just before the Second world war.

I have not seen this film and just came upon by chance when searching for other clips but it looks like the kind of film I’d be thrilled to see.
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Favorite Video of the Week: ÅŸemame hip hop

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Bazid şemame hip hop (müthiş video)

Last year I did a long post on Kurdish Halay, it was one of my favorite posts to work on. I included a few clips of Semame, a fusion of traditional Kurdish music with hip hop style dancing and beats. There’s a large Kurdish population in Germany and just like with Chicanos, bi-cultural influences trickle down into everyday popular culture – for instance, this awesome Kurdish beatboxing. It’s these two girls though, that I find most impressive. They have a style, a rhythm that is so natural and makes one think that hip hop and halay have always existed together. Notice too, the little sister that tries to run up and join the dancing! Not sure of the location of this clip, Turkey perhaps?

Here’s the girls again, dancing to traditional music in semame style:

Random News: March 2, 2009

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Random bits of news that caught my interest today:

article-0-03b05683000005dc-812_306x516 From www.dailymail.co.uk

“Do these mysterious stones mark the site of the Garden of Eden?” asks Britain’s Daily Mail. I thought it was an odd choice to present this discovery of an early human sacred site in such a definitive biblical way.  A Kurdish shepherd uncovers Gobleki Temple, a Turkish Stonehenge.

From the Wall Street Journal: Mexican gardeners not losing as much work as their paisa cousins in construction and other trades. Wait until water rationing goes into effect. Many Immigrants Still Till the Land of Opportunity.

Remember the Orange Revolution? Unrest grows in the Ukraine, the economy is on the verge of collpase. Our economy is too but folks here can’t be bothered, they’re too busy watching TMZ. Unrest in Ukraine appears on the rise.

Everybody’s been linking to this video but it really is hilarious. Speaking of hilarious, I realized today I’m the only person I know who thinks Flight of the Conchords isn’t all the humorous. I don’t get it…


Louis CK on Conan O’Brien

Tomorrow and Wednesday, the greatest living Gitano Flamenco family, Los Farruco will be performing right here in Los Angeles. They are sure to bring the house down. See here for more details and info on half price tickets.

Favorite Video of the Week: Two songs from the early 90s

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As we reach the end of the 2000s, it’s time for the retro nostalgia to begin for the previous decade. Isn’t that how it works? Well, I thought I’d kick it off with some of my favorite songs of the 90s.


Manchild-Neneh Cherry

Neneh Cherry is one of those artists who quietly influenced popular music and culture without receiving her due credit. There would be no M.I.A. without Neneh Cherry. Cherry’s album Homebrew was one of those records I listened to when nothing else seemed to satiate my musical hunger but it’s this song, Manchild from her first album Raw Like Sushi that is among my all time favorites. By the way, there’s a connection to last week’s favorite videos, Cherry (her step-dad is Jazz musician Don Cherry) collaborated musically with Ari Up of The Slits and was even a member of the band at one time. [BTW, I know I’m cheating, this song came out in 1989 but it’s sooo 90s]
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Found in Lincoln Heights: Stuffed Ventures

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found_lh_toyfactor1

A series of objects, photographs, letters and other items found on the streets of Lincoln Heights.

They look like they’ve just cut a deal. One thousand stuffed and stripped pigs to be made on antique sewing machines. To commemorate what kind of holiday? Or perhaps the blue stripes pay homage to a foreign futbol team? The windows in the photo are the type most coveted in refurbished and remodeled lofts.

It’s been awhile since I posted anything in this series, mostly because I misplaced my collection. Alas, the bag of left behind objects has been located and the sharing of found objects commences. I found the founds.

B-boy Bugs and Def Daffy

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bboy_trash

Sometimes you hang on to objects and you’re not sure why. I bought this back in the late 80s thinking it was funny to see cartoon characters as B-Boys. Now something like this wouldn’t even draw a second glance. Spongebob as an emo? Hardly worth a second thought and to be expected. The lines between popular culture and underground culture barely exist, if they exist at all. The process of recuperation has been so thorough there is nothing left for pop culture to devour. Perhaps it appropriate this image is on a trash can. I still think it’s kinda cute.

The Savage Detectives

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savage

It took me awhile, but I finally finished reading The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolaño. It’s a novel I’ve been recommending to everyone I know.

The first chapters actually affected me physically and I felt almost buoyant and youthful while reading them. Bolaño was able to capture that heady sensation of being in your early 20s and and feeling as if your challenge to the world, to the institutions around you, could result in their demise. It’s a time I truly miss.

The novel is a series of remembrances about a group of Surrealist influenced Mexico City poets called the Visceral Realists. They are a 1970s incarnation of a previous Visceral Realist poetry movement from the 1920s, a group they revere for their outsider literary world status. The poets are on a quest to find the original Visceral Poet, Cesarea Tinajero an elusive figure who holds a mythical position in their pantheon of writers.  The book is so chockful of symbolism, literary and political references and countless sidestreet narratives that it probably deserves a second read. I’m quite happy to have gotten through one read for now. Next on the list,  Bolaño’s , 2666.

New York Times review of The Savage Detectives.

One more thing, while I wouldn’t dare attempt to read the book in Spanish (I don’t have the skills for it) if you can read it in Spanish, I’m sure it’s even better. I kept finding myself translating dialogue into Mexico City slang while I was reading. For instance, what is ‘Luscious Skin’ in Spanish? I’m eager to know.