Performance Le Rêve with Arnaud Lechat (clarinet, flutes, drums, voice) and Zhan Ya Chun (dancer)
“Le Rêve” (The Dream), a musical and dance performance created by Arnaud Lechat, Mark Van Tongeren and dancer Zhan Ya Chun inspired by the painting “Le rêve” by Post-Impressionist French painter Henri Rousseau.
Location: National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University Art Center (1001 University Road, Hsinchu 300093, Taiwan , student activity center 2nd and 3rd floor)
《夢境》是一部由貓阿諾 （Arnaud Lechat）、馬克．范．湯可鄰（Mark Van Tongeren）和詹雅淳共同創作的音樂與舞蹈表演，靈感來自法國後印象派畫家亨利．盧梭（Henri Rousseau）的畫作《夢境》（英文: The Dream; 法文: Le Rêve）。音樂帶領我們深入這幅描繪一位女子在伊甸園裡，被野獸和神秘音樂家環繞的畫作中。
Looking for RESONANCE, our annual 8-day retreat to sharpen your overtones, to sound more crisp and full, and to learn specific overtone singing techniques? Look at the old announcement to learn about the program, save the 2024 dates and check back for more details soon.
It has been many years since the first time I brought my students to my old acquaintances, the Bunun community from XinYi in Nantou, Taiwan. We prepared some songs for them and then went over to their ‘tribal village’ (as we often say here in Taiwan) to join their weekly singing session and exchange singing and listening experiences. The report is still here to see. Now we are finally ready for a follow-up session with them, again as part of a 3 day workshop of voices from around the world. A unique chance to immerse ourselves in their distinct ancient practice and embodied knowledge of singing and performing together.
Ocean of Voices
Break the wall with sounds. The world is much wider than you thought.
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3.經確認款項後，將在五天內發出報名確認信件，也會與您確認行程詳細事宜
【取消報名】
課程前31-60天取消報名收取10%行政費。
課程前30-15天取消報名，主辦方將保留50%費用；
課程前14天取消，主辦方將保留80%費用。
如果你找人來替代你來上課，我們仍將保留10%作為行政費。
Ocean of Voices
Break the wall with sounds. The world is much wider than you thought.
PROGRAM OUTLINE
In three days we dive deep into the Ocean of Sound, Mark’s equivalent for the repository for musical sounds and spoken words humanity has produced across time and space. We uncover unknown traditions from around the globe, listen to examples and try out our own versions. You also learn how to create a traditional song (A lullaby? An invocation? A cheerful greeting song?) by yourself, or together, on the go. You already love to sing and already know your voice has so many shades. But only some of these shades find expression in everyday life, and now we expand this creative, sonic potential.
Join us for a celebration of the power of the human voice and of creative imagination lurking underneath the surface. Surely your ancestors knew folk songs, religious hymns, ceremonial chants: let them come back to the surface again, in a new guise. At the start and highlight of our exploration, the Bunun from XinYi are so kind to welcome us during their weekly singing session. You will have a chance to sing with them, up-close, and in this way you learn how they create their polyphonic songs and can try to join in with them. A first-hand immersion in one of the many living traditions of this beautiful island and a unique chance very few people have ever had!
DATES AND TIMES
Sunday
16-18 arrival time, check-in
18-19:30 dinner
19:30-21:00 introduction session. First group session of Bunun songs and discussion.
Monday
10-12:30 practice: exploring techniques of Bunun and related music
12:30-13:30 lunchbreak
13:30-15:30 practice some Bunun songs and free-style singing
16:00 Leave for XinYi and for early diner
18:30-20:00 session with the Bunun
21:00 Return to our BNB and aftertalk
Tuesday
10-12:30 practice: discover more traditions, create our own
12:30-14:30 break
14:30-18:00 practice: exploring different vocal (maybe instrumental) traditions
18-19:30 dinner
Special Evening Jam: non-stop music making
Wednesday
9:30-12:30 session: go through Bunun and other practices, rounding up
12:30-13:30 lunch
14:00-15:30 last session, harvesting what we learnt
15:30-16:00 sharing, Q&A
16-0017:00 departure time
We reserve the right to change the program.
PLACE Jiang shan le hou
Puli, Nantou
Please note that all meals are delicious, creative vegetarian cooking by our hostess Hui Mei.
FOR WHOM? Anyone who is curious and confident enough to sing with others.
(Minimum: 8, maximum:16 people)
LANGUAGES English + Chinese
HOW TO PREPARE? Requirement: you will receive a CD by the Bunun (included) to prepare for the session with them. Reserve some time to familiarise yourself with the repertoire.
YOUR TEACHER Mark van Tongeren is a Dutch sound explorer with a deep interest in the synergy of arts, sciences and contemplative traditions. Mark has over 25 years of experience in theatre, music and dance productions and holds a PhD from Leiden University’s Academy of Creative and Performing Arts. He practices yoga for some twenty years and all kinds of voice / music / performance practices for 30 years. Read more details below or check outwww.fusica.nl.
SUPPORTING TEAM & CONTACT This workshop is brought to you by Jackal Mei (organiser), Hong-Hong Lin (translator), Mark van Tongeren and Sunny Chang (Hsi Yin, administrative assistant).
▲ For any questions about the contents, and to register please contact Sunny (speaks Chinese and English):
Email: hsiyin724@gmail.com Line ID: hsiyin724
▲ For lodging questions, contact Jackal Mei:
Email：jackallala@gmail.com Line ID：jackallala Mobile：＋886 936596910
(We will do our best to reply within 3 working days)
REGISTRATION
Opening: July 15
Early bird period: ends August 5
Closing date: September 2
DISCLAIMER
By signing up you automatically acknowledge your understanding that this retreat sometimes involves strenuous physical exercise, potentially disrupting body-work and emotionally charged sessions with a deep impact on your well-being. It is understood that you yourself best know of any risks (physical, emotional, psychological) and that there is no pressure or obligation to do each and every exercise. By joining this retreat you accept the consequences and state your intention to complete it till the end. You waive all rights to seek or receive compensation in case of injury, loss or damage.
INCLUDED
– Tuition fee – All 9 lunches, dinners and breakfasts (including Sunday dinner and Wednesday lunch) – Insurance – Transport from Puli to Xinyi and back (on Monday only).
NOT INCLUDED
– Transport to Puli
– Lodging. This is arranged onsite and prices vary between 1650 (4 people in one basic room) and 3600 NT$ (2 people in better Hinoki room) for three nights.
PRICES
Regular: 19.500 NT$
Early bird registration: 18.500 NT$ (5 % off)
Poor struggling artists (with proof): 15.000 NT$
Students/seniors with ID card, and bring a friend: 17.500 NT$
Not applicable to artist price.
REGISTRATION and PAYMENT
Please send an to Hsi Yin (hsiyin724@gmail.com) for registration. We will confirm with you the amount of payment (registration fee + accommodation fee) and you can then make a transfer to:
Bank code: 822.
Name of bank: China Trust
Beneficiary: Mark Christiaan van Tongeren
Account number: 163540306745
Make sure to send an email to Hsi Yin (hsiyin724@gmail.com) including your name, the last 5 digits of your account number and the transferred amount after your payment. We will confirm reception within 5 working days.
CANCELLATION We try to keep prices reasonable. we will return 90% of the fee if you cancel 31 – 60 days prior to the workshop.
We will return 50% of the fee if you cancel 30 – 15 days prior to the workshop.
We will return 20% of the fee if you cancel within 14 days prior to the workshop.
If you find a substitute for your spot, we will keep 10% of the administration fee.
Recently my Resonance students – plus a few guests – joined the second Sound Journey. The first Sound Journey was about the Art of Listening, in Hsinchu. This time, we delved into musical traditions in an outdoor camping/guesthouse site in Puli, with fantastic views of the valleys and mountains of Nantou. The central event was a visit to the Bunun village of Mingder, now called Naihunpu (formerly Naifubo) in the Bunun vernacular. Here we were warmly received by mainly elder people (mostly 50+) of this small community. I visited them for the first time in 2005, when I stayed there for a few days, talking to them and recording their songs on audio and video. I was introduced to them at that time by Dr. Wu Rung Shun, the well-known expert on Taiwanese indigenous music and a recordist/compiler of the most extensive collection of published recordings from Taiwan, The Music of the Aborigines on Taiwan Island Vol. 1-9.
The Music of the Aborigines on Taiwan Island, Vol. 1: The Bunun
Recording the Bunun of Naihunpu in 2005 (they gave me their dress to wear for the occasion).
In 2005 I was struck by the Bunun’s music, their hospitality and their willingness to share their music, dance and wisdom with me. But I had no opportunity to follow up on my visit for a long time. Last year I finally returned, meeting some familiar faces and quite a few new ones too. I wasn’t just interested to learn more about their music for myself; I thought it would also be great if my students had a chance to experience their music. After all this music is always polyphonic, and it is more interesting to learn it together. So I asked the Bunun leaders if we could come over one afternoon to learn from them, and they agreed. They pointed out that they had Wu Rung Shun’s students visiting and that it was not easy to learn their songs. We were slightly uncertain as to how satisfying this would be for both parties. They had never worked with a group like ours, that is, a group of students that did not study music at the academic level. Perhaps we would not be able to make much of their music ourselves?
We came prepared: all of us had listened to the CD the Bunun from this village had recently produced, with a selection of their repertoire. And the evening before I had talked about different vocal styles and techniques and practised these with the group. We had also tried a Kyrie from Corsica, a polyphonic Christian song that I deemed appropriate to learn during this Easter weekend.
We were warmly received by a large group of about twenty people who were all introduced to us, and we all introduced ourselves to them. They were clearly very willing and eager to teach us about their music and perform for us. They insisted to change to their full traditional regalia of dresses, pants, headbands, earrings and carry-on bags, so they looked fabulous. Surprisingly, what seemed to be newly-made handwoven vests, turned out to be actually quite old, and worn for many occasions throughout the years. They took great care to maintain it.
After watching several pieces performed by them, I asked if we could mingle and spread out between them, men between men, women between women. That would allow my students to better hear that each individual sings something different. After all, in a recording you hear many voices, but you are not really able to find out how one particular voice moves around in the polyphonic network. They readily agreed and so we could hear at close range what different voices do: a completely different experience than hearing the whole song, played back from a CD. Ten years ago I also recorded Amis songs this way, moving between the singers so as to get a clear picture of different individual voices. It was very revealing! Suddenly the chords jump to life all around you, like some kind of enhanced-dolby-5.1-stereo – much better than that in fact.
The meeting continued with more singing, sitting between the Bunun, absorbing the richnes of their musical patterns and imitating them. They asked us to sing our Corsican Kyrie for them, which my students dared to do, even though they had only learned it the day before. It was an approriate thing to do, as the Bunun are Christians and were actually very busy this time of year preparing for next day’s Easter Sunday celebrations (later that night they still went to church to prepare for it).
Later on, we saw and heard the men sing the Pasi But But: the most famous of Bunun vocal pieces. It is so unique in the world of music that it is hard to come up with any parallel. When I first heard a recording of the Pasi But But some 20 years ago, I thought of the music of György Ligeti, the contemporary Hungarian composer whom I listened to quite a bit at that time. The slow, draggingly-ascending lines, curled up into each other, make up for a confusing sound experience, unlike most other types of polyphony (I also listened to hundreds of music traditions around the world, but the Bunun piece resembled none of them).
Thanks – again – to Wu Rung Shun’s PhD thesis of 1995, the mystery of this piece was revealed in all its fantastic detail, including all the meanings, terms, spiritual messages and other practices associated with it. With him and his colleague Dr. Chung Mingder and students at the Taipei National University of Arts we tried the piece many times. We often got lost in the steadily increasing flow of microtonal changes; sometimes we had some degree of succes; it was always intense and exhausting.
Singing the Pasi But But
We were lucky enough – at least the four males of our group – to be invited to join their Pasi But But after they had done it. Again, each man of our group was surrounded by other men, and each in one of the four pitch-groups, holding hands and twisting arms firmly behind our backs. With the guidance of the experienced Bunun men’s strong, certain voices, there was little risk of messing this piece up, and indeed the three other men who never did it before got through it alright.
Finally, we shared more food, excited talk and some wine, as well as some Jew’s harp and mouth-bow playing to conclude our acquaintance.
Later that night, after we returned to the house on the mountain slope where we stayed, our group members unanimously rejoiced in this learning experience. Each for themsleves, they had made very different discoveries. One heard new songs that she had never heard before from the Bunun. Another said it was revealing to sing while being surrounded by several elders. A third was thrilled to feel the powerful voice of an aged, yet virile singer next to her. Another found out that the Bunun do not simply hit some notes here and there, but make certain patterns and still structure their pieces even though they improvise. Yet another marvelled at hearing the Pasi But But at close range, which is so different form a concert performance at a distance. One of the men of our group understood much better how this song worked after being taught to sing it with them.
My thanks to all the Bunun participants in the workshop, especially chief/chairman Diang Nangavulan (centre), Biling Demu (right) and Sani Sugluman (left).
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