HEZI – LORTU

Publisher DEIA, Jan. 20, 2011





"CAPTURING the free with what's in chains". That is how Rodríguez de la Fuente defined, in sublime way, one of his biggest passions, the art of falconry. Such art has been declared at the end of the last year by UNESCO as Immaterial Cultural Heritage of Humanity, a motion of twelve countries: United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Syria, Mongolia, Czech Republic, Spain, Slovakia, Morocco, France, Belgium, Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Although it is not acquainted with certainty, it is believed that falconry begins its art more than 4,000 years ago, in the Asiatic steppes, by the pure human observation of the animal’s behavior. Something similar that happen with the wolf, although, however, the techniques of taming of the mammals and the birds are diametrically the opposite. As well as UNESCO says, "Falconry is one of the most ancient relations between men and birds, adapting traditional activity that uses brats to capture preys in her natural habitant". Is the result and accurate reflection of the human’s restlessness to avail oneself from his surroundings for its survival, being in the Middle Ages when this art enjoyed a bigger plethora. And much has developed from its beginnings to a material level, techniques of training or technologically that falconry is, nowadays, one of the most fascinating arts that God forbid the man had known.

Tells the legend that little Temujin ( 1162-1227 ), in plain desert along with his brother, attended the capture of a jungle fowl by a goshawk and Temujin came up with the idea of making use of his own hair to fill the bird's leg with loops. They hid and when the rapacious return he got stuck in one of them. The young brothers already had the perfect weapon to subsist.

We have to leave the evident and give things a second thought. That way success is guaranteed, even if you have to conquer the largest empire of all times. We only have to conquer the fear of one and dare.

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BIODANZA

Published in DEIA, Jan. 13, 2010





A person, after one of my concerts, approached me and told me: “You do Biodanza, Kepa”. I had already listened to the term before but I really didn’t know of what we were talking. And he ended: “Not only that you express yourself by means of the bellows: You transmit with your motions, with your gaze, you live it... that is Biodanza, and I practice it”. When saying good-bye, the curious bug stung me. Biodanza.

Carrying out an investigation, I have come to the conclusion that it is the physical representation, by means of the dance, of what music can produce in a human being, becoming converted both in vehicle and tool to express and to be closer to his inner self.

All this begins from the hand of Dr. Rolando Toro, Psychology’s professor of Art and Expression, that at the beginning of 70´s he began to use this system at the mental hospital of Santiago of Chile. He observed that the psychiatric sick persons of the hospital had nothing; they had taken everything, love, friendship, joy... They were forgotten people. Then he came up with the idea of throwing a party and he put slow music discovering that on the following day deliriums increased exceedingly. When making again another experiment with more rhythmical music, samba and even jazz, he saw that deliriums descended and in some cases they disappeared. But the most amazing was the euphoria and the well-being that the sick persons transmitted. So shortly then the pupils of medicine, the doctors and the nurses were the ones that requested Dr. Rolando's services. This came to be Biodanza.

Everyday we lived more rapidly, losing uncountable things by the way. Let's permit that the rhythm of music set the time for us and let's try to stop our frantic races and, for a minute, let's feel and be carried away. We will evolve in so many levels and will feel the joy of the music. The one that I experience every time I manage to flow with her, the one that I perceive in the gazes of a great many people that listens to us, the one I wish All that who reads these lines...

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Lagunartea

Published in DEIA, Jan. 6, 2011





THIS year that is just about to end and in which I have lived intense moments has also meant discovery in many different levels. Finding a place, deepening and enclosure discovering different aspects of our surroundings, is something that when you share it with somebody that knows how to transmit you its passion it is a true gift.

They already had commented to me about the enormous variety and wealth in caves and deep fissures in Urdaibai, more then 200, and invited by some very special friends: Alberto Palomera, Jaime Orueta, Edu Gordo, that you will all remember in being the person that performs the miracle of the fire in the video of HERRIA and Rober Garay prepared to enter into one of them to live that experience. The cave was Saint Peter of Busturia, in the neighborhood of Axpe.

The first thing was in getting dressed and preparing the all equipment that is like being a ritual charged with emotion. After that we began our adventure not without any difficulties, because the truth is, the places we walked around were pretty demanding in physical levels. Each corner that I discovered was more incredible than the previous one. The colors, the shapes, odors and sounds, there were so many things that I was afraid of not being able to keep memory of everything. We walked for 1-kilometer around the surroundings and you can’t imagine the quantity of water that circulates through those spots and the so fraught beauty of the contrasts existing there. Besides we carry out a fantastic experience, we were going accompanied, as it couldn’t be different, by several instruments to perform inside the cave and to see what sensations produced us. I liked the idea of being able to relive what the caveman experienced with the different sounds that he listened to in his surroundings. His ear was almost virgin and the echoes and the sound’s intensity of the caves had to create a true fascination in them.

Alberto, Jaime Edu and Rober are still able to become astonished with all what surrounds them without having to look for far away places and exotic, enjoying things than many other ones have already forgotten. Life is a succession of contrasts like these four good friends whom I dedicate this column. The truth is ...you are very special!!!

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DENISOV

Published in DEIA, Dec. 30, 2010



Many times, what seems to us an ancestral ritual result to be a story that has nothing to do with what we believed, and what seem to be for many, ignorance, passions me, which converts the past into a true mystery
to discover.

Continuing with this thought I would like to highlight the discovery made by a group of scientists a very special hominid's cadaver in Denisov, south of Siberia, Russia. Thanks to an exhaustive DNA analysis they can firm that this specie, that lived more than 30,000 years ago, totally unknown for us. As of today it was thought that there were only two types of hominids: The Neanderthal and the modern humans. But thanks to this discovery it has been demonstrated that, at least, they were three. They have named Denisova to this new sort of hominid. The Denisova is a far lost cousin of the former Neanderthal, revolutionizing all the theories on our origin as species. Tomás Marques Bonet, a Spanish scientist that has taken part in this project, affirms: “Till last year it was said that the modern humans got to Europe and exterminated the Neanderthals, from now on there will be a change in the way of understanding the human evolution.”

An example that proves that we can never take anything for known and that only the human stupidity can think that we already know everything, because there are always things to discover. Who knows if in the future there will be unforgotten main characters that neither could we imagine the transcendence that they had in history? Right now we are living some celebrations that in reality come from pagan rituals where the solstice of winter and the victory of the light over darkness were celebrated. As you see, even what we think is real can keep a mystery turning our lives into something fascinating, embellished by the unknown. I hope that this 2011 many of our dreams can be reached within our hands. The rest belongs to us, a mystery. Urte berrion!!!

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Photograph EFE

Chillida-Leku

Published in DEIA, December 23, 2010







THE human evolution has not had a constant continuity throughout history. Moments of a great development have followed with other ones of sudden stop and stagnation. But even so, there is something that always has kept on unalterable, the benefit of art. I am ignorant of the true motive it has been always pigeonholed in the divertissement, the enjoyment and even I would say as a pastime, when in reality it is one of the fundamental pieces on which lays the foundations of the correct development of every society. We already know the dispute surrounding with the possible closedown of the museum Chillida Leku of Hernani. Eduardo Chillida is an artist whose work fascinates me. I have visited several times the museum; sometime I have even interpreted my music inside the facility. Certainly, it is an authentic delight to take a walk around the gardens admiring his works. The shapes, the force, its energy, what he transmits, it all forms a work of art in herself, which is one of the emblems of Chillida Leku. But it is that this museum, it is not only an area where exhibiting the donostiarra artist's talent, but also the person in charge of protecting all his patrimony and negotiating the way creator wanted it to be. At the end, as always, everything is a cost-reducing issue: The financial crisis, problems of management, etc.

Everything has been said, but we also should tone up a “my fault" from our part, the citizens, for the poor interest that arouses our artistic inside of us. The art in any of his disciplines makes us better, develops our neuronal system like in the capacity of transmitting feelings. And I don’t know if we are aware of it. We are a species that evolves based on needs, before materials were more urgent, now, the same ones, becomes of a very different nature, more personal. But it seems that we keep on going without realizing it. Let's promote pleasure and the need for art and our society will evolve firm, still with results in the long run, but definitely, forever.

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Photograph by txokoarte

MORENTE

Published in DEIA, Dec. 16, 2010


I know his daughter, Estrella. Curiously she was the person who opened the trilogy project singing Haurtxo txiki of the album Etxea. I always imagined being able to fuse together our oral tradition with the flamenco music and the result was spectacular. They have just mention to me that she sang softly to her father’s ears melodies and songs while he found himself bedridden in the hospital. Incredible! Enrique Morente, the great revolutionary of the singing, past away last Monday at the age of 67. The "maestro" that every time he sung imposed the law of his talent he was one of the most renewing and important figures of the contemporary flamenco. He was born on Christmas Day, 1942 in Granada and being an adolescent he traveled to Madrid being very curious of learning and discovering the secrets of singing. Enrique "el granaíno" (the man from Granda) as he was known then, aroused the interest of a full heart born ethnic Flamenco singer, Pepe de la Matrona, because of his attitude and devotion in his art. During his career he touched stick there was, as well he presumed, affirming that he was the only capable one to sing the "49 notes and half of the jondo". He fused the flamenco with oceans of cultures and music’s. He experimented with a lot of artists of very different styles. He sang poems and the letters of the most important writers and also he could dedicate himself to the pure of singing. He always looked further on and was ahead of his time, with the resulting criticisms; "They criticized me of being innovative and not being Gypsy", he said. He obtained very important prizes like the National Award of Music or the gold Medal to the Merit in the Fine Arts among others. Besides he had and kept a deep affection to our land and maintained a great friendship with another great artist of our homeland, Mikel Laboa. Flamenco is something energetic, sincere, of worldly essence, something that is kept in their souls, a mystery that reminds the crying and forces it vast of the human soul. Morente would say that you have to be "savage, free and to sing what you feel", or what is all the same, being oneself. Thank you "Maestro" for so much talent and all the singing.


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NUN HAGO?

Published in DEIA, Dec. 9, 2010




All bottled up in the most important dates of the Basque culture, collecting affection and the support of a great many people. And at the same time, one great of the cultural Basque panorama has left us after a life of brawl and passion. Xabier Lete has been one of those figures that who also in time will be appraised as he should be. He was born in Oiartzun in 1944 and one of the members of that mythical group was so-called Ez Dok Amairu very discipled along with Mikel Laboa, Benito Lertxundi, José angel Irigaray, José Antonio Artze or Lourdes Iriondo. He and many others have been my teachers and in which I have gotten inspired when creating many of my albums. He was poet, singer and above all an passionate of our culture and of our essence that he protected when it was not easy to do and in which he based later on in sculpturing true works of art that grew from his talent. In the course of his life he published many works and even having political responsibilities that he had to retire because of health problems in 1985. Recovered of his sickness Xabier continued with his work as a singer and poet and received rewards and very important recognitions like the reward of Felipe Arrese Beitia poetry, granted by Euskaltzaindia, or the one of the Basque Country in Literature. All artists always have a special workart; a composition that, God knows why, reaches the public's heart. Past the years or playing hundreds of concerts, the public will always ask for that book, that song or the melody that accompanies your name. And who hasn’t listened to Xalbadorren Herio-tzean sung by Xabier? I was stunned watching him reciting and singing the ballads of the folksongs with such passion on TV. His fists tight, his teeth and mouth with tension and with that stressed mouth and his gaze that emanated "emotion". Always looking into the deep inner feeling in order to stir up and express the hidden. Gora zu XABIER!!


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