Thoughts

For ~94% of human existence, the spoken word was a primary form of. The written word came later. So that oral tradition is the way human knowledge was accumulated and preserved for most of our species’ time.

The invention of writing was lamented by many ancient sages, due to the potential loss of oral tradition they valued highly.

A similar lament took place when movable type made possible an explosion of book printing.

Bertsolaris Film

Bertsolariz are linked to the land

Basque language

I once had a Basque girlfriend who invited me to read one of my poems to a gathering at her home; but I never heard of bertso until today.

Bertso is something that happens in just that moment. Ephemeral, improvisation.

Unrehearsed. Unaccompanied.

“Don’t break the silence except to aid its brilliance.”

Sometimes, a moment’s insight can’t be improved by polishing, rewriting. It’s just that one flash of perception, that evaporates after the moment passes.

Bertso ≣ a performance of bertsolari

Audience as co-creator. Poet reacts and builds on the feedback from the audience.

Danger, risk (walking alongside precipice), exhilaration,

Brian Eno’s music variation cards. (Play an instrument you don’t know, etc.)

Build from the ending to create a bertso. But audience always experiences from the beginning.

Don’t train too much; enter clear-headed.