1 Sustrai COLINA

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze. Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] - [e-mail]. Euskal kulturari buruzko atarian telekargatu ...

Sujets

• Pays basque
• Euskadi
• Euskara

Informations

• Publié par: Euskera
• Nombre de lectures: 32
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

Egilea - Auteur :Sustrai COLINA Iturria - Source :Kattalin Totorikak 2004ko urrian egin elkarrizketa / Entretien de Kattalin Totorika - Octobre 2004 - Itzulpenak - Traductions : Kattalin Totorika - Phillip Basterra Urtea - Année :2004

Sustrai COLINA

At the age of 19, Sustrai Colina, the youngest participant in the final of the Basque Country improvisation championship, had already marked the history of improvisation.That was back in 2001.

BIRTH OFA PASSION ‘‘I began to improvise thanks to Amets Arzallus and his father. We had already done a little improvisation at the ikastola (Basque-medium school), but then I found out that there was an improvisation school.I was 8 or 9 years old, and at that age you generally want to do what your mates do. We put our names down for improvisation classes like you would for football or pelota. It’s when I began practicing that I realised I enjoyed it. We were lucky to have a really good group. It was very motivating because if you’re alone there are times when you feel like giving up. At that time I used to play pelota. It’s a game which you either win or lose. However, a child who learns improvisation doesn’t really realise what he’s doing or why he’s doing it, what is judged and what is not … So from that point of view, sport is much more rational in terms of theway it’s judged. And it has to be said that at that time children would have preferred to be Retegi rather than Egaña. Nowadays things are changing, improvisers frequently appear on TV and radio, and now children put their names down at improvisation schools with the ambition of becoming improvisers. But when we were young none of that existed. We stuck at it because we were a group of friends and because we were lucky.’’

THE INFLUENCE OF OUR PARENTS ‘‘I was very lucky. At home I was always allowed to do what I wanted. That’s how I learnt to take responsabilities and I was able to realise for myself what was right and what was wrong, by making mistakes. My parents always told me that in improvisation I’d learn the values which I’d need later on in life. For example, knowing how to react in front of an audience was very precious when I had to sit my exams. I said to myself that if I was capable of improvising something in front of a hundred people, reciting what I’d learnt off by heart to

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

just one person wasn’t so difficult. When we were children, at the ikastola, the others were generally frightened of speaking in public, but we were always at ease in this field. On stage we appear as we are or at least we publically reveal the different aspects of our personality. That makes us assume the facets of our personality which are made public. From that point of view, I’m convinced that improvisation is very valuable, especially during adolescence … When, as a child you have to learn to accept yourself as you are, it’s a discipline which will helps children who are capable of going up onto the stage with all their imperfections to feel good about themselves.”

IN THE TRADITION OF GREAT IMPROVISERS ‘‘When I was small, I wanted to be a pelota player. I hardly realised that it was even possible to become an improviser. Afterwards, you begin to think that you could be a improviser, you try to understand the talent of others, and you have a certain admiration for them. Then your turn comes when you are standing alongside those who you admired, and they even become your friends. We saw all of this. This was the case with Joxe Agirre, who’s 75 years old and still an improviser. You discover who they really are and you admire them even more. When you go to a village with this figure, this symbol, you’re surprised to see how humble they are, and that they’re always ready to help you. It’s an incredible chance to be able to meet such figures. This is also the case of Andoni Egaña, three times champion, an unrivalled theoretician, an enlightened and innovative improviser and a forerunner, but who, when he’s sat at a table with you, is just one amongst you. There are great lessons to be learnt from these meetings. Although the personalities, lifestyles and origins of improvisers are very different, the fact you have to offer the audience good “entertainment” brings you closer: When you go through a difficult moment with someone, usually that makes the relationship stronger. That’s what happened with us. For us it’s important to get on with the others. We only compete against ourselves. Of course I want to win, but I don’t want my adversary to lose. And championships, in particular championship finals, are particular in that repsect, if we all do well, you’re left with a good impression. No-one loses, even if you finish eighth. The audience is more interested in what you do rather than in your ranking. And that helps us a lot to excel and exclude any competitiveness.”

THE DUO WITH AMETS ARZALLUS ‘‘We manage to surprise each other more often than you’d think. Improvisation varies greatly according to the context. If you sing the same verses in two different contexts, they may be good in one context, and not so good in the other. Personally,I don’t sing the same way in a youth club as I do in a church. Euskal kulturari buruzko atarian telekargatu dokumentua: www.eke.org © 2 Document téléchargé sur Le portail de la Culture basque : www.eke.org ©

Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

And that’s what makes it possible to surprise. Amets manages to surprise me in fields which are not his favourites: if he improvises on football, he won’t surprise me because I know that it’s a subject he masters from A to Z. But if he improvises on religion, he’ll certainly surprise me because I know he doesn’t know much about the subject. It’s like being in a couple, because at the end of the day the art of improvisation is the art of dialogue. And provided there’s continuous dialogue, there are always times when you surprise each other. We form a couple of improvisers, we perform together regularly, but we’re not the same. Amets and myself are different. I think that’s the best way to enrich a duo like ours.’’

PATHS OF CREATION ‘‘When you improvise, you start by thinking about the final point, the conclusion. It’s no more than rhetoric: whatever you speak about you always try to put the main idea at the end. Also, what’s important is the development which leads to the main idea. Improvisation is sung, measured and rhymes. With practice, you anticipate the final argument. And it’s the last word of this argument which gives you the rhythm. After a lot of practice, you remember a list of words which have the same endings. With this list, you begin to compose your points. But you can’t wait for two minutes before starting to sing, so you begin, knowing that the other points will come as you go along. When there are two of you, you must make your last idea answer the previous improvisation, because improvisation is a debate. Theoretically, the previous improvisation is the point of departure for your improvisation. If the previous improviser asks you a question, you must answer. Of course, in a championship, and in front of a large audience, you always try to take the easy way out … If you place your idea well between two points, and if you know that in the first two points you will answer the other improviser, you’ve got half your improvisation sorted before you even begin to sing, you’ve got something concrete, it’s a clever trick. What really deserves a lot of credit is not thinking of anything until the other improviser has finished and then beginning your own improvisation during those ten seconds.’’

FAVOURITE SUBJECTS ‘‘I love subjects with meaning. For an improviser the problem is not improvising verse, but knowing what to say. The subject must also be capable of touching people. If you’re asked to talk about Iraq in front of an audience of fifty farmers, it doesn’t matter how good your verses are, the fifty farmers won’t really feel concerned. Because it’s not something they can identify with. But if you’re given a much simpler subject: you’re a farmer and over the last ten years you’ve not

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

stopped demanding a chamber of agriculture …Even if your improvisation is mediocre, you’ll manage to touch those farmers. I’m convinced that this needs to be taken into account in order to have amusing subjects. We love all subjects which enable us to express ourselves and give our true opinions. Sometimes however, it’s not easy. We live in the Basque Country and with the situation as it is, we know that if we say certain things, we risk hurting certain people. And hurting someone who’s paid to be there is always problematic for any artist. So you have to weigh your words. In that sense, improvising fiction is more comfortable. Although fiction also has its disadvantages because you sometimes need to sing about ideas which are the opposite of what you really think, and that can also hurt. I think that the best improvisation sessions are the result of a balance between the two – fiction and reality.’’

THE QUALITIES OFAN IMPROVISER ‘‘You need to have a good command of the language and above all enjoy playing with words. Not only when you improvise, but rather as a way of life. You also need to know how to compose with others. When you go to a village, most of the time you don’t know anyone.Nevertheless you have to find subjects for conversation to discuss with people you don’t know at all, and that’s not always easy. But it makes you a more open person. Moreover, you’re at a disadvantage because the others are on home ground. That’s also very rewarding. But I think that today anyone can learn to improvise in an improvisation school. It’s very mechanical. If a 10 year old child goes to improvisation classes, and if the teacher isn’t too bad, by the end of the year the child will have learnt to sing a “zortziko ttiki’’, that’s a fact. It doesn’t however mean that he’ll be an improviser. To become an improviser, several factors come into play: a love for people, charisma, luck too, and your passion for this discipline. You need to dedicate a lot of time to improvising and sacrifice a lot of things: most of the time sessions take place on Fridays, Saturdays and rest days. Most often you have to leave your friends and your family. For example, it’s very difficult to have a family life. I don’t work on Mondays, but whereas other people are free I’m out. Not may people are prepared to accept that. The improviser is seen as someone who is always living it up … But you sacrifice a lot! And it’s true that our family environment undoubtedly suffers because of it. It’s not necessarily easy for a mother to know that her son is on the road at 3 am. But people don’t see any of that. It’s said that you only get out of improvisation what you put in. And you have to put a lot in.’’

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

FIRST EXPERIENCES ‘‘I began to improvise at the age of 8, and when I was 12 I gave it up before taking it up again when I was 15 in Hendaye. A new group had been formed, with a new teacher, and we also started going to Oiartzun. Now that’s where we have our group and we go there regularly. We’ve always had a really good group and that’s the only way to develop an improvisation school. Improvisation is a pretext. It’s not an essential part of life, so if you haven’t got a group which motivates you, it’s easy to give up. I can’t remember our first public performance, but I don’t have a bad memory of it, it didn’t traumatise me and that’s very important. When you’ve suffered doing something, you don’t want to continue. Nowadays, more than fright, I feel the adrenalin. And adrenalin is necessary. Too much relaxation isn’t good for improvisation. Your reflexes let you down and, just like being over nervous is bad, if you’re too relaxed you just freeze up. So nerves are a good thing before starting until you face the audience. I like that that vertigo. It’s an intense moment.’’ TODAY AND TOMORROW ‘‘Currently I give lessons in Hendaye with Amets Arzallus. We have 14/15 year old pupils. There are a dozen improvisation schools in the Northern Basque Country. In my view, improvisation is in good health. I’m more concerned about the future of our language. At the end of the day, in the Southern Basque Country improvisation is deeply entrenched, in the North it’s taking root. Especially since today it’s actively encouraged by the ikastolas, which wasn’t always the case previously. The contempt expressed at one time with regard to improvisation no longer exists today, on the contrary it’s seen as something prestigious. Andas long as it stays that way, improvisation will continue. The problem would be if Basque disappeared. I’m not very concerned about the future, I’m more worried about the present. We have to do things the right way now, in order to help the next generation attract the generation after them, so there’s no break like before we arrived.’’

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Château Lota Jauregia - 64480 Ustaritz - Uztaritze Tél. [phone] - Fax. [phone] [e-mail]

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