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Cultural diversity and the arts, part 1-enriching our heritages

There are almost always more than one side to every question.  In this and the subsequent blog, we'll look at some of the roles that cultural diversity and the arts can enrich our own cultural heritage(s).

I am going to assume that people from different cultures are reading this blog...but that all of us have a cultural heritage or in some cases, such as if our parents come from different backgrounds or we live in a country that is not the land of our ancestors, we may have two or more cultural backgrounds.

In California, there are a wealth of festivals celebrating different ethnic groups and their culture.

In California and frankly, in an awful lot of the world, we encounter people on a daily basis whose cultural background(s) is different from ours.  In some parts of the world, different cultural groups isolate themselves from each other, but in other areas, there is more curiosity and communication between cultural groups.

In California and much of the United States, as well as in Jerez de la Frontera and much of Spain, the past 30 years or so have seen a great deal of mixing and combining of traditional art forms as one reaction to this cultural diversity.  The process is often pretty selective, however.  For example, few people of either Anglo or Latino descent combine Asian classical dance forms with their own dances, and few castillano Spaniards mix Russian or central African music with their music.

In southern Spain, you find Castillianos, Gitanos, people from North Africa plus Senegalese and others.

But one of the key words of the day in the arts world is "fusion."  We see flamenco fusion, jazz fusion, opera borrowing extensively from all over, and we see people of Asian heritages in California mixing their traditions with hip hop, etc.  (even though this seems to be a one-way street).

My assumption is that this move towards fusion is not only a result of the greater ease of international travel and the movement of peoples--as refugees, ex-patriots, tourists, for business reasons, and so forth--but also due to television which has given the world an extremely distorted but deliberately attractive view of "American" culture.

Video games and movies have also played a role, of course.

OUR NEXT BLOG will consider "purity" vs. "fusion" within the topic of cultural diversity and the arts.

Working in Spain-time concepts-part 2

Continuing on about time in Spain, and working within the different time concepts:


Please note that in southern Spain (including Jerez de la Frontera where I'm working), almost NOTHING is open on Sundays.   It's part of Spanish culture.  In California, few places close down for Sunday.  Too much money would be lost.

All of these business hours, even though a bit flexible, can be pretty much counted on.  Individual people in southern Spain are, however, another matter.

In California, if you invite someone over to your house for dinner and tell them to arrive at 6:00pm, they are likely to show up at 6:00pm.  If they arrive at 6:05pm, they will probably apologize.

In southern Spain, to begin with, dinner itself is more often than not served at 9pm or so.  And if you invite someone, it is not likely that they will arrive at the hour specified.  They'll probably show up about half an hour later, under the theory that the host or hostess is rushing around doing last minute stuff.  (In my case, that's correct and for that reason, whether in California or in southern Spain, I neither expect others nor do I, myself, show up at the hour specified.)

Another couple of notes about dinner:  in California, inviting friends over for dinner is very common.  Also common is inviting friends out to a restaurant.  In southern Spain, not so.  For one thing, the mid-day meal is more important than dinner.  For another, meals are usually for family.  You DO, however, get together with friends for tapas and a beer or some wine.  And parties--well, people enjoy parties.  You don't need to arrive "on time" nor do you expect any ending time to be specified.  In the old days, for example, some weddings and parties celebrating a baby's baptism would last for three days.

People in Spain also tend to be gregarious.  This is a city street, not a fair.

What about filmmaking?  Well, if you schedule a shoot in southern Spain for the film you're working on, sometimes some of your crew and/or actors will show up 30-40 minutes late.  Occasionally, you even have to telephone your actor/actress and offer to pick him/her up in a car if it's already 30 minutes past call time and they're not there.

In my opinion, this is most uncool.  After all, you have the rest of your people sitting around waiting for the late-comers, although in point of fact, most people here take it in stride.  (They might even wander off to have a cup of coffee or a beer while waiting--something to be avoided at all costs.  You may never see them again.)

Part of the crew during a shoot for "Domino."  They're actually a great bunch.

I have been known to get uptight under these circumstances, and to try hard to find a way to start without the latecomers.  I also try to send messages to the offenders through a third party, indicating lateness is really not acceptable.  These messages have to be delivered with great care, however, or you will have trouble with your actors and crew in the future.  SIGH.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about cultural diversity and the arts.

Working in Spain-time concepts, part 1

In California, productivity, status and big money are highly valued, while in Andalucia (southern Spain), they are not so important.  Instead, in southern Spain, there is a tug-of-war between getting things done, and being relaxed.  People are more interested in quality of life...and I must admit, it's something worth thinking about.

These are cultural differences--Spanish culture as opposed to "American" culture.

Getting down to brass tacks:  one of the significant differences between southern Spain and California is the sense of time.  In California the accepted normal work-day is 9am to 5pm.  In southern Spain it's a lot more complicated.  MOST small businesses run on a schedule of 10am-2pm and then 5pm-9pm.  In the heat of the summer, however (and it IS hot in the summer) the afternoon hours may change to 5:30pm-9:30pm, or 6pm-10pm.  One result is that, other than the "bars" (the California equivalent is a cafe), streets are deserted during the sacred "horas de descanso" from 2pm-5pm.

A pedestrian street, Calle Larga, during the "horas de descanso,"

On the other hand, the bars in southern Spain are open for the early breakfast hours (9am-noon), for lunch (2pm-4pm) and for the afternoon-evening (6pm-11pm or midnight).  Those guys work very hard.  In California, most cafes that are open in the morning close down around 7pm and those that stay open until midnight don't open before noon.  Those guys also work hard, but for fewer hours.

In both California and southern Spain, if we're talking about a dance class or school, of course, these are things that usually start really, really close to the time specified, and you might even want to arrive a bit early.  Theater and performance events, however, nearly always start about half an hour late.

In southern Spain, government offices are generally open Monday through Friday from 9am (or sometimes, 9:30am or even 10am) until 2pm, and that's it.  Banks as well are only open Monday-Friday, from 9 or 9:30am until 2pm.  Big chain stores are often open for much longer hours:  from 9 or 10am until 9pm, Monday through Saturday.  If you have government or financial business to do, you'd better watch out for the hours.

The same street at 11am, in front of one of the bars.

The fresh food market is open Monday through Saturday, from around 9:30am until 1:30 or 2:00pm.  The fresh food market consists of stalls individually rented by retailers, who specialize.  Fish and seafood are one specialty, for example.  Chicken and eggs are another, sometimes with rabbit added on the side.  Bread is another. Meat--meaning beef and pork--is another and fruit and vegetables even another.  Then there are the olive merchants, the spice stalls, and so forth.

OUR NEXT BLOG will complete this topic.

Ernesto Olmos and his magical "flute of fire"

I was fortunate enough several months ago to shoot some footage of muralist-musician-ceramicist-dancer Ernesto Olmos.  Ernesto is from Mexico but has lived in Oakland for many years.

He is steeped in the culture of his ancestors, which is Olmec, Toltec and Mistec.  These are indigenous ethnicities which produced some of the greatest civilizations of Mexico's past.  The Olmec (1200-400 BC) is known as the earliest American civilization.  The Toltec came much later (800-1000 AD), and I regret to say I know nothing about the Mistec.  There are fabulous ruins of the Olmec and Toltec in central southern Mexico.

Ernesto Olmos in his studio.

I went to interview and film Ernesto because of his murals, which depict images from his heritage.  I stayed to learn of his current paintings, his music and his dance.

And I was privileged to  hear him play his magical "flute of fire," a double-barreled ceramic flute that he made himself.

Yes, I DOES actually have fire. There is a kind of basin at the far end of the flute where he puts coals that he then lights.  At the upper end, there is a kind of cup which makes wind sounds when he blows into it.  And he uses the two barrels to produce music.

Ernesto Olmos in front of his home, with his magical "flute of fire."

The result is beautiful.  The barrels produce a beautiful music, which he elaborates with the wind sounds and you have the additional imagery of the fire burning at the far end.  A wonderful experience to hear and see.

OUR NEXT BLOG will be about working in Spain--a different concept of TIME.

Working in Spain-language, pronounciation and the "exotic"

I'm currently working in Spain...southern Spain, to be more exact...the city of Jerez de la Frontera, in lower Andalucia to be even more exact.  I'm shooting videos-films.  I'm a cinematographer.

Lots of people tell me how lucky I am to be working in southern Spain, as if I'm on vacation, which I am not.  Lots of people in California also seem to think that southern Spain is "exotic."  There is a tendancy on the part of most of us to believe that people who have a different way of life from ours are "exotic."   So let's look at that.

The old cabildo (government center) of Jerez de la Frontera.  It is some 500 years old.

By "exotic" they seem to mean that the people a) dress differently, b) make conversation using incomprehensible sounds...meaning that they don't speak English, c)  eat different foods, d) have a different rhythm of life and e) live in houses that don't resemble American homes.

To take just one of these, let's look at the language.

Yes, it's very true that people in southern Spain insist on talking in Spanish.  Not only do they speak Spanish, but they speak very rapidly (and I mean VERY rapidly).  Plus not all that many people speak English.  Plus the rapid Spanish they are speaking is not the standard Spanish taught in schools in the United States.

A street in the newer part of town.

They eat consonants, by which I mean that they leave out a lot of consonants.  Almost everyone in the United States knows that the word in Spanish for "father" is "padre."  Here in Jerez, lots of people say "pare."  Instead of "muchas gracias," people will say "mucha gracia."  And so on.

(Once, one of our actors by mistake referred to a bus as an "autobus."  This caused him to stop the scene as he cracked up laughing.  What he´d INTENDED to say instead of "autobus" was "autobu.").

Our NEXT BLOG will be about vocabulary for southern Spain.

Working in Spain-vocabulary

Continuing on about issues of language when working in southern Spain (in my case, working as a cinematographer):

One of my favorite fountains.

 People here in Jerez de la Frontera not only speak very rapidly and have a strong accent, they use a different vocabulary from the one used in Mexico and other parts of Latin America.  For example, in Spanish classes in the United States, you are taught to always use the "Ud." ("usted") form of a verb when meaning "you."  In southern Spain, people rarely use "Ud."  They use the "tu" form, which in Latin American is often rude and disrespectful, but here you use "tu" not only for good friends but also for people you've just met, for your banker, and your doctor.  Not always, but ALMOST always.

And then there are words like "coger," which here is used all the time (to catch the bus, you "coger el autobu," and so forth).  In many Latin Americam countries, the word "coger" is really very rude--kind of like...well, maybe I shouldn't say.

A narrow street in the historic district

Then, there are the distinctive, slang words that you won't find in the dictionary--Quillo.  Picha.  Perhaps also vaya tela.  and so forth.

In my video-film world, what it all boils down to is that before you can shoot your film, you need to be able to understand the people you are talking to, and have them understand you.  You will need time to find out what does it mean, and to tell your people what does it mean.

So there.

Our NEXT BLOG will be about Ernest Olmos of Mexico, and his magical "flute of fire."

Preliminary thoughts about flamenco

World music and dance certainly includes flamenco.  I really love flamenco.  I dance it.  I have strong feelings about it.  I have put flamenco in several of my film-video programs.

And right now, I'm in the city--Jerez de la Frontera--that is known as "the cradle of flamenco."  It's called that because it's in the center of where flamenco comes from and where flamenco is maintained and where flamenco is important to people.

Yours truly, dancing bulerias.

It's also called that because it is a singing town more than a dancing town...and the original meaning of the word "flamenco" was the singing, the "cante."

 So although there are people here who value fast feet above everything else, and think that the singer is simply some kind of appendage to better show off their dancing skills, far more people in the flamenco community believe you aren't a dancer unless and until you can follow the cante.

Singers-cantaores-are supposed to put their soul into it.  This is Antonio de la Malena.

 Following the cante means matching your dance phrase to the singer.  Following the cante also means that you do NOT upstage the singer.  Following the cante also means that the singer is free to lengthen or shorten a phrase at will, and the dancer must follow.  The dancer is not supposed to say "make it this or that length for me so it will fit with my dance."

And THIS, dear readers, brings us to the subject of flamenco puro, which I will save for another blog.

As between the singer, the dancer and the guitarist, the guitarist is theoretically least important  This is Malena Hijo.

In the meantime, my programs which have flamenco in them include "Improvising Jerez-Style" (a television program) and "Two Streets and Adela" (an experimental short).  My upcoming "Domino:  caught in the crisis" has flamenco cante, and when we finally get the funding, we'll finish filming our project called "The Price of a Piece of Chocolate" about the childhood of a flamenco cantaor--and there will be LOTS of flamenco in that.

Our NEXT BLOG will be about the Spanish language and pronunciation in southern Spain.

Hang Drum meet World, World meet Hang Drum

The hang drum is a very new musical instrument.  It was developed in Switzerland in 2000, and first used in a public performance in 2001.  The creators, Felix Rohner and Sabine Scharer, developed it for the company PANArt Hangbau AG, so it's another one of those instances in which a good idea belongs to a corporate entity...which in my opinion is a pity.

And the corporate entity doesn't like it being called a "hang drum," although that's its popular name.  The corporate entity prefers the term "hang."

Liron Mann (Liron Man) with his hang drum.

It looks like a very tiny flying saucer.  You put it on your lap and you play it, and beautiful music comes out.  That is to say, beautiful music comes out if you know what you're doing.  In our video short, "Tone Poem with Hang Drum," the hang drum is played by a master, Liron Mann (who sometimes calls himself Liron Man).  I asked him to let me try playing a little.  My sounds, well, you really don't want to hear MY sounds.

Small world:  an Israeli musician playing a new Swiss musical instrument in Spain for a short produced and directed by someone from the USA.

But HIS sounds...kind of like a xylophone, or a complete set of steel drums.  And his melodies remind ME of Israeli folk songs, but then I knew he was from Israel.  HE thinks his compositions reflect heavy metal.

Fantastic hang drum player Liron Mann (on the right) and Eve Ma-yours truly (on the left).

And where did I find him?  Playing the hang drum in the plaza in front of the main market in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain.  We recorded his compositions in my apartment, just a short distance away.

Again, world music....from the seemingly endless world of music.

NOTE:  If you´d like to know more about Liron Mann (Liron Man), here´s the link to his Facebook page.

Our NEXT BLOG will present some preliminary thoughts about flamenco.