Please note: Due to the fact that the Cabot Square park is closed to the public between midnight and 6:00 AM, we have pushed up the start time of the final LAMENTATION session to 5:00 PM.
Looking forward to singing with you then!
When we arrived today we found no signs of Cabot Square’s Inuit community who participated so actively in our previous LAMENTATION session. It was as if they had disappeared or had we had only imagined the intensity of the prior lesson in the Atwater metro station? In their place, two police officers sat in their parked car on the winter grass, close to Dare Dare’s trailer. They repeatedly left, returning on three separate occasions during our lesson. When asked, they told us that they were keeping away “undesirable traffic.”
The sun was out, the temperature was warm, the early snow had melted, and so we decided to begin our last lesson outside: it seemed wrong to go back into the now empty metro station and we wanted to have the sound of everyone’s voice carrying on the wind.
Jing, who had attended a previous lesson, graciously accepted our invitation to teach us a Chinese song. She was accompanied by her thirteen year-old daughter, Fan Qi, on keyboard with the support of their French teacher, Christine, who is currently learning Mandarin. Jing and Christine had prepared a song sheet in advance that was truly a work of love in its combination of Mandarin text, pinyin phonetic translation, along with their French translation. Though extensive, we thought it essential to include it here to give a sense of the complexity involved.
Indeed, today’s lesson was a challenge! Up until now we have been learning songs in Creole, Spanish, Latvian and Anishnabe. We were fortunate that Jing was a focused and gentle teacher. As this was the first time a Chinese language was being broken down for most of us syllable by syllable, we became familiar with new meters of speech and pronunciation. The musicality of Jing’s reading was also hypnotic and though demanding, the group worked hard to learn today’s song. At first a slow process, a momentum gathered allowing for a sense of accomplishment as we sang together for the last time.
Our group discussion continued from last week, exploring Devora’s question of what are the qualities or decisions necessary for a sense of home. Individual rituals within a space, establishing contact with the communities around the place where one lives, experiencing a sense of safety despite the anxiety of displacement, were all mentioned as being vital in feeling “chez-soi”. By no means conclusive, today epitomized the experience (necessity?) of visiting what it might be like to be in someone else’s situation whether in using unfamiliar facial muscles to make new sounds, or each of us considering what it means to make home.
Ming tian hui geng hao
Qing qing qiao xing chen shui de xin ling,
轻 轻 敲 醒 沉 睡 的 心 灵 ,
Réveille doucement l’esprit longtemps endormi,
Man man zhang kai ni de yan jing ,
慢 慢 张 开 你 的 眼 睛，
Ouvre bien lentement tes yeux,
Kan kan mang lu de shi jie shi fou yi ran gu du de zhuan ge bu ting.
看 看 忙 碌的 世 界 是 否 依 然 孤 独 地 转 个 不 停，
Regarde si le Monde tant occupé tourne toujours sans cesse dans sa solitude.
Chun feng bu jie feng qing ,
春 风 不 解 风 情，
Le vent du printemps ne comprend pas mes sentiments,
Chui dong shao nian de xin,
吹 动 少 年 的 心，
Et souffle de la houle sur mon coeur d’adolescent,
Rang zuo ri lian shang de lei hen sui ji yi feng gan lao.
让 昨 日 脸 上 的 泪 痕 随记忆 风 干 了。
Les traces de larmes au visage d’hier ont été asséchées par la mémoire.
Tai tou xun zhao tian kong de chi bang,
抬 头 寻 找 天 空 的 翅 膀，
Levant la tête, cherchant les ailes dans le ciel,
Hou niao chu xian ta de ying ji ,
侯 鸟 出 现 它 的 影 迹，
Apparaît l’ombre des oiseaux migrateurs.
Dai lai yuan chu de ji huang wu qing de zhan huo yi ran cun zai de xiao xi.
带 来 远 处 的 饥 荒 无 情 的 战 火 依 然 存 在 的 消 息，
Ils apportent les nouvelles de la famine lointaine et de l’impitoyable guerre qui durent toujours.
Yu shan bai xue piao ling ,
玉 山 白 雪 飘 零，
La neige virevolte sur la montagne de jade,
Ran shao shao nian de xin ,
燃 烧 少 年 的 心，
Brûle le coeur de l’adolescent,
Rang zhen qing rong hua cheng yin fu ,
让 真 情 融 化 成 音 符，
Que le vrai sentiment se fonde en notes musicales,
Qing su yao yuan de zhu fu .
倾 诉 遥 远 的 祝 福。
Afin d’épancher ces souhaits de bonheur venant de loin.
Chang chu ni de re qing ,
唱 出 你 的 热 情，
Chante avec enthousiasme,
Shen chu ni de shuang shou ,
伸 出 你 的 双 手，
Tends les mains,
Rang wo yong bao zhe ni de meng ,
让 我 拥 抱 着 你 的 梦，
Laisse-moi embrasser ton rêve,
Rang wo yong you ni zheng xin de mian kong ,
让 我 拥 有 你 真 心 的 面 孔，
Laisse-moi posséder ton honnête visage,
Rang wo men de xiao rong chong man zhe qing chun de jiao ao ,
让 我 们 的 笑 容 充 满 着 青 春 的 骄 傲，
Laisse-nous le sourire empreint de fierté adolescente,
Wei ming tian xian chu qian cheng de qi dao.
为 明 天 献 出 虔 诚 的 祈 祷。
Pour offrir une fervente prière pour demain.
Shei neng bu gu zi ji de jia yuan,
谁 能 不 顾自己的 家 园，
Qui ne pense pas à son pays,
Pao kai ji yi zhong de tong nian,
抛 开 记忆中 的 童 年，
Et fais en sorte de chasser ses souvenirs d’enfance,
Shei neng ren xin kan na zuo ri de you chou dai zou wo men de xiao rong .
谁 能 忍 心 看 那 昨 日 的 忧 愁 带 走 我 们 的 笑 容，
Qui peut regarder sans peine la mélancolie de jadis emporter notre sourire.
Qing chun bu jie hong chen,
青 春 不 解 红 尘，
La jeunesse ne comprend pas tout de la vie humaine,
Yan zhi zhan ran le hui,
胭 脂 沾 染 了 灰，
Leurs joues fardées s’imprègnent de poussière,
Rang jiu wei bu jian de lei shui,
让 久 违 不 见 的 泪 水，
Laisse les larmes réapparaître,
Zi run le ni de mian rong.
滋 润 了你 的 面 容。
Et humecter ton visage.
Chang chu ni de re qing ,
唱 出 你 的 热 情，
Chante avec enthousiasme,
Shen chu ni de shuang shou ,
伸 出 你 的 双 手，
Tends les mains,
Rang wo yong bao zhe ni de meng ,
让 我 拥 抱 着 你 的 梦，
Laisse-moi embrasser ton rêve,
Rang wo yong you ni zheng xin de mian kong ,
让 我 拥 有 你 真 心 的 面 孔，
Laisse-moi posséder ton honnête visage,
Rang wo men de xiao rong chong man zhe qing chun de jiao ao ,
让 我 们 的 笑 容 充 满 着 青 春 的 骄 傲，
Laisse-nous le sourire empreint de fierté adolescente,
Wei ming tian xian chu qian cheng de qi dao.
为 明 天 献 出 虔 诚 的 祈 祷。
Pour offrir une fervente prière pour demain.
Qing qing qiao xing chen shui de xin ling,
轻 轻 敲 醒 沉 睡 的 心 灵 ,
Réveille doucement l’esprit longtemps endormi,
Man man zhang kai ni de yan jing ,
慢 慢 张 开 你 的 眼 睛，
Ouvre bien lentement tes yeux,
Kan kan mang lu de shi jie shi fou yi ran gu du de zhuan ge bu ting.
看 看 忙 碌的 世 界 是 否 依 然 孤 独 地 转 个 不 停，
Regarde si le Monde tant occupé tourne toujours sans cesse dans sa solitude,
Ri chu huan xing qing chen,
日 出 唤 醒 清 晨，
Le Soleil levant réveille le matin,
Da di guang cai chong sheng,
大 地 光 彩 重 生，
La Terre recouvre ses couleurs et lumières.
Rang he feng fu chu de yin xiang,
让 和 风 拂 出 的 音 响，
Que la musique créée par le doux vent,
Pu cheng sheng ming de yue zhang .
谱 成 生 命 的 乐 章。
Compose l’oeuvre musicale de la vie.
Chang chu ni de re qing ,
唱 出 你 的 热 情，
Chante avec enthousiasme,
Shen chu ni de shuang shou ,
伸 出 你 的 双 手，
Tends les mains,
Rang wo yong bao zhe ni de meng ,
让 我 拥 抱 着 你 的 梦，
Laisse-moi embrasser ton rêve,
Rang wo yong you ni zheng xin de mian kong ,
让 我 拥 有 你 真 心 的 面 孔，
Laisse-moi posséder ton honnête visage,
Rang wo men de xiao rong chong man zhe qing chun de jiao ao ,
让 我 们 的 笑 容 充 满 着 青 春 的 骄 傲，
Laisse-nous le sourire empreint de fierté adolescente,
Rang wo men qi dai ming tian hui geng hao !
让 我 们 期 待 明 天 会 更 好！
Laisse-nous croire que demain sera encore meilleur!
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Cabot Square’s trees are now leafless and the cold is settling in. It is time to move indoors and so today we decided to try out the Atwater Metro station’s entry at Atwater and St. Catherine Street. When we arrived we discovered many of the park’s inhabitants keeping warm, including members of the Inuit community we have had the chance to meet since the summer when we started visiting Dare-Dare in its new location.
Emilie, today’s teacher, is of Anishnabe descent and a member of Odaya, a group of six first-nation women singers. At her invitation two other members came: Lisa, of Saulteaux descent and Moe, of Métis descent. Upon arriving, Lisa and Emilie talked with one of the leaders of the Inuit community who spoke at length of his life experiences. This was a bridge and opening to let those indoors know why we were there, what we hoped to do and an invitation for them to join us if they wished.
Today’s lesson was very poignant for us both. Our learning circle included many people who have now returned repeatedly to be with us while new participants were welcomed. Throughout our time in the metro, we left a space open for those who chose to watch from the edges, venturing in and then out as they wanted. The sound of the three drums could be felt down to one’s toes while individually each of their “voices” was akin to heartbeats. The connection to singing as being not just from the throat but involving one’s whole body was striking. And though the sounds around us were very present in their harshness, we were able to acknowledge them while singing at the same time.
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Emilie led our voice warm-up with exercises that were new to us while others were related to what we have been doing since September. Three songs were taught, “Moon Song”, a traditional healing song, a composition by Lisa called “Mother Earth” and a call/response song – as if two women were calling to each other from the top of two distant mountains! – by Moe. Through their skilled teaching, everyone joined in, concentrating on the weaving of drum and voice.
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For the first time since our project started, individuals of the Inuit Cabot Square community also joined us. Mary invited a friend to throat sing with her – a very powerful and memorable experience. At the end of our singing, Putulik graciously thanked us and spoke to the desire and necessity for his community not to be embarrassed by who they are while offering to the circle a closing prayer. Asking us to take off our hats, close our eyes and hold hands, we did so listening to the sounds of the Inuit language.
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As always, snacks were shared, this time in Dare-Dare’s trailer. Afterwards we were able to talk about different experiences of displacement. Today Devora introduced the notion of home and beauty with the group talking about it as a physical entity but also how it can be experienced within the body. Different reflections arose on the material, corporeal and spiritual understandings of what it can be. Significantly, memories of displacement and the past play central roles in our search and hoped for well-being in finding/making a home.
Once again we were fortunate with the weather. We began as usual by warming up our voices after sharing our stories of displacement and home.
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The late fall sunshine made it pleasant enough to stay out of doors for a long time before heading into the DARE DARE trailer to warm up our bodies.
When inside, we took our time to become familiar with the history of Jasmine’s family in Latvia and her personal association with the song she chose to teach us. We learned the song and felt the sounds of a new language in our mouths. The conversation then turned to the question of nation states, borders, and government immigration policy.
DAUGAVINA PUTO BALTI
By Janis Norvilis
Daugavina puto balti,
Vilni vaid un skalojas.
Ej, balini, lukotiesi,
Ko vaid vilni Daugava?
(repeat from the beginning, then continue)
Daugavina, tumsi melna,
Sava klepi skumjas nes.
Tautai bija sura vara,
Kara kautas dveselit’s.
Daugavina aizskaloja
Tautas skumjas jurina.
Mostas musu tevu zeme,
Latvju delu sargata.
Latvju delu zobentini
Tagad saulei pretim mirdz.
Phonetically :
Dau-ga-vi-na pu-to balti
Vil-ni vhy-d un skah-lo-ya…
Ey bah-linhi loo-ko-tiya-si
Ko vhy-d vil-ni Dau-ga-vah
Dau-ga-vee-na toom-shi-mel-nah
Sa-vah klehh-pee skoom-yahs ness
Tau-tie bee-yah soo-rah va-rah
Ka-raah kau-tuss deveh-se-leets
Dau-ga-vi-na aiz-skah-lo-ya
Tau-tuss skoom-yahs yoo-ri-na
Mos-tuss moo-su teh-vu zeh-me
Lat-v-yu deh-lu sar-gah-tuh
Lat-v-yu deh-lu zo-ben-ti-ni
Ta-gud sau-leh pre-tee mir-dsz
THE WHIPPING RIVER – a free translation
The river with its whipping white caps,
And waves that swirling sigh.
Go little children and seek it out,
Why do the waves sigh?
The river itself is dark and black,
And she carries all of our sorrows in her lap.
We have good reason for all of our sorrow,
From all of the souls lost to war.
The river, she takes and washes away,
All of the nation’s sorrows into the sea.
Wake up and be proud of our fatherland,
And Latvia’s sons will guard you.
The swords of Latvia’s sons,
Will shine from the sun.
We ended our session outdoors singing together accompanied by Pierrot on the guitar.
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One of the biggest challenges of this project to date, is to find people who would like to share their songs of lamentation. For instance, both of us have talked with individuals from the Middle East (e.g. Algeria, Palestine, Lebanon, Nubia) with great respect for their musical traditions and compassion for their experiences of forced displacement. These individuals are curious about what we are doing, asking questions that always lead to provocative conversations. They tell us about the songs they could imagine sharing with us but choose not to because they are associated with memories they would rather forget… And yet they recognize that the memories still exist and their tones cannot be controlled.
After three lessons we can now identify different orders of experience within each session. They include four communication processes that act in similar and different ways: storytelling and the sharing of personal experience related to displacement and home; group toning exercises (free flow vowel articulations that often form beautiful harmonics); informal conversations over food; the more formal structures of learning new songs and singing them together. The effects of these communication processes are wide-ranging and implicate affective and cognitive - both emotional and thought-based - processes. Equally, they engage the senses while addressing issues within social and philosophical frameworks as we try to make sense of and create meaning about the possibility for affirmative and generative responses to coerced migration and the potential for a new internal and external experience of home.