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INTRODUCTION
1.1 Total absence of mass production 1.2. Public participation and the vital importance of feedback 1.3. The nature of live performance in a public area and group participation 1.4. Integrated nature of the audience 1.5. Accessibility of the bertsolari: economic self-sufficiency and modesty 2. What does the bertsolari sing? 3. Achieving a balance amongst the challenges. What are roots for?
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1.3 The
nature of live performance in a public area and group participation. Bertsolaritza,
in common with many other cultural expressions, operates principally as
a live event requiring the public to attend and participate in a collective
act. In present
day mass culture a large part of the cultural consumption is conducted
individually and in private: it is in individual houses, in solitude,
when the majority of products of what we call “culture”, such
as books, records, videos and web pages, are digested. Although the new
technologies open up scope for inter-communication and mitigate the effects
of the one-way flow of the contents which are transmitted, it is important
to recognise that the vast majority of the cultural products consumed
by the modern day western citizen are consumed at one remove, in private
and with little chance of collective participation and interaction. Like many
other art forms on stage, musicals, etc, bertsolaritza gets people out
on the street. For the enthusiast, attendance at a bertsolaris performance
involves: 1
| Going from home to some other town square, pelota court or theatre. This live
collective street element is inherent in bertsolaritza and provides the
favourable environment in which reciprocity between creator and audience
is possible and which is a key element for the improvised creation of
the bertsolari. |