CUCA ESTEVES: libertad sin pajaros (freedom without birds)

Mp3 files: libertad1.mp3 and libertad end.mp3

i will post these texts in the list after posting the mp3 files to clarify.
there are 3 mp3 files. one is the song as it will start, repeated two
times (libertad1). the first time it finish at 1'06", is to be alone with
the dancers, in the second time the speaking voice, the protests, and the
musicians start softly to appear with short phrases of opposite or similar
character, they can choose a side, the side of the protests or the side of
the song. "libertad-end", is the end, as it will be after the impro finish
abruptly. and "bsas-35"" are the protests sounds, as recorded in december
2001. this is not a finished piece, these are fragments to be used in the
structured improvisation as i explained before. i think it will have to be
simple, more improvisation than structure due to the short time we have
left to rehearse with new york.


Hi all,
The piece I am doing for this project is named "Libertad sin pajaros"
(freedom without birds). I will send you the poem I wrote for the song
here, is in Spanish but I made a translation. The piece is about the lack
of freedom in different forms. The song is asking the question how it can
exist freedom if things that represent it in ones mind are not there. How
it can be freedom without freedom in one's self. To these I oppose the
sound of protests that happened in December 2001 in Buenos Aires,
Argentina. They where very special to everybody because it represented the
voice of the middle class that for many years didn't speak, it just
accepted anything that happened in the government. But after the economic
crack that left every body without their savings, the people started to go
out in the streets with cacerols, (kitchen pots) making noise provoking
the resignation of one president after the other in one week (5 presidents
passed by).

So, I juxtapose this two things, two different kinds of expression against
the lack of freedom.
One, the song, is pure, quite, sad, and intimate. It is not really trying
to change the situation, it just expressing it, painting a landscape of
how it feels.
The other one is going out to try to change the situation.

The structure it will be like this:
1.song begins alone. dancers move hand or in one place (aprox 1'30")

2.song starts again, now with some interference sounds, very soft
(speaking voice, protest far soft, some instruments impro soft). The
dancers will trigger the protests sounds when they enter the space, but it
will be very short interventions. The other instruments may enter
improvising, but keeping the phrases short.

3. After some phrases passed, the interruptions start to get louder,
following the dancers and the speaking voice. All the other instruments
also are improvising, starting to get crazy, with fast, tribal, aggressive
sounds, the dancers will be all the time in the space interacting with the
protests sounds. These will last aprox. 4'.

4. The improvisation will try to get to a fortissimo point, it will be a
cue that we have to define (it could be visual, or white noise or the
drums from nyu very loud) and everybody stops immediately.

6. After everybody stops, the song resumes, the last 30", and the end.
I can try to send mp3files soon. but I don't know if before Wednesday. and
I can send you the score of the song in finale if anybody is intrested. is
only one page both sides. maybe the structure changes some, but in general
that is the idea. I am basing it in improvisation, and the reaction of the
others, so it is still open.