Twilight, day 2 [afternoon+evening]
Oct. 17th, 2003 01:48 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mattlistener[10/11, afternoon]
Another long clan session of playing the same rhythm this afternoon. Some chat over top of it, which was cool too -- another way to push the rhythm into the back of one's mind. Learned some freaky anecdotes of long-ago Earthspirit events (they've had some problems with gawkers). Noticed that two of the three beginners were able to do the muffled slap now. However, the woman who had trouble coordinating her left hand was still playing one-handed, and looking sad. After the session I asked if people would like to practice some more during free time before the trance dance -- "this rhythm, but *slow*, with no extra stuff." The beginners all perked up and expressed interest in that, so it looks like I'll get to lead my own mini-lesson after dinner. We'll see if following my nose here bears fruit!
Meanwhile, during the rhythm session, I noticed that clan leader had shifted to using the *back* of his hand to do the muffling for the muffled slap, with the result that his palm went up and forward to where the dancers would be, very graceful. I gave it a try and was able to get right into it. When he looked over to see me in sync with him he gave a big smile, and got the experienced drummer on the other side of him into it as well. The three of us were making this synchronized motion for a long time. Sweet!
Clan leader suggested we start the trance dance with one drum playing and have others come in gradually. I popped out with the suggestion that instead we start with just two notes of the rhythm, and gradually add notes -- which he agreed to immediately, and suggested that I be the one to start! Another good reason to practice some more before the event...
[evening]
We did indeed practice some more during free time, myself and the three beginning drummers. Worked on keeping the tempo slow (very useful for me), and I made up some extra-simple drills that enabled the one woman still having difficulties to start doing muffled slaps, and then incorporate them into the rhythm. Yay!!
The trance dance was held outside (cold, but not as bad as last night). The dancers held hands in a circle and slowly repeated a series of five different breaths. The step was simply, right, together, right, together -- eyes closed.
We quickly realized that our 3-beat rhythm [bass, tone, muffled-slap, pause] didn't fit with the trancers' two-step movement, so we simplified it to [bass, pause, muffled-slap, pause], adding subtle embellishments as we went on but keeping that focus throughout. We stayed very solid, sped up a little in the beginning but then kept that tempo for the rest of the hour. One of the elders was near us with a burran, positioned to slow us down if we got too fast, but we never needed to.
The trance dance itself is hard to explain. This is my third Twilight and I still haven't partaken of it. It appears many people go into some kind of trance and have worthwhile experiences. 3 or so fainted (as usual, evidently) and were gently led to lie down with blankets near the drums.
I didn't come close to trancing out while drumming, because my sense of responsibility to the dancers was keeping my mind active, however it felt really satisfying to be a successful part of making that ritual happen. It's too late this evening, but I want to ask some people how the trance dance went for them. Apparently this is the first time the ritual has ever been done with a rhythm other than a simple heartbeat (bass, bass, pause, pause -- I think).
Addendum: feedback was all good -- people said the drumming was solid, steady, a great sonic container.
Another long clan session of playing the same rhythm this afternoon. Some chat over top of it, which was cool too -- another way to push the rhythm into the back of one's mind. Learned some freaky anecdotes of long-ago Earthspirit events (they've had some problems with gawkers). Noticed that two of the three beginners were able to do the muffled slap now. However, the woman who had trouble coordinating her left hand was still playing one-handed, and looking sad. After the session I asked if people would like to practice some more during free time before the trance dance -- "this rhythm, but *slow*, with no extra stuff." The beginners all perked up and expressed interest in that, so it looks like I'll get to lead my own mini-lesson after dinner. We'll see if following my nose here bears fruit!
Meanwhile, during the rhythm session, I noticed that clan leader had shifted to using the *back* of his hand to do the muffling for the muffled slap, with the result that his palm went up and forward to where the dancers would be, very graceful. I gave it a try and was able to get right into it. When he looked over to see me in sync with him he gave a big smile, and got the experienced drummer on the other side of him into it as well. The three of us were making this synchronized motion for a long time. Sweet!
Clan leader suggested we start the trance dance with one drum playing and have others come in gradually. I popped out with the suggestion that instead we start with just two notes of the rhythm, and gradually add notes -- which he agreed to immediately, and suggested that I be the one to start! Another good reason to practice some more before the event...
[evening]
We did indeed practice some more during free time, myself and the three beginning drummers. Worked on keeping the tempo slow (very useful for me), and I made up some extra-simple drills that enabled the one woman still having difficulties to start doing muffled slaps, and then incorporate them into the rhythm. Yay!!
The trance dance was held outside (cold, but not as bad as last night). The dancers held hands in a circle and slowly repeated a series of five different breaths. The step was simply, right, together, right, together -- eyes closed.
We quickly realized that our 3-beat rhythm [bass, tone, muffled-slap, pause] didn't fit with the trancers' two-step movement, so we simplified it to [bass, pause, muffled-slap, pause], adding subtle embellishments as we went on but keeping that focus throughout. We stayed very solid, sped up a little in the beginning but then kept that tempo for the rest of the hour. One of the elders was near us with a burran, positioned to slow us down if we got too fast, but we never needed to.
The trance dance itself is hard to explain. This is my third Twilight and I still haven't partaken of it. It appears many people go into some kind of trance and have worthwhile experiences. 3 or so fainted (as usual, evidently) and were gently led to lie down with blankets near the drums.
I didn't come close to trancing out while drumming, because my sense of responsibility to the dancers was keeping my mind active, however it felt really satisfying to be a successful part of making that ritual happen. It's too late this evening, but I want to ask some people how the trance dance went for them. Apparently this is the first time the ritual has ever been done with a rhythm other than a simple heartbeat (bass, bass, pause, pause -- I think).
Addendum: feedback was all good -- people said the drumming was solid, steady, a great sonic container.
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no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 12:48 pm (UTC)It appears many people go into some kind of trance and have worthwhile experiences.
I find it a very gentle way to detach from the world a bit. After a while I get some visuals, as when I'm falling alseep, but never visions.
I didn't come close to trancing out while drumming, because my sense of responsibility to the dancers was keeping my mind active, however it felt really satisfying to be a successful part of making that ritual happen.
I know what you mean. As I mentioned, we rattled for it in Ombwiri the year before. The drummer was fairly stationary, and we moved around the dancer-amoeba at different speeds (and sometimes different directions). Hard to get trancy when you're in sheepdog mode.
Overall it was very solid, and responsive, easy to let go into. I had no idea there were beginning drummers in the group until you said so.
no subject
Date: 2003-10-17 09:15 pm (UTC)Cool, thanks!
(Looking forward to hearing from you, if you decide that it's better to put words to some of your experience than not to.)
heartbeat...
Date: 2003-10-25 12:14 pm (UTC)For trance dancers, the exact beat has never been terribly important -- only that it be a fairly steady rhythm, at least until they hit their own entrainment in the dance. I've been around for several variations. The reason it typically settles to a heartbeat is simple -- less mental distraction for the dancers (and the drummers).
The typical heartbeat is generally either a one-thump in 4/4 (bass, rest, rest, rest, bass...) or a doubled lup-dup (think sixteenth notes -- bass-and-bass-and, rest-2-3-4, rest-2-3-4, rest-2-3-4).
Doing long-term basic drumming like that without the drummers around can help entrain your body, so that your mind can let go of the responsibility chatter and the other mental distractions. The more you do this sort of work, the better entrained your body gets, and the more easily you can trance out while maintaining the steady, static rhythm.
One ritual I was part of many years ago involved a single person holding a heartbeat rhythm for 3+ hours, while 200-300 folks went thru the ritual. The rhythm never faltered, but she surely wasn't counting time for long into it.
I am curious to hear the gawker stories -- sometimes tales told are accurate, sometimes not (generally not through any intentional falsification by the tale-tellers)... As some tales of the past have grown distorted over time, they have brought people to points of conflict due to assumptions that were factually baseless.