Authenticity and art on the Internet

This is my comment on Charisse Baldoria's blogpost:
Flamenco Hoy: Authentic or Artificial?

Charisse asks:

For something to be authentic, does it have to be 'pure'?

My reply:

What is 'pure'?

Whether it be in art or science, authenticity, authorship and provenience have always been problematized by academics - to this very day,

imagine. But patience, as it has proven itself a friend, has taught me to deal with their academic fuddy-duddyness and foibles.

We are right now witnessing the postmodern phenomenon of an Internet which, not incidentally, grew out of a 'purely' military application; and which, through the tweaking curiosity of a few creative individuals, could not be contained in the originally intended plan.

Cultural memes that continually create and self-replicate, mutating and evolving often in unpredictable ways, flow in this ever-present virtual space. "Pure" only persists in the minds of "purists", as an ossified category. Ástor Piazzolla shocked the tango-purists in his day.

As for authenticity, and questo vale for any species of art, what or who is to be the judge?

Is Piazzolla's Fuga y Misterio authentic? Does it even matter?



An ear that is keen discerns the flow of authenticity in "carriers of the voice", the particularities of form and medium notwithstanding - song, dance, theater, film, e cosi' via. In pre-modern societies – and probably those premoderns with a well-developed writing system are not excepted – this "voice" is passed on though oral transmission. As Grace Nono in her book The Shared Voice reminds us,

"One must find one's own voice, while acknowledging that, in the oralist context, voice is never really exclusively one's own. It is equally shared by others who have informed or inspired it."

The Internet is characterized by this tribalness, aesthetically and ethically, in the making of art. Like waves of the ocean, it is hard to tell where one wave ends and where another begins. Information, and complex layered information such as is found in art, comes through-us.

And the path of self-replication and mutation of cultural memes can be traced geometrically, less as a spiral curve inscribed in a cylinder, and rather resembling a spiral curve inscribed in a cone – never tracing out the same diameter twice. (Remind me to supply illustrations → after i take my 1/3 rest)


Piazzolla: Fuga Y Misterio http://youtu.be/i53PKYzkZOQ

Question on Authenticity in art by Charisse Baldoria

Today, I am reposting classical pianist, travel junkie and Latin music blogger Charisse Baldoria's "'Flamenco Hoy': Authentic or Artificial?" for educational purposes.
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REVIEW: 'Flamenco Hoy': Authentic or Artificial?
Originally posted here February 25, 2011

For something to be authentic, does it have to be ‘pure?’

"Flamenco Hoy" ("Flamenco Today"), a live showcase of flamenco music and dance, was presented at the New York City Center from February 16-20. Directed by Carlos Saura, famed Spanish film director of flamenco-inspired movies, the touring show made its U.S. premiere, presenting flamenco in various incarnations and guises–Arabic, Jewish, and gypsy; African and South American; ballet and folk dance; pop and jazz.

In his New York Times review, dance critic Alastair Macaulay said the show presented the trappings rather than essence of flamenco and was basically inauthentic.

But what did he expect?

Is 'pure' flamenco what you'd be coming to see anyway? Taking cues from the venue, director, and musical director, one would instantly recognize that <[lp]Flamenco Hoy> was meant to be cinematic, theatrical, and jazzy, with ballet as a cornerstone. And with, supposedly, flamenco at its soul.

Sinuous silhouettes on a tangerine screen, synchronized group dancing, a flamenco ballet skit on the daily life of a dance company playing to the Boccherini fandango — theatrical, yes. Besides, the venue, a large modern theater, felt more like a /tablao/ (a theatrical flamenco dance show for a big audience) than a /peña/ (an intimate flamenco club).

In Saura’s film Flamenco (1995), choreographers Antonio Gades and Cristina Hoyos were flamenco ballet dancers, much like Flamenco Hoy’s Nani Paños and Rafael Estévez. Gades, who started as a classical dancer and Hoyos a flamenco dancer, met in the middle.

But the Saura theatricality and predilection for flamenco ballet was the wrapper, not the gift. Flamenco’s Holy Trinity of song, guitar, and dance; the tragedy, the festivity; the rhythmic, harmonic, and melodic essence–are somehow held sacred.

Rooted in the Andalusian gypsy tradition, singers Rubio de Pruna and Blas Córdoba imploded into cante jondo (deep song) despair with their traditional renditions of the seguiriyas and martinete. In the bulerías, the dancers’ spontaneous flair, and guitarist Antonio Rey’s inventive syncopations communicated its traditional festive complexity – even as it featured the piano, bass, and flute, not your typical flamenco instruments. Not a surprise, as "a bulería can swallow anything."

In flamenco nuevo fashion, there was musical director/flamenco pianist Chano Domínguez' “Let There be Light” with traditional flamenco singing caught in a brilliant dialogue with the saxophone, echoing, embellishing, reinforcing, contradicting each other in the weaving melismas of flamenco and jazz. There was his pensive "Melancolía por malagueñas" for flamenco singer and piano. There was his “Call of the Earth” for flute, cello, and piano which I myself want to play. (See VIDEO: Flamenco on the Piano)

And then there was the zambra, an hommage to Manolo Caracol, with Domínguez' rhythmic inventions and Estévez’ high-strung zapateado (flamenco tap-dancing) virtuosity starting off in a playful banter, gaining momentum together, and exploding in perfect synchronicity.

Duende or angel (spirit), as flamenco performers believe, ’possesses’, and binds together present and past.

Seen in its history as well as today, flamenco transforms, yet can become more and more itself. Drawing nourishment from its roots and raising its branches out to the world, Flamenco Hoy - flamenco today - seems to be in good health.
[post.end]

permalink: http://mylatinworld.wordpress.com/2011/02/25/review-flamenco-hoy-authentic-or-artificial
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In the next post, my comments on the above.

Duets 1 - Laura Pausini y Phil Collins

I'm studying vocal duets.

Here is a video featuring Laura Pausini and Phil Collins performing Separate Lives, posted some while back by YouTube user Mariale2007Argentina.




Notice how Laura, singing the mezzo-soprano part, tempers her power in order to be in sync with Phil's part (which takes the lead here), not drowning out his voice. This is a very good example of control by Laura Pausini throughout the performance.

Separate Lives... a song infused with the bitterness of broken relationships.