Payadores Argentina

At the Museo de Las Lilas

In San Antonio de Areco near Buenos Aires

 

Establishing shots and stills showing Argentine Folklore and Places playing more of David’s music.

 

Festival de la Doma Y Folklore

Jesus Maria, Cordoba

 

NICOLAS, ARGENTINIAN PAYADOR

 

My dear companion and my brother

And my countrymen

Marked by our origins

By saying that I honor you

I bring joy and my poetry

Here to the Festival

 

The purpose of improvising at a horsebreaking event is to create a flourish 

We sing to the horse, to the rider, to their activity

We encourage them, we joke

We greet a friend in the stands

We are embellishing the event.

 

SAMUEL,  ARGENTINIAN PAYADOR

 

On this day we have arrived

This working day – feeling alive

For singing and horse breaking

And poetic verse-shaping

With a guitar that plays melodies

From the olden days

I’m serene as I express

With guiltar strings that I caress

The horses that will leap and bound

So let’s get started on this round

  

ANA CARA

 

 And in that sense, even though it’s a tradition, the innovation makes the audience listen up.

 

Waiting for the unexpected rhyme that raps up the stanza. 

 

SAMUEL

 

Here today is Abadia

Let’s have applause for this brave rider

And for a tradition that reflects the ways

Of life in olden days

 

ERCILIA

 

When the payador poets are in front of an audience unfamiliar with improvisation they know the audience doubs they are actually improvising.  The audience doubts.  They don’t believe. So what do the payadores do? The first thing they do – Since I’ve followed them so many years I know many of their tricks. A cat passes by and the first thing they do is improvise about the cat.  A sound comes from the garden, the first thing they do is refer to that sound.

 

DAVID

 

And I start to think about 

What we are filming now

A bird will sing

And the strangest thing

And a woman walks through the frame –

And it’s Ercilia Moreno Cha.

 

ERCILIA

 

Ha!

 

ANA CARA

 

Can you improvise in a universal way about the stages of human life/

 

MANUEL

 

Just at the start

Feel the beating of a newborn heart

Crying in the hospital room

After the silence in the womb

He opens his eyes, a child now feeling

His pride as a human being

Knowing what it means to live

Moved from the cradle to the crib

Stage by stage – all to the good

Now it’s the start of childhood

 

With age your face is not the same

All that pleasure turns to pain

The body is a flower

In the cemetery’s shady bower

Life has its determinants

Each soul has its existence

Life is beautiful but has no permanence

It’s just a circle of events

Cause from the baby’s first loud cry

A human being starts to die

 

 ANA CARA

 

The tradition of improvised poetry in Argentina also served as a source of literary productions.  Jorge Luis Borges was inspired by the payadores to create a series of what are called milongas based on the traditional forms.  I worked with Borges to translate his milongas into English.  I also worked with David Young who’s a wonderful poet in the U.S. Together we translated his milongas and on one occasion I got together with Borges and I said, “what do you think?” I wanted his feedback.  And he noticed that the rhyme scheme was not what it was in the milongas – in fact we had deliberately not used too much rhyme because it sounded like dogerell.  And Borges said “absolutely not.” He said, “you must have the rhyme.”  And I said “but sometimes that’s a little difficult.”  He said, “change the content, but you must have the rhyme.”  Those poetic forms and the rhyme were very important to him.

 

JOSÉ CURBELO AND MARTA SUINT

 

Go ahead and clap so we can start out on a happy note. 

 

We would like to ask for a pie forzado

[a line that we can improvise with]

 

CRIS PÉRSICO 

 

“La medida de mis tiempos” – de Borges.

 

The measure of my times – by the poet Borges.

 

JOSÉ

 

We’re going to make it “of my times the measure,” because “tiempo” (unless its “contratiempo” – which is practically the same) doesn’t have rimes.

“Of my time the measure”… and one for her… 

 

FROM AUDIENCE

 

I’ll will wait for you on my journey. 

 

JOSÉ

 

In a manner so resolved

The lyrics that a poet forges

Can take a phrase from the poet Borges

Reverse it so the rhyme is solved

And the verse is strong and tall

Holds it own and doesn’t fall

Let it be a shining star

Where I raise my voice to all

Not only hoping that it gives you pleasure

But is – of my times the measure

 

MARTA

 

You were always at my side 

We were partners – unified

You illuminated my universe 

With a wonderful, spontaneous verse

But the time has come for me

To define our destiny

I’ll swear to God sure as I’m standin’

I’ll be your true companion 

If you live to see my final day

I’ll wait for you along the way