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The Vuvu Orchestra: Soccer World Cup 2010
Posted: 4 May 09
Posted by: JM South Africa
Tags: JM South Africa, Other, South Africa
A MIAGI-JM South Africa workshop, the Vuvuzela Workshop, took place at the beginning of April at the MIAGI supported Xincayincayi Centre in Ribungwani Village, Limpopo Province. Xincayincayi is practised by the Shangaan people. The complexity of the interlocking rhythms produced by singers and instrumentalists (over ten different instruments are used and a minimum of three drummers), and the very athletic dancing makes this dance style one of the most visually stimulating in Africa.
The Vuvuzela Workshop was attended by the children and the youth learning at the Centre and linked to one of our on-going collaboration projects, the VuVu Orchestra, ‘Music Man’ Pedro Espi-Sanchis’ latest brain-child.
JM South Africa has since 2007, together with Espi-Sanchis been arranging VuVu performances, happenings and workshops with the aim to have a fully fledged VuVu Orchestra appear at the 2010 world soccer championships!
About the Vuvu Orchestra project: In the early days of South African soccer, appreciative fans would whistle loudly and piercingly at the mesmerising moves and play, often chanting in unison “Ayyyyce” when a maestro like Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe was doing his devastating thing with the ball. The whistling and chanting included songs like Shosholoza, a song that came to symbolise South African soccer. At best the musical content provided by the fans at soccer matches today, consists of the blowing on the vuvuzela trumpets, “non musical” hooting instruments used in an even more non musical fashion in order to encourage the players and frighten the opposition. Espi-Sanchis found however, that the vuvuzela can be easily modified to create real music, and so his VuVu Orchestra consists of a set of six vuvuzelas tuned to produce six different notes in an F Major scale! You can of course have any number of those sets of six playing together and potentially thousands of soccer fans could play together - a set of tuned vuvuzelas can produce music in traditional communal style as well as provide chords for the singing of songs.
In Southern Africa the horn is an instrument which usually plays alone. Yet we have examples from Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal of horns used in tuned ensembles, each horn playing only one note in the scale. This ‘One Person, One Note’ musical principle is strongly represented in South Africa and can be heard in the Tshikona, Dinaka and Dithlaka pipe ensembles, and the tin horn ensembles of the Shembe. Apart from playing in ‘One Person, One Note’ ensembles being an ideal way for children to learn about ‘Ubuntu’ (the African philosophical concept of social interaction with the emphasis on belonging to a balanced whole), the VuVu Orchestra will also allow South Africa to during the 2010 World Soccer Championship demonstrate, as well as our soccer skills of course!, a musical talent which is so justly recognised worldwide.
For over twenty years Espi-Sanchis work has been about introducing people to African music and to the principle that music-making can be accessible to all. He is best known for playing many traditional African instruments and is widely recognized for his talents as a composer and story-teller. Espi-Sanchis is also much loved for his television shows and for his extensive schools tours all over Southern Africa.
Posted by: JM South Africa
Tags: JM South Africa, Other, South Africa
A MIAGI-JM South Africa workshop, the Vuvuzela Workshop, took place at the beginning of April at the MIAGI supported Xincayincayi Centre in Ribungwani Village, Limpopo Province. Xincayincayi is practised by the Shangaan people. The complexity of the interlocking rhythms produced by singers and instrumentalists (over ten different instruments are used and a minimum of three drummers), and the very athletic dancing makes this dance style one of the most visually stimulating in Africa.
The Vuvuzela Workshop was attended by the children and the youth learning at the Centre and linked to one of our on-going collaboration projects, the VuVu Orchestra, ‘Music Man’ Pedro Espi-Sanchis’ latest brain-child.
JM South Africa has since 2007, together with Espi-Sanchis been arranging VuVu performances, happenings and workshops with the aim to have a fully fledged VuVu Orchestra appear at the 2010 world soccer championships!
About the Vuvu Orchestra project: In the early days of South African soccer, appreciative fans would whistle loudly and piercingly at the mesmerising moves and play, often chanting in unison “Ayyyyce” when a maestro like Patrick ‘Ace’ Ntsoelengoe was doing his devastating thing with the ball. The whistling and chanting included songs like Shosholoza, a song that came to symbolise South African soccer. At best the musical content provided by the fans at soccer matches today, consists of the blowing on the vuvuzela trumpets, “non musical” hooting instruments used in an even more non musical fashion in order to encourage the players and frighten the opposition. Espi-Sanchis found however, that the vuvuzela can be easily modified to create real music, and so his VuVu Orchestra consists of a set of six vuvuzelas tuned to produce six different notes in an F Major scale! You can of course have any number of those sets of six playing together and potentially thousands of soccer fans could play together - a set of tuned vuvuzelas can produce music in traditional communal style as well as provide chords for the singing of songs.
In Southern Africa the horn is an instrument which usually plays alone. Yet we have examples from Limpopo and KwaZulu Natal of horns used in tuned ensembles, each horn playing only one note in the scale. This ‘One Person, One Note’ musical principle is strongly represented in South Africa and can be heard in the Tshikona, Dinaka and Dithlaka pipe ensembles, and the tin horn ensembles of the Shembe. Apart from playing in ‘One Person, One Note’ ensembles being an ideal way for children to learn about ‘Ubuntu’ (the African philosophical concept of social interaction with the emphasis on belonging to a balanced whole), the VuVu Orchestra will also allow South Africa to during the 2010 World Soccer Championship demonstrate, as well as our soccer skills of course!, a musical talent which is so justly recognised worldwide.
For over twenty years Espi-Sanchis work has been about introducing people to African music and to the principle that music-making can be accessible to all. He is best known for playing many traditional African instruments and is widely recognized for his talents as a composer and story-teller. Espi-Sanchis is also much loved for his television shows and for his extensive schools tours all over Southern Africa.
