Because our group arrived to the Permai Rainforest Resort late in the evening of the 8th, I understood little of where we were. Only a vague pile of shadows was visible through the windows during the bus ride in. A tired stumble, click clack of tugging luggage up to our cabins and swoosh, I fell into a deeply craved sleep. The next morning, the first viewing of this environment, was completely…well…what can I say? I’ve never been quite so moved by the color green. I felt both embraced and humbled by the all surrounding, continuous diversity in the expression of green. This green mixed with the warm, humid air had an immediate impact on my body and mindset. I felt my rhythm steady. A medium slow tempo took over. Those achy joints from the long plane ride softened, smoothed and reconnected. The hip bone connected to the knee bone, the shoulder bone connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone connected….and something similar was happening to the paths in my brain. To say it more simply, by the time I got to breakfast I was thoroughly relaxed.
The Glomus camp day started with a welcoming talk given by
all the leaders of the organizing institutions. Within that section of the
morning Keld Hosbond gave a short presentation outlining the themes and overall
aim of this year’s camp. I was quite pleased to hear that activism with music
work is one of the main themes.
Following the introduction, a presentation was given by Dr.
Heidi Westerlund (Finland) and Nucche Bahadur Dangol (Nepal) which focused on
the impressive musical activism Professor Dangol has been initiating. To
summerize his work very breifly, Professor
Dangol has been leading an educational movement in Nepal using his deep
lifelong accumulation of knowledge about drumming. He has dedicated his work
towards educating Nepalese people about the music of their nation regardless of
their gender or caste. He is creating connections between people through music, of preserving
tradition through education and documentation of the music, and of finding ways
of innovating the music to give it new meaning for the next generations of
Nepalese. The information in the presentation was very inspiring but what
really brought forth the feeling behind Professor Dangol’s work was to see/hear
him play. The calmness in his body, the huge, warm smile on his face, and the
electric enthusiasm he touched the drum with communicated a love for his work
that was completely infectious.
The presentation ended with a performance of local dancing
and music which was impressive with it’s diversity and playfulness.
The day continued with the small and large group classes, then a
small break, and ended with dinner and a jam session. I will leave descriptions of
these parts of the day to the next blogger.
All and all it was a great start to Glomus Camp!
-Isabel
-Isabel
Rumah Orang-Ulu - The location of the Cooperative Composition Small Group
Persada Ilmu - The location of the Movement/Theater/Shadow Puppet Large Group
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