“Old ladies´ songs from Idanha-a-Nova: traditional and modern adufe rhythms”
This workshop treats the „cantigas de adufe“ from the unique region of Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal. The adufe is a square frame drum from Portugal, different from the Spanish “pandero cuadrado”. It emates from an old musical tradition, where groups of women play, sing and dance together. They praise The Lady, the mother of Jesus, in the countless romaria de adufe (religious festivities) but also plants, trees, stars, moon, sun, love, water, stones, etc…
The aim of this workshop is not to learn fantastic solo skills, but rather to keep the pulse and use it as a musical resource. The patterns are repetitive, everyone plays and sings the same. My recent work is to use these songs as background for new patterns, exploring the coordination of voice, drum, movement and independence, while introducing new techniques and rhythms from other frame drums.
