Bruce are you familiar with the works of Nichlai Slichenko and Ian Hancock? You might try the URL at http://www.geocities.com/patrin01/pariah-contents.htm. with links to Slichenko who was the head of the Romany Theater in Moscow and one of the greatest Romany singers of the current generation.
In 1994 I did a "Gypsy Carmen" at LaMama theater in New York City. It was to celebrate the lives of the great Gypsy Opera Singers who had been lost in the Holocaust. We trained in Flamenco for three years with Liliana Morales while I did the research. Hancock was my very quiet mentor on this. We took a lot of heat on it from the authorities and the NYTimes although in the same edition where they accused us of making up history, they themselves quoted Hancock as an authority for one of their own articles. Our history was both accurate and well documented as there are now companies from Spain coming to NYCity drawing upon the same stories for their productions. They claimed that the attitude of Merimee and his Carman story had NOTHING to do with the attitude that created the Holocaust, according to the NYTimes. All I can say is that they didn't read the book. Merimee's prejudice and disgust at Carmen and Gypsy woman, in general, is written about in both Carmen and the sequel that Merimee wrote. It was Bizet and his librettists who created an ambiguous Carmen that showed the ambiguity of European racism. How they could both love and hate at the same time that they destroyed. Liebestod turned on its head. The Gypsies brought much of the music of India to Europe and to Europe's own wanderers like the Jews. It gave vent to the "wildness" in European myth and culture that are so much a part of their Fairy Tales. It is so strange to hear a Catholic trained Black Judge (Clarence Thomas) mouthing the same myths that are not a part of his traditions and that play havoc with the traditions of his own ancestors. The alleged "Think Tanks" of the radical right wing neither think or do decent research. They are simply creating an apology for their world views and the history of their intellectual tradition (system). They claim credit for great thinkers who think more "in spite" of their systems than because of them. Like the Western Legal System, these thinkers, artists, etc. are more often considered a "Gift of God" i.e. an individual great talent, rather than an expression of a system of thought, a well spring from which their thought flows. It was this type of thought that Gould railed against. Thought that is based not in rigor but the veil of prejudice and culture. Science, real science is the opposite of this. We liked to poke fun at the Soviets but one should remember that without the Soviet conservation of such Romany Artists as Slichenko and Margarite Schlumskaya we would have had no knowledge of this great tradition whatsoever. In fact we would have known as little of their genius as Americans do of the great cultures from Africa that they imported as slaves into America. Who knows the thought of the Dinka or the Watusi or the beautiful religion Yoruba? I have African friends here in New York who send their children to the Islands for their education because of the extreme prejudice here against the Yoruba. I make my point by pointing to the great Caruso who sued his voice teacher for taking 10% of his salary. Caruso had gone to the teacher when he had no high notes. Nothing above an A. The teacher told him that he would teach him how to sing the high notes if he would give him 10% of his salary for the rest of his career. Caruso agreed and the teacher taught him how to do it. Caruso later sued him in court claiming that his B, Bflat and C were not the result of teaching but "Gifts of God." Later the Mezzo-Soprano Frederika Von Stade would use the same argument against her husband voice teacher when she was suing him for divorce. He claimed they were a corporation developed like all corporations and she claimed it was sheer talent. She won based upon Caruso. Are you a part of a history, a tradition or are you just a wonderful accident? The latter is the stand of the West and I find that ridiculous. Any one who believes that has not done their historic homework into the evolution of pedagogy, Western Art and the Bel Canto. They are lazy, lazy, lazy, lazy! Racism is intellectual fraud and laziness and deserves no consideration what so ever. Ray Evans Harrell ----- Original Message ----- From: "Bruce Leier" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Selma Singer" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "Brian McAndrews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 3:52 PM Subject: RE: Stephen Jay Gould's Battle Against Racism > Selma & Brian; > > I want to echo those thoughts. It is a shame that we get worn down at > times, but in truth we do. So much to do, so little time. I was able to > have a snack with him several years ago. He was a real treat to talk to. > > Bruce Leier > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Selma Singer > Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 2:18 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Brian McAndrews > Subject: Re: Stephen Jay Gould's Battle Against Racism > > Oh, Brad, thank you so very much for that article about Gould and racism. It > felt so good to see it in print that way. I have read so many articles and > studies that thoroughly refute the ideas that Keith has been spouting but I > have been just too lazy and too discouraged by all of it to bother to dig > them out and figured it probably wouldn't make any difference anyway, but I > am so happy that you did bring this one to our attention. > > Selma > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Brian McAndrews" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, May 29, 2002 1:39 PM > Subject: Stephen Jay Gould's Battle Against Racism > > > > Keith doesn't agree but I sure do. > > > > Brian McAndrews > > > > http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0529-01.htm >
