Improvised Poetry & Song in the Basque Country

IMPROVISED POETRY & SONG IN THE BASQUE COUNTRY

History and development
Competitions and championships
Masters of improvisation
Becoming a bertsulari

Partners :

Aquitaine BNSA
EJGV

Improvisation

Well before it was ever written, the Basque language was witness to an intense form of oral expression, nourished in particular by sung, versified and rhyming improvisation known in the Basque Country as ‘‘bertsularitza’’.

Andoni Egaña

Although it is not specific to the Basque Country, this tradition has however developed remarkably here in inns, cider-houses and other meeting places.

Today bertsularisme is taught in schools and through its championships it has achieved an unprecedented artistic level.

Discover in sound and images this particular art in the company of five improvisers or bertsularis who will be your guides.

They will tell you their anecdotes in the right hand menu as you visit the site’s different sections.


Interviews and sound documents

Bertsolari

Date: 2011-09-12 | Source: http://www.vimeo.com

 

Joana Itzaina

Date: 2009-08-24 | Language: Euskara | Source: www.eke.org

Joana Itzaina, Itsasun sortua 1981ean, ortofonista da Izpuran eta Kanbon bizi. "Bertsolarien Lagunak" elkarteko bazkide izaiteaz gain, Garaziko helduen bertso eskolako kidea ...

 

Txomin Ezponda

Date: 2009-03-24 | Language: Euskara | Source: www.eke.org

Txomin Ezpondak bere bertsulari ibilbidea Donibane Garazin hasi zuen 1955ean Fernando Aire "Xalbador" lagun zuela. 1983an Nafarroako bertsolari txapelketa irabazi zuen. Mattin, ...

 


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The guides

You will be accompanied throughout this site by improvisers. During your visit: click on their photos to discover what they have to say.