Map of improvisation schools

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

"Between the ages of sixteen and nineteen, I sang many improvisations. Even if I was not up to the same level as those improvisers who I admired so much, I practiced, and believe me, I had to make a great effort in order to achieve something.

When I was alone I never stopped trying. I improvised whether it was any good or not, then taking my time, I tried to arrange and improve my verses.

I had more success using this second method".

"At present, Sustrai Colina and I run the improvisation school in Hendaye. Children are aged between 14 and 16 years old.

These youngsters have been practising improvisation for years, and if they weren’t motivated they would have given up a long time ago.

Over the last few years in the Northern Basque Country the situation has become normal again. When we were at high school in Cambo, improvisation was of no importance whatsoever … It was more important to play football. If you played football, people asked you how you did at the weekend’s match … If you improvised, you couldn’t speak about it with anyone, or hardly anyone.

Nowadays, it’s more normal. Not because improvisers are any better than others, but because hearing about improvisation or seeing improvisers is seen as something normal today"

"I began to improvise thanks to Amets Arzallus and his father. We had already done a little improvisation at the ikastola (Basque-medium school), but then I found out that there was an improvisation school.

I was 8 or 9 years old, and at that age you generally want to do what your mates do. We put our names down for improvisation classes like you would for football or pelota. It’s when I began practicing that I realised I enjoyed it. We were lucky to have a really good group.

It was very motivating because if you’re alone there are times when you feel like giving up. At that time I used to play pelota. It’s a game which you either win or lose. However, a child who learns improvisation doesn’t really realise what he’s doing or why he’s doing it, what is judged and what is not …

So from that point of view, sport is much more rational in terms of the way it’s judged. And it has to be said that at that time children would have preferred to be Retegi rather than Egaña.

Nowadays things are changing, improvisers frequently appear on TV and radio, and now children put their names down at improvisation schools with the ambition of becoming improvisers.

But when we were young none of that existed. We stuck at it because we were a group of friends and because we were lucky"

"I give improvisation lessons to 9-11 year old pupils in Hendaye. What’s important is that the children have a good time. It’s no use trying to explain to them that improvisation’s something magical: it’s something they need to experience for themselves.

I think we should use improvisation as a pretext for them to enjoy themselves, make them speak in Basque, indirectly practice expression while they’re getting used to it all, and work on relations and the group, because the group is essential in improvisation. And I think it’s what we have managed to achieve thanks to the what’s currently being done in the Northern Basque Country. Those who began three years ago are still there this year.

My objective is not to turn them into improvisers, but for them to enjoy improvising verse and playing with words, and if there’s an improvisation session near where they live, for them to go … For me that’s enough"

"Improvisation enables me to have a good time with my friends. We know we’re keeping the Basque language alive, which is very important for us. Improvisation also teaches you how to speak in public.

I’m rather timid and thanks to improvisation I’m able to express myself more easily in public or when I have to speak in class. Since improvisation is not fully ‘‘standardised’’ in the Northern Basque Country, when we were at high school, some of the pupils laughed at us improvising. Improvisers are different.

Now mentalities are changing, but I think that Amets, Sustrai and that generation suffered from this situation more than us. For me improvisation has become an integral part of my life and, even if I don’t become a great bertsolari, I’ll continue to support improvisation and I’ll go to encourage other improvisers.

Of course this discipline requires a lot of time, for example Sustrai and Amets perform every weekend in a different place …

Plus, you have to practice together once or twice a week. But that’s a commitment I’m prepared to make"