From a modest background ...

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

"It is working as a shepherd that I really blossomed, but I wasn’t allowed to take care of the herd until I expressed my wish to do so.

Nevertheless, at the age of fourteen I was already doing all the farm work. Until my father died, my main job was as a shepherd, then I had to take care of everything".

"Firstly, an improviser must have a good master of Basque which enables him to play with the language, because in most improvisations that’s what marks the improviser’s originality and quality of reasoning.

Also, you must enjoy it: if you get no enjoyment out of it, you won’t learn. And I thing there’s also something “else”. In the field of sport, if you’re not in good shape to start with, even if you acquire a great technique, you won’t ever get past a certain level. Likewise, in the field of improvisation, you need to have this “trigger”, this ability to give things a personal touch.

Some improvisers do their best when they deal with a subject in detail, they give their verses a lyrical dimension. Others are unrivalled when they use humour.

Each improviser will give his improvisation his own personality. That requires specific qualities"

"You need to dedicate a lot of time to improvising and sacrifice a lot of things: most of the time sessions take place on Fridays, Saturdays and rest days.

Most often you have to leave your friends and your family. For example, it’s very difficult to have a family life. I don’t work on Mondays, but whereas other people are free I’m out. Not may people are prepared to accept that.

The improviser is seen as someone who is always living it up … But you sacrifice a lot! And it’s true that our family environment undoubtedly suffers because of it. It’s not necessarily easy for a mother to know that her son is on the road at 3 am.

But people don’t see any of that. It’s said that you only get out of improvisation what you put in. And you have to put a lot in"

"Improvisation should remain human, modest and popular, something to be experienced at the present moment, here and now. Improvisers should adapt to the audience and not the other way round. Improvisers should above all be humble.

Nowadays the media talk a lot about improvisation, improvisers write in the press, they give their opinion in films, they do all sorts of things. Of course, we develop many skills, but it’s not because we’re good at improvisation that we’re good at everything else.

Improvisation was a system of communication specific to our country and that’s what it should continue to be. And we are at its service. It’s a discipline which gives you a lot, both in terms of relations and knowledge.

Thanks to improvisation, we’ve discovered a thousand worlds. I think that’s what we get out of it. And it should also be an exchange. We shouldn’t try to get anything more out of it than that"

‘‘Improvisation is not about talent, it’s a question of practice. An improviser must above all master the Basque language.

He must also have a sense of humour, and it’s true that all improvisers, or almost of them, do. He must also be able to sing touching verses. Touching improvisations are mostly used at championships, although humour remains the most important.

 Throughout the history of improvisation the subjects used have evolved a lot. Previously the most popular subjects were country life, the Basque Country, tradition and faith.

Today all subjects are dealt with, that’s what’s changed, and improvisers are educated, which wasn’t the case previously. But the values remain unchanged. An improviser has to read the press.

If you don’t keep up with events you may find it difficult to improvise. You also need to read books and work on old improvisations.

That’s what we do in improvisation classes: we study the way in which former improvisers used metaphors, in order to learn to form our own ideas"