Posts
(continuation)
if a aks wetin dae mona yu
yu go tell mi?
belle wod tranga for rilis oh! i noh izi
posin kin swella am tae
i ton oda ting
padi noh padi
fren noh fren
yu noh know wetin a kip
wety ah noh tell yu
som wod dae, nah if yu tok am
i dae ton tru tru
man kin tok am saful saful
leh im God sef no yerri
belle wod if i tok or noh tok
kin ton denja wod
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Friday, July 09, 2010
Savisman Krai
aaaaiy
savisman bet im finga
i krai
i'ala wai
i krai oh, aah i krai
yay wata
boku wata
bita wata
bita bita krai
i krai so tae
bot di wata noh du
foh was fes sef
foh klia da wahala wey savisman bin don si
komot na im 'ed
pan ol wey i boxop
yay wata insai briwi wata sef
savisman kin still drim
di worwor
da tem wey fredman kontri
ton reybel kontri
ton babu yay libaman kontri
di ting dem wey motalman no yek foh du
to dem kompin
dem tem dae
wey shem don na kontri keng
dem tem dae mek savisman dae yek
tae tae naw
wan 'an man kam boku
grani dem ton ol 'ous rilay,
sports day
for dae ron ron
en jomp fench
butu biyen latrin
foh tek koba
sori 'at noh dae foh pikin
da tem wae dieman na komon tin'
dieman bizness smell pan wi
dog dem ton lepet
dae it motalman bif
broda en sista dem
wisef to wisef normor
foseka wetin
savisman memba far
en i krai
savisman bet im finga
i krai
i'ala wai
i krai oh, aah i krai
yay wata
boku wata
bita wata
bita bita krai
i krai so tae
bot di wata noh du
foh was fes sef
foh klia da wahala wey savisman bin don si
komot na im 'ed
pan ol wey i boxop
yay wata insai briwi wata sef
savisman kin still drim
di worwor
da tem wey fredman kontri
ton reybel kontri
ton babu yay libaman kontri
di ting dem wey motalman no yek foh du
to dem kompin
dem tem dae
wey shem don na kontri keng
dem tem dae mek savisman dae yek
tae tae naw
wan 'an man kam boku
grani dem ton ol 'ous rilay,
sports day
for dae ron ron
en jomp fench
butu biyen latrin
foh tek koba
sori 'at noh dae foh pikin
da tem wae dieman na komon tin'
dieman bizness smell pan wi
dog dem ton lepet
dae it motalman bif
broda en sista dem
wisef to wisef normor
foseka wetin
savisman memba far
en i krai
Thursday, July 08, 2010
Snapshot: Pati Gbos Gbos
so wi dae na di pati oh
mi tinap
mi man lap
na im wan oda bra grap
bigin mek yap yap
dem bonga raray man vibes
wey dem kin don chak
tae i trifut imsef
trowe im respap
doti mi nyu trosis
wey ah buy na di Gap
ah noh lef am gi am oh
ah pak am slap
i bokul mi
ah ondaswet am en swip am
i fodom bap
Response by Naiambana
----
Pat Naiambana
yeah Les, I'm thinking of changing my name to Pat Bai Naiambana-Bureh
One of the best productions I have ever been in for sheer creative linguistic brilliance and social relevance was Dele Charley's Makuba. A Krio rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth -a story about a military commander who killed to become King aided and abetted by his ambitious ... See Morewife. A site specific production at the Paramount Hotel in 1984. We played under a huge mango tik. tik, thick, stick, get it? Used the terraces and the grounds for various exits and entrances. It was no mere adaptation or translation either but a faithful tracing and matching of Shakespeare's word play and rhythmic pentametre blank verse structure in Krio. At the same time utterly original and faithful to Sierra Leonean culture and political landscape. We performed in modern Sierra Leone Army uniform. The language imagery was so beautiful, profound and striking that even a group of peace corp first timers to Sa Lone understood the play but were not familiar with Krio. In this Diasporic Global World, The African Diaspora, the Krio language in particular contains enormous potential for intercultural dialogue and social change. Makuba was one of Dele's masterpiece. In the UK in 88, whilst trudging the cold empty of gold London pavements I tried to tell him so but the inexorable pull towards legitimacy by the dominant entertainment paradigms seemed to cause him to doubt that Makuba was/is really that good a play. Krio is not simply a derivative off-shoot of colonial domination but a supreme example of human potential to re-invent and flourish. Frogs and bats cant speak or save themselves from extinction. Krio is an example of Africans speaking themselves into being and the future.
I have also been in a competent Nigerian patois adaptation of Macbeth, didnt come close to Dele's technical mastery or the poetic power of krio. The utter lack of an awareness of the supernatural in Western Theatre makes swathes of Shakespeare arid but not so in African world views or Sa Lone socio-cosmology, just to mention one example of where we creatively sparkle with aesthetic options.
The same could be said for Dele's One Paun Flesh - The Merchant of Venice - this is hardly ever played with laughs anywhere in the world - but in the Sa Lone context it was serious and tear-streaming hilarious. The Jew Shylock became Sarjoh di Fula man. But the business flair and protectiveness of Fula man for en gyal piken was not the dark prism it normally is in the eurocentric perspective. Denis Nelson-Streeter, who played Sarjoh (Shylock) I have always maintained is one of the world's most brilliant storytellers and captivating comedians. In his hands this role matched maybe transcended Pacino's very strong portrayal (check the DVD of the film) simply because the Sa Lone perspective allowed a humorous pathos - we have a way of putting political correctness firmly in it's place and therefore deal honestly with and transcend dilemmas of difference. Look at the way someone might say - 'mi mama na bin haf cast'.
I have played some of the biggest theatre gigs in the UK and we are more than in the mix with a lot to offer- with our aesthetic sensibilities allayed to an art for life's sake quotient we should be a lot more visible than we are. Given the proximity of the English language, history, culture to our jazz processes of creolization we should not be invisible. Perhaps Culture-preneurship is a way forward. Sorry for the essay folks, but we must value what we have, what is inalienably ours. Clues to Change paradigms for Sa Lone/Africa lie in the untapped aptitude for innovation and adaptability embedded in our cultural forms. Madeleine lets keep looking for that moment to suture forces and resources. ;-) I will go back to a few lines here and there now Les - Dele Charley was a monumental artist and teacher, a leader, a humble man. Got to be said. Sad thing is - I remember Dele Charley presenting a script for Blood of a Stranger to a major UK theatre. They didnt understand the place of dance as narrative within the text and dismissed it. It was also a political critique of european and african complicity in the exploitation of land. I faced a similar resistance with my gigs but not from audiences. So what's the moral of the story?
stori cam, stori go, e lef pan u!
mi tinap
mi man lap
na im wan oda bra grap
bigin mek yap yap
dem bonga raray man vibes
wey dem kin don chak
tae i trifut imsef
trowe im respap
doti mi nyu trosis
wey ah buy na di Gap
ah noh lef am gi am oh
ah pak am slap
i bokul mi
ah ondaswet am en swip am
i fodom bap
Response by Naiambana
----
Pat Naiambana
yeah Les, I'm thinking of changing my name to Pat Bai Naiambana-Bureh
One of the best productions I have ever been in for sheer creative linguistic brilliance and social relevance was Dele Charley's Makuba. A Krio rendition of Shakespeare's Macbeth -a story about a military commander who killed to become King aided and abetted by his ambitious ... See Morewife. A site specific production at the Paramount Hotel in 1984. We played under a huge mango tik. tik, thick, stick, get it? Used the terraces and the grounds for various exits and entrances. It was no mere adaptation or translation either but a faithful tracing and matching of Shakespeare's word play and rhythmic pentametre blank verse structure in Krio. At the same time utterly original and faithful to Sierra Leonean culture and political landscape. We performed in modern Sierra Leone Army uniform. The language imagery was so beautiful, profound and striking that even a group of peace corp first timers to Sa Lone understood the play but were not familiar with Krio. In this Diasporic Global World, The African Diaspora, the Krio language in particular contains enormous potential for intercultural dialogue and social change. Makuba was one of Dele's masterpiece. In the UK in 88, whilst trudging the cold empty of gold London pavements I tried to tell him so but the inexorable pull towards legitimacy by the dominant entertainment paradigms seemed to cause him to doubt that Makuba was/is really that good a play. Krio is not simply a derivative off-shoot of colonial domination but a supreme example of human potential to re-invent and flourish. Frogs and bats cant speak or save themselves from extinction. Krio is an example of Africans speaking themselves into being and the future.
I have also been in a competent Nigerian patois adaptation of Macbeth, didnt come close to Dele's technical mastery or the poetic power of krio. The utter lack of an awareness of the supernatural in Western Theatre makes swathes of Shakespeare arid but not so in African world views or Sa Lone socio-cosmology, just to mention one example of where we creatively sparkle with aesthetic options.
The same could be said for Dele's One Paun Flesh - The Merchant of Venice - this is hardly ever played with laughs anywhere in the world - but in the Sa Lone context it was serious and tear-streaming hilarious. The Jew Shylock became Sarjoh di Fula man. But the business flair and protectiveness of Fula man for en gyal piken was not the dark prism it normally is in the eurocentric perspective. Denis Nelson-Streeter, who played Sarjoh (Shylock) I have always maintained is one of the world's most brilliant storytellers and captivating comedians. In his hands this role matched maybe transcended Pacino's very strong portrayal (check the DVD of the film) simply because the Sa Lone perspective allowed a humorous pathos - we have a way of putting political correctness firmly in it's place and therefore deal honestly with and transcend dilemmas of difference. Look at the way someone might say - 'mi mama na bin haf cast'.
I have played some of the biggest theatre gigs in the UK and we are more than in the mix with a lot to offer- with our aesthetic sensibilities allayed to an art for life's sake quotient we should be a lot more visible than we are. Given the proximity of the English language, history, culture to our jazz processes of creolization we should not be invisible. Perhaps Culture-preneurship is a way forward. Sorry for the essay folks, but we must value what we have, what is inalienably ours. Clues to Change paradigms for Sa Lone/Africa lie in the untapped aptitude for innovation and adaptability embedded in our cultural forms. Madeleine lets keep looking for that moment to suture forces and resources. ;-) I will go back to a few lines here and there now Les - Dele Charley was a monumental artist and teacher, a leader, a humble man. Got to be said. Sad thing is - I remember Dele Charley presenting a script for Blood of a Stranger to a major UK theatre. They didnt understand the place of dance as narrative within the text and dismissed it. It was also a political critique of european and african complicity in the exploitation of land. I faced a similar resistance with my gigs but not from audiences. So what's the moral of the story?
stori cam, stori go, e lef pan u!
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