Category Archives: Musical

Traditional Dance – China

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 28, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

“USC TCDance” – Traditional Chinese Dance:

  • “Water Village”
  • “Dunhuang”
  • “Dance of the Peacock”

Joy spent ten years of her life in Wuhan, China and moved to the United States when she was ten years old. Her mother was from Shanghai, while her father was from Wuhan. Since her father was a highly distinguished professor, they were invited to live in Cedar Falls, Iowa so her father could teach at a local university. Next, she moved to Columbia, South Carolina for middle school (6th – 8th grade). Finally, before attending USC, she resided in Bakersfield, California during her high school years.

Joy stated that there were loads of different tribes in China, which meant there were different types of dances for each of these tribes, whether it be folk dances or classical dances. Of the countless art forms there are in the long history of China, She believes that dance is the most expressive. She has had a passion for dance ever since she was young, but her parents forced her to play piano instead. One day, her friend from high school told her about USC’s Traditional Chinese Dance team and it had sparked her interest. After moving to a dorm in USC, Joy immediately tried out and made this team in the fall semester of her freshman year. She rehearses with the team twice a week on Thursdays from 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM and Saturday mornings from 10:30 AM to 1:00 PM. She said that the time commitment is somewhat difficult, considering she is in a 6-year pre-pharmacy program at USC called TAAP. However, she believes that it is worth the hard work. She stated that she learned a lot about discipline while being in TCDance, and she also learned about the cultures of other tribes of China. This was particularly important to her because she stated that most Chinese people are part of the Han tribe, so it was originally difficult for her to learn about the numerous other tribes.

This first picture is of a dance entitled “Water Village” from the Dai tribe. It is Joy’s favorite Chinese folkdance. The colors of the dancers’ costumes are blue and white, symbolizing the water motif of the dance. This dance portrays maidens washing their hair, and playing with the water by the river. This dance accentuates the curves of the dancers by incorporating loads of hip and waist movements, which are analogous to the sinuous characteristics of water. This was a variation from a dance originally performed in a Chinese art school that won first place in the dancing competition. The captain of her dance team brought it over to the USC Chinese dance team and modified it.

This is a classical dance entitled “Dunhuang.” The initial picture is supposed to represent the Buddhist goddess “Guaying.” She is most famous for her multiple hands, which is the picture that is trying to be portrayed by the dancers in the initial picture of this second set of pictures. Joy stated that an actual city called “Dunhuang” has loads of gorgeous Buddhist temples. She said that the movements involved very small steps and flowing movements, almost as though they were walking on clouds.  Their dresses were very long and covered their bare feet. The second picture is called “The Lotus Flower” and it is a representation of the goddess “Guaying.” These costumes, including the lustrous headpieces, were all obtained from China by their dance captain, who visits China every summer.

This dance portrayed above is called “Dance of the Peacock.” It is the most famous dance in China, and was made famous by a woman named Yang Li Ping. Joy described this dance as graceful and beautiful. The dancers were told to portray the beauty of a peacock with their bodies.

The USC TCDance team consists of mostly Chinese- Americans but some members are not full Chinese. They perform for organizations such as USC’S Asian Pacific American Student Association (APASA), Chinese American Student Association (CASA), Underground Student Government (USG), the Special Olympics, and several Chinese communities around the USC area. Also, they have their own show each year at Bovard Auditorium. Joy feels as though it is important to carry on with showcasing traditional Chinese folkloric dances because it is a great way for the present generation to connect with the culture of the past. Many Chinese Americans of our generation attend Chinese school to learn things such as calligraphy, but most people go because their parents force them to. She says that Chinese dance is something that genuinely interests her, and the fact that her parents are not forcing her to dance fuels her desire to learn more about her culture on her own. She hopes that this desire will rub off amongst her peers – not only her Chinese friends, but also anyone who is interested in the Chinese culture.

I completely agree with Joy in that dance is a highly effective means of connecting with a particular culture’s past. These dances mentioned above are all very symbolic and graceful. Each of them deals with some form of nature. For instance, the “Water Village” deals with the essential element of water, “Dunhuang” involves a the glorifying of a well known goddess, who associates herself with the lotus flower, and the “Dance of the Peacock” is a visual representation of the beauty of a peacock. This common factor illustrates that the concept of nature is a huge aspect of the Chinese culture. By studying these dances and searching for prevalent themes, such as nature, one can have a stronger understanding of the complex history and culture of China.

Hand Game – New Jersey

Nationality: Chinese
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Livingston, New Jersey
Performance Date: April 16, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Mandarin

East Coast Folklore – Children’s Hand Game

Miss Mary Mack

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black.

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For fifty cents, cents, cents

To see the elephants, elephants, elephants

Jump over the fence, fence, fence.

They jumped so high, high, high

They reached the sky, sky, sky

And they didn’t come back, back, back

‘Til the 4th of July, ly, ly!

Alicia learned this rhyme when she was in elementary school from her group of friends at school when they were playing during lunchtime. Following the melody shown above, she and her friends had matching hand motions to each line of the song. They would repeat the motions for every single line, and the melody would repeat for every line as well. She stated that this rhyme was the most popular one in New Jersey, and that all of her friends knew it. She was quite surprised when I told her that I had never heard of it. Thus, she called it “an east coast thing.” When asked what she thought it meant, she said that she always pictured the rhyme to be describing a circus. She believes that it is interesting to see young kids play such games because it is completely different from what adults would do. She states that elementary school was a time of no worries and blatant joy, and she misses it.

I believe this rhyme clearly illustrates the frivolous minds of children. I also had rhymes like this when I was younger, but I have never heard of this particular one. I agree with Alicia when she says that there were pretty much no worries in elementary school. Children would make up games such as the one above, or hear it somewhere and sing it everywhere. Because children in elementary school are barely learning a language, it is common to find rhymes that make no literal sense, but have words that rhyme quite nicely with each other. Children are a goldmine for folklore for this reason. This children’s tapping rhyme also appears in The Book of Tapping and Clapping by John M. Feirabend.[1] The fact that there’s variation further constitutes this as folklore.

[1] Annotation: Feierabend, John M., comp. The Book of Tapping and Clapping. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2000. 35.

Tradition – University of Southern California

Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: March 9, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Italian

USC Sirens – Tradition/Chant

Milkshake, milkshake, milkshake, milkshake,

Smoothie, smoothie,

Pump the keg, pump the keg, pump the keg,

Java, java,

Milk the teets, milk the teets, milk the teets,

Yay!

This is a chant that the Sirens always say with each other before any performance. The USC Sirens are USC’s first and only all female a cappella group. This chant was started by “a crazy lady from France” named Landis, one of the Sirens alumni. All Catherine knows is that she brought it up before one performance several years ago and it just stuck with the group. When asked how she feels about this chant, she exclaimed, “I love it!” She stated that she used to be highly involved in theater with her high school, and they also had a chant similar to the one listed above. She loves how chants such as the one presented above gets everyone pumped up for an upcoming performance. Initially, she said that the words of this chant were pointless and meaningless. But after a long pause, she stated, “I guess you could say that it has a lot of secret meanings. I never really thought about it that way though.” She said that these things were mainly for the sake of bringing a group together and getting everyone excited for a show.

I am also in this same a cappella group as Catherine, and share the same opinions about this chant that she has. I was also highly involved in theater in high school, and really enjoyed the moment of exhilaration before a performance, where everyone would get together in a circle and chant a certain chant. This particular chant is more meaningful to me because it is something that is solely known within the Sirens family. After sitting and staring at this chant for a while, I noticed a few hidden meanings engraved in the chant. First of all, each line of the chant involves some kind of drink, and the Sirens would always go out to eat or get a drink after every performance. The third line says, “pump the keg,” three times. Although we do not boast about this, the Sirens have been known to drink a fair amount of alcohol together, or at parties. Thus, this line is a representation of how important alcohol is to the Sirens culture, although not all of the Sirens partake in drinking alcohol. Finally, the last line says, “milk the teets.” Although this sounds completely random, I feel as though this line is trying to symbolize the fact that we are USC’s only all-female a cappella group. Thus, the line about milking the nipples, or “teets”, possibly means going out there and demonstrating the strength of women to the audience. Although there may be all of these possible meanings to the chant, I feel as though these chants are mainly for the purpose of pumping up the group, and not meant to be analyzed in a literal sense.

Lullaby – Costa Rica

Nationality: Costa Rican
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 20, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

Lullaby – Costa Rica

“Los Pollitos Dicen”

“The Little Chicks Say”

Verse 1:

Los pollitos dicen pío, pío, pío

The little chicks they say pio pio pio

The little chicks say, “cheep, cheep, cheep,”

Cuando tienen hambre, cuando tienen frío.

When they have hunger, when they have cold

When they are hungry, when they are cold

Verse 2: (same melody)

La gallina busca el maíz y el trigo

The mother hen looks for the corn and the wheat

The mother hen looks for corn and wheat

les da la comida y les presta abrigo.

To them give the food and to them grant shelter

She gives them food and grants them shelter.

Verse 3: (same melody)

Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos

Under of her wings, huddling up,

Under mama’s wings, huddling up,

¡duermen los pollitos hasta el otro día!

Sleep the little chicks until the other day!

The little chicks sleep until the next day!

This is a Costa Rican nursery rhyme that Natalia’s mother used to sing to her when Natalia was a little girl. Whenever she was frightened about something or had a hard time going to sleep, Natalia would curl up on her mother’s lap as her mother whispered this song into her ear. She recalls falling asleep on her mother’s lap on several occasions while hearing this nursery rhyme. The words are very comforting to a young child, as they explain the comfort one can find under a mother’s wings.  She also explained that her grandmother would sing this lullaby to her mother when her mother was a toddler. Thus, Natalia hopes to preserve this family tradition as she teaches this lullaby to her own kids someday.

The lyrics of this nursery rhyme illustrate the unconditional and unyielding love that a mother has for her children, further highlighting the importance of maternal care in the Costa Rican culture. This rhyme begins with the sound of crying chicks that are hungry and cold, symbolizing the cries of children who need to be taken care of. Then, the mother hen actively searches for food and shelter, allowing the chicks to gather up under her wings and sleep. This is analogous to the amount of work mothers are willing to perform for the comfort of their children, and the complete protection that a mother desires to provide her children with. The fact that this nursery rhyme is presented to children usually by their mothers is a testament to the amount of self-sacrificial love that Costa Rican mothers have for their children.

A slightly different, but very similar, version of this lullaby was found in The Book of Lullabies, compiled by John M. Feierabend. Verse 1 and 2 of both Natalia’s version and the published version are identical. However, Verse 3 of the printed version states, “Bajo sus dos alas, acurrucaditos, cuando tienen suerio, duermen los pollitos,” rather than Natalia’s version which states, “Bajo de sus alas, acurrucaditos. ¡Duermen los pollitos hasta el otro día!” According to Feierabend, the published version is translated as “Under [the chick’s] wings, folded up, when they are sleepy, the chicks sleep.” This version of Verse 3 is not as potent and hopeful as the version that Natalia’s mother had sung to Natalia: “Under mama’s wings, huddling up, the little chicks sleep until the next day!” Although he does not state where or when he collected this piece of folklore, Feierabend states that lullabies are the root of all sung music, and “certainly one of the loveliest ways of showing a child how deeply you feel for him or her.” [1]

[1] Annotation: Feierabend, John M., comp. The Book of Lullabies. Chicago: GIA Publications, Inc., 2000. 66.

Song – French

Nationality: Caucasian, French
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Summit, NJ
Performance Date: April 18, 2008
Primary Language: English
Language: French

Folk Song/Poem in French:                                         English Translation:

“Une souris verte                                                        “There’s a green mouse
Qui courait dans l’herbe                                              Running through the grass,
Je l’attrape par la queue                                               I caught him by the tail,
Je la montre à ces messieurs                                        I showed him to some men,
Ces messieurs me disent                                             The men told me to drop him
Trempez là dans l’huile                                                In oil and hot water,
Trempez là dans l’eau                                                  And he’ll become
Ça fera un escargot                                                     A hot snail.
Tout chaud                                                                  I put her in a drawer
Je la mets dans un tiroir                                              She told me she was too cold,
Elle me dit qu’il fait trop froid                                    So I put her in my hat
Je la met dans mon chapeau                                        And she told me it was too hot,
Elle me dit qu’il fait trop chaud                                  So I put her in my pants
Je la mets dans ma culotte                                          And she made me three small droppings.”
Elle me fait trois petites crottes”

My friend Gillian, who has French ancestry and speaks French, told me about this little song/poem that she used to sing when she was in Kindergarten.  She said that she and her sister were taught this song by her parents to keep them occupied and give them something to do during playtime, either at home or at school.  She taught it to her friends, (who weren’t French since she went to an American school), and they loved it, so they sang it during recess or whenever they had playtime.

Though the translation doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense in English, she told me that it is a common and well-known song in France and is comparable to American children’s songs, such as “Ring Around the Rosy.”   Like Americans, the French also had songs that would keep their children occupied during playtime.  Though the song is very strange and doesn’t make a lot of sense, the topic of a mouse and a snail prove to be entertaining to children, as children seem to like playing with little animals.  When the theme of little animals is paired with a catchy tune (Gillian didn’t know it, she said she only recited it as a child as a poem in a sing-song voice, although in France it exists as a song with a tune), it then seems to create a perfect little song for kids to enjoy with each other.  At such a young age, the fact that the song doesn’t make sense seems irrelevant as long as it is fun to sing and has an interesting topic.  Additionally, when sung in French, it actually rhymes, which further enhances the song’s catchiness.

This song also resembles the leprechaun legend that is believed by many kids in America.  Gillian explained that, like leprechauns, green mice don’t actually exist, but the song creates a legend and a belief for kids to follow and have fun with.  Finding a leprechaun or pot of gold at the end of a rainbow is comparable to trying to find a green mouse in the fields- it is simply a different story.  In teaching kids songs with legends such as these, parents have a way of giving them something to do/look for in order to keep them occupied.  As with many children’s songs, this one is simply entertainment in the form of a silly French legend to keep little kids busy.

This song signifies the general trend in cultures around the world to create little legends or myths that have no purpose other than to entertain children.  When I was little, my parents also always used to tell me stories and sing me songs (such as “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star”) in order to make me do something, whether it be sleep, chores, or simply to stay busy.  Though they seem to make little sense, these songs are key when learning about various cultures because they are representative of the way parents treat their children and how they bring them up in that specific culture.  Songs such as these seem to be especially prevalent because they provide children not only with a song to sing but they also have a goal for the children; here being the uncatchable “green mouse.”

Annotation: CD disc, La Récré, “Une souris Verte” Volume 2. Song 3