also known in Senegal by the (completely different) Wolof name Deggi Daaj !
Information
- Founded:
- Berlin x4, Lisbon, Mexico. Dakar in-progress... http://www.urbanrituals.org
Basic Info
- Founded:
- Berlin x4, Lisbon, Mexico. Dakar in-progress... http://www.urbanrituals.org
Detailed Info
- Website:
- http://www.urbanrituals.org
- Company Overview:
- Nathan + 6 local drummers + you
- Mission:
- Demonshaker (in the Occident - Ds)
Deggi Daaj (in Senegal - DD)
concept:
Ds/DD is six drummers and one conductor en cercle– a geometric formation of energetic wisdom on the cue of certain traditions of theater and ritual. However it is not a drum battle, rather a celebration of life... A call to the dance needing no words, sensitive to the unique temporary collective of audience gathered in the space in the present moment, and as well engaging as a musical response to architecture, to the acoustic and energetic properties of a specific space. Ds/DD is a 7-headed 1-mind-no-mind organism delivering a precise, minimalist-cum-maximalist, gradually blossoming sonic joybomb. The experience has been described as a provocation of purification available to everyone present, a multitude of me's surrendered to one we, and a monolithic experience in the physicality of sound– sound as bath, sound as massage, sound as weapon, sound as catharsis. This is an offering, in which the public is welcome to move freely throughout the performance, and the center of the circle is undefined open space, which has revealed itself in performances to be a nest for immersive listening, dance, trance.... Any audience reaction to the intensity of the sound (including leaving) is accepted as synergy and cherished without judgement.
Conceived by conductor Nathan Fuhr, Ds/DD draws its influence from his research, experience, and gradual demystification of traditional trance music healing and ritual dance practices, specifically the Moroccan Gnawa Leila ceremony and the Senegalese sabar Tanebeer urban dance ritual. Ds/DD tangentially acknowledges his brief teen experience in American underground rave culture, and is furthermore informed by his subsequent background as a precocious conductor of classical symphony orchestras. From a contemporary occidental music perspective, one will perceive Nathan’s decade of experience directing and developing John Zorn’s legendary game-piece Cobra, as well as the sonic influence of electronic and immersive composers such as Phill Niblock, Francisco Lopez, and Pauline Oliveros.
Ds/DD generally performs fully improvised using a "7-way street” conducting language developed by Nathan. This language is a system of gestures developed specifically for the instrument, for real-time composing and sculpting of flow, by the conductor or the drummers themselves in communication to the ensemble. The rehearsals are a workshop-like process in which the drummers learn to both follow and use proactively this language, and explore their own creativity within the extraordinary experience of playing with 5 other drummers. Ds/DD may also perform scores composed by Nathan or invited composers, depending upon the nature of the space and event. As he is working implicitly with the instinct which calls someone to choose the drums in the primal first instance, any open-minded and positive-spirited professional drummer may participate regardless of stylistic background.
The project’s occidental name is of nothing occult– simply tapped from a casual American expression often used by one of Nathan’s collaborating musicians, to “shake out the demons” via the creative performative act. And the name is sincere... so let's keep it simple.
The idea of Ds/DD was born for a one-off event in the spirit of protest for Berlin's Zentrale Randlage being shut-down by the city on 11 September 2007, then subsequently and similarly invited for the winter solstice close-out party of Tesla Berlin. The project evolved toward a crystallized concept of a transformative event for western concert performance subsequent to a 3-month return to Morocco and Senegal, and debuted at Lisbon's Ze dos Bois in April 2008. Upon return to Berlin in September, Ds/DD was promptly invited as the surprise live act for the close-out party of the 103 Club, and in December, as the finale act for the Tanznacht Festival Berlin 2008. After a winter and spring of research and concertizing in Senegal, the project's most recent splash was in Mexico this summer as the Oaxaca finale of PRISMA Forum International, where Nathan was an invited artist.
[production dossier available upon request] - Products:
- "It just occurred to me, under the influence of this film 'The Age of Stupid'– Demonshaker is totally green! All the impact of a massive electricity-guzzling sound system with none of the cost :D" -NF