euskalkultura.eus

This group that specializes in research, cultivation, promotion and dissemination of Basque dance and music has included various kinds of written material, graphics, visual and sounds from an exhaustive work on accordionist Bonifazio Arandia, Fasio, one of the most popular, and emblematic musicians from Bizkaia.  And together with the University of the Basque Country has begun a Basque dance class called “Dantzan Fasiogaz” (dancing with Fasio). 

Bilbao, Bizkaia.  According to the Aiko group in a note that we are reproducing here, the work includes an unedited recording by Fasio two years before his death, along with scores the music he played, several photographs and videos of his performances and a posthumous tribute to him.

The figure of Bonifazio Arandia Uriarte Fasio (1909-1987), one of the most popular and significant Arratian musicians of the last century, is now available to any fan of the accordion, or Basque music thanks to the Aiko Taldea website. This cultural association of musicians and dance masters has put Fasioren Mendea (Fasio’s Century), on the internet, an exhaustive work published in 2009, the year that the accordionist would have been 100 years old, with the collaboration of the town hall of Igorre and the Bizkaiko Foru Aldundia or Provincial Government of Bizkaia.

That is why the Aiko Taldea and KulturBasque (UPV/EHU) are also organizing a class “Dantzan Fasiogaz” that will be taught on May 9 at the Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao for trikitilaris, pandero players and any musician interested in learning to play the repertoire of our dances and to deepen the relationship between the musician and the dantzari."

“Fasioren Mendea,” is already available online, published as a CD/book that includes texts, photos and an audio CD with its corresponding scores and a DVD with various video recording that is one of the most complete summary of the figure and the work of Bonifazio Arandia.

All of this material constitutes a faithful reflection of the figure and the work of Fasio. But at the same time, it deepens the relationship of the accordion and traditional Basque music, such as in cultural and musical peculiarities of the Valley of Arratia through one of its best-known performers over several decades.

The goal of publishing “Fasioren Mendia” is to bring an aspect of popular culture, specifically related to the accordion and traditional Basque music to a wider audience.  The focus of the  work ranges from the study of the instrument in general to a more detailed look at its character, contextualized in a time, place and a specific cultural environment.

Inedited images

It is now possible to see all this material, including downloading for free, texts and scores in pdf, as well as the possibility to listen and visualize the audiovisual material on the Aiko Taldea website.  The book/CD, available on the “Diskografia” section, includes a recording by Fasio done in 1985 – just two years before his death – by Jon Iturbe, which is unedited.  All the pieces included incorporate their corresponding scores and transcripts by Adolfo Jainaga. 

Regarding video material, there is a total of 29 pieces interpreted by the musician from Igorre and two performances at the end of his life in 1982 and 1986 respectively.  This chapter is complete with photos of the tribute that was paid to Fasio in his hometown in November of 1988, the year after his death.

The book has a total of 81 pages, with several photos of the subject of the book and some of the instruments that he played throughout his life.  The texts translated to Euskera by Arantza Etxebarria, are originally by Aingeru Berguices, with a prologue by the mayor of Igorre.

“Dantzan Fasiogaz” class

Besides putting this monograph at your disposition, the Aiko Taldea also wanted you to know about another tribute to this figure through the class Dantzan Fasiogaz, that will be taught on May 9 at the Bizkaia Aretoa, at UPV/EHU facilities in Abandoibarra (Bilbao).  The initiative is directed mainly to trikitilaris, pander players and any musician interested in translating the rhythmic complexity of our dances into a musical language, in hopes of teaching to play for dancing.

The course will treat the relationship between music and dance through rhythm, and will Review popular classic dances such as the pasodoble, the waltz, the schottische, polka, bolero, the mazurka, the fox trot, tango and habanera.  There will be a special chapter on entertaining dances with the trikitixa and the pandero that will include the jota, fandango, arin-arin or porrusalda.

The course will take place on Saturday, May 9 in the afternoon and will last three hours from 5pm-8pm, and costs 20 Euros.  Enrollment is open for anyone interested and payment needs to be made to Kutxabank: nº 2095 0233 10 9111124099.

“Dantzan Fasiogaz” is part of the Kulturbasque program, a program of events and get-togethers of the university cultural network on the Campus of Bizkaia, and organized by the Aiko Taldea in collaboration with the University of the Basque Country.

 Aiko Taldea is a cultural collected that includes masters of music and dance that have dedicated themselves for several years to the dissemination of the broad legacy of music and traditional dance and to the recovery of the popular spirit of the dances, creating new places for dance and getting the ever-growing community more involved. Its vocation is “to play and dance in a antural, relaxed and fun way,” and transmit this passion to the most people possible.