Friday, March 1, 2013

[Jewelry] The Challenge of Music 2013

It is the 2nd Annual Challenge of Music blog hop by Erin of Treasures Found and I am so excited to be part of it again.  
Read about my entry last year HERE.

This year, Erin asked us to "find a piece of instrumental music that speaks to your soul."  That means, plain music - no choral accompaniment.  Oh, what a challenge with all the beautiful music around us.

The first challenge for me was to find "my music" that would allow me to interpret it in my artpiece.
The second challenge was:  How to share the music in my blog.  I wanted to try something else besides YouTube so I explored what's new in the web and came across Soundcloud.  I wanted to share a Traditional Filipino folk song/dance called "Tinikling." 

Click LISTEN to hear the song.


The music was composed by Levi Celerio (April 30, 1910 – April 2, 2002)   Celerio was a prolific songwriter, with over 4,000 songs to his credit. He is perhaps best known for being a leaf-player, a feat for which he was put into the Guinness Book of World Records. In 1997, he was namedNational Artist of the Philippines for Music. Read more about him HERE.  You must have seen this being danced during one of the cultural shows in your City that feature the Philippines.  The tinikling dance is one of the most popular and well-known of traditional Philippine dances.  Can you hear the clanking and banging sound?  The dance is comprised of 2 people who tap bamboo poles on the ground and against each other in a rhythmic manner while 1 or more dancers step in and out of the poles.
Tinikling
Photo grabbed from Parangal 2006
www.likha.org

Here's a complicated version of the dance with several pairs of bamboo.

The dance originated in Leyte among the Visayan islands in the central Philippines as an imitation of the tikling bird dodging bamboo traps set by rice farmers. The dance imitates the movement of the tikling birds as they walk between grass stems, run over tree branches, or dodge bamboo traps set by rice farmers. Dancers imitate the tikling bird's legendary grace and speed by skillfully maneuvering between large bamboo poles. I chose this music because it reminds me of home - the festivities, the delicious sweet mangoes and other fruits, the beautiful and colorful floral arrangements and costumes.  This statement/bib necklace was made using wired mother of pearl diamonds that were wired to form flowers and accented by crystal beads and round pearls.
Mother of Pearl Statement Necklace
To complete the necklace, I added yoyo fabric.  What is that you ask?  It's the ruffled circles fabric - learn how to do it HERE.  It's pretty simple, just do running stitch all around your chosen fabric and gather the edges to create the ruffles and add a button or pearl to seal the open part.
YOU ARE HERE:








Blessings!
♥  Michelle  ♥

15 comments:

Cynthia said...

Love your pearl flowers, and the yo-yo "background"! what a beautiful necklace.

Amy S. said...

WOW! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE this necklace and I think it emulates the song so beautifully! So well done. This is really gorgeous!

Mary K. McGraw said...

What lively music you chose as your inspiration and I have it danced to, which looks hard to do.

Your creation is lovely and portrays your music well. Of course I like anything that includes fiber in it.

Maneki said...

Listening to the music, I feel I must find a video of the dance to. It's one of those tunes where you just feel it was made for a dance, that it's a symbiotic relationship between music and dance. I really enjoyed hearing it as I rarely get to listen to philippino music.

Your necklace is fab! It really looks like it belongs at a festive flower-encrusted location. Great job!

Anonymous said...

Beautiful colourful necklace. The music is exotic and it is interesting to know the background of the dance. I love the mother of pearl flowers, and how you incorporated yoyos in the necklace. The ball chain is a nice choice.

Empty nester at last said...

Love the music and the dance..it seems way back in the dusty recess's of my mind we did something like this in school during PE. I remember having to make sure to kept with the rhythm or you could fall. Excellent necklace, I love yoyo's they are such a cool component! Great Job.

Monique (A Half-Baked Notion) said...

Thank you so much for sharing this lovely music, Michelle. Unfortunately, I have never seen it danced in person, but I remember as a child watching it on television (probably a variety show like Ed Sullivan), and being fearful that the dancers would be hurt as the rhythm got faster and faster!

You have made a beautiful, lush necklace... it must bring memories of your lovely homeland!

Jenny said...

Thats so cool! The folklore behind this style of dance/music. Thanks for sharing. I think your necklace is vibrant and upbeat - and suits the music well! Nice job!

Unknown said...

Your pearl flowers are just beautiful and the yo-yo's set them off very well. The dance has got to be fantastic and I'd love to find a video of that myself. Thank You for sharing so much of yourself with us.

rosebud101 said...

Love those yo-yo's!! They make the piece!

Michelle Mach said...

Your necklace really captures the music well. Love the mix of materials and textures!

EB Bead and Metal Works, LLC said...

Thank you for sharing the music and the video! I had a lot of fun watching them dance! Your bib necklace is awesome! I love those flowers tnd the yoyo fabric is so cool!

EmandaJ said...

The necklace reminds me of Gauguin's Tahitian paintings with their rich colors and dramatic blacks and dark hues. I remember as an elementary school child we learned to folk-dance with the bamboo poles, but I don't remember if I had ever heard the music that goes along with their rhythmic clapping movements. Thanks for bring it all together for me!

A Polymer Penchant said...

4000! Oh my that is amazing. I think I've seen this before but not known it's name or origins, looks like marvelous fun, once mastered. I think the yo-yos bring so much joy to your necklace it looks so right for a party

TesoriTrovati said...

I think that discovering new musical traditions is the best part about doing this hop for me! I can feel the energy and the sweet tropical air with this music. I am glad you explained about the birds escaping the traps, I can totally get that! Your necklace is very sweet and makes me long for a tropical escape! Thank you for joining me in the Challenge again, Miss Michelle and for sharing your music and art with the world! Enjoy the day. Erin