Renowned Ethnomusicologist Anthony Seeger presents a talk: "Learning and Transmission for the Long Term: How the Suyá/Kĩsêdjê Indians Managed to Perform a Ceremony Again After 60 Years and What That Might Tell Us About Oral Traditions"
This presentation describes the first performance in 60 years of the “Bee Ceremony” (aimendaupa) by Suyá/Kĩsêdjê women in Mato Grosso, Brazil, in May 2015. Using this example and the “Mouse Ceremony” described in Why Suya Sing, this presentation will discuss how music is learned, remembered, and transmitted in a small indigenous society in central Brazil. It will also discuss issues of the ownership and control of music, and the impact of those on musical performance today.
Anthony Seeger is Distinguished Professor of Ethnomusicology, Emeritus, at UCLA and Director Emeritus of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings at the Smithsonian Institution. He and his wife Judith have done long-term field research among the Suyá/Kĩsêdjê for 45 years.