Today – as beautiful singer Shakira arrived in South Africa – and as I listened to her WAKA WAKA for the 2010 Fifa Official World Cup Kickoff Concert – the fever grabbed me too!
Africa always does it!
Just watch the movie on its original site – CLICK THE PICTURE – and see an explosion of Joy and Rhythm by anyone, old or young!!! Feel it… see it on their faces, in their eyes, smiles, flying hair… their spontaneous yet flowing movements where Heaven and Nature fuse and nothing exists but music and dance!
WAKA WAKA … this is my Africa!
And what a generous and indicative gesture to have a non-South African sing the official opening song when all heavens will break lose in Johannesburg and Cape Town on Friday, 11th June 2010, at 4 pm!
Don’t count on me being anywhere else but… right there! Right where all the little flags are heading in one big wave right now – feel it! It’s HERE!
WAKA WAKA!
No matter who you are – rich or poor, white or green or black or gold, fat or thin, educated or not – once South Africans start singing and dancing time stands still… it becomes pure Energy in Unision, Joy, Speed and total Abandon…
I’ve lived it so many times… be it as a child on the farm, be it at Nelson Mandela’s inauguration as the new President of South Africa, be it at Cape Town Jazz Festivals or just simply underground, where music and rhythm crept through thick smoke and night and day fused into one – MAGIC!
2010 FIFA Official World Cup Kickoff Concert
Hugh Masekela
While this is the 2010 FIFA Official World Cup Kickoff Concert, there are many other brilliant performers, one of which I remember from his simply goosebump-raising performance at the Jazz Festival a few years back: Hugh Masekela!
I can’t wait to get THAT music under my skin again… the Soccer World Cup may be the trigger – but THIS is the true soul of AFRICA!
Miriam Makeba - Mama Africa
Remembering Miriam Makeba – Mama Africa
I wish Miriam Makeba could be here with us – she surely is in thoughts… and she too would have danced THE dance!
May everyone visiting South Africa for this first ever big event in Africa and experiencing the unique Vibe of the Rainbow Nation for the first time open up their heart and capture some magic memories. . .
Author: Bianca Gubalke, Art, Media, Publishing.
Co-Founder of YORGOO, YCADEMY and Semiomantics.
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Did you ever ask yourself this question? It may seem simplistic… but nevertheless the answer contains the essence of who you are, what your Values are, what your Purpose is, what you are passionate about, what Life means to you and how you express yourself and communicate with your family, your community and to the world.
What are YOU missing most?
We are often so busy with “doing our job” that we forget that life is certainly not about selling or buying… and that it’s important to reflect on what our true values are… and what we miss most, in other words: what keeps us from being aligned with our Purpose.
When my wish to return back home to South Africa after more than two decades became irresistible, I tried to figure out what I was missing most – the sunshine? the space? the people? Nature?
Well, it was a bit of everything , however, what I missed most was … the Music! While I heard great operas, concerts, jazz festivals, big live bands in many major towns and locations… there was something I missed: the simple yet enthusiastic musicality of people in everyday life.
I remembered it again the other day… in the super market… where just everybody was singing, whistling or even swinging along with the music that streamed through the vast hall… There was a smile and a twinkle in absolutely everyone’s eyes while swirling trolleys around the shelves, queueing for fresh-baked bread or waiting at the cashiers on one side – and putting products on shelves, cutting up fresh fruit or serving customers on the other. Music was the universal language, the glue, the bond for perfect co-existence between all people, never mind the age, culture or background. It became the vehicle for feeling part of the whole like in a scene only Federico Fellini would have been able to capture in all its magic and intensity.
Togetherness – Learn to Listen to each other
Music is the Spirit to Live by… and as it touched me so much I wish to share a phenomenal initiative by charismatic Maestro José Antonio Abreu from Venezuela who founded El Sistema (”the system”) in 1975 to help Venezuelan kids from poor backgrounds become “some-one” by learning to play a musical instrument and being part of an orchestra.
Today, El Sistema has grown into a nationwide organization of 102 youth orchestras, 55 children’s orchestras, and 270 music centers — and close to 250,000 young and happy musicians… some of which have pursued major international careers, eg. the bassist Edicson Ruiz, who at 17 became the youngest musician ever to join the Berlin Philharmonic.
Enjoy some fabulous musical moments with the Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra with the best high school musicians from ‘El Sistema’, conducted by Gustavo Dudamel, playing Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10, 2nd movement, and Arturo Márquez’ Danzón No. 2 – as featured on my favorite site: TED.
I listened to “the 10th” myself in the early 70’s in Berlin, masterfully conducted by Herbert von Karajan. But what we hear above is something totally different. . . it comes from deep within as part of a cultural transformation – completely inspired and… inspiring.
“We are speaking with Music” says a young musician, “Music is Life”.
“Social Rescue” – Way out of Spiritual Crisis
Jose Abreu, Maestro
What is the concept behind José Antonio Abreu’s work, what is his Dream?
As you can hear in this incredible speech that reaches far beyond Music and Art and can be seen in the light of any form of Teamwork, including our online activities at YORGOO, “…an orchestra is first and foremost about togetherness, a place where children learn to listen to each other and to respect one another. Music has to be recognized as an … agent of social development in the highest sense, because it transmits the highest values — solidarity, harmony, mutual compassion. And it has the ability to unite an entire community and to express sublime feelings.”
Uniting People and Community
Abreu’s Dream expands far beyond Venezuela’s boundaries, in fact, he wants to “… bring music to kids worldwide”, asking everyone to help him on his visionary path to establish ethical as well as aesthetical Values across the globe … this post is part of paying hommage to this fine initiative and spreading the word.
Take a moment and listen to a real leader in a time of uncertainty, trouble and conflict:
Please click HERE if you cannot see the above video.
Inspiration and Miracles
Be inspired by great people who follow their Dream giving freely of themselves for the good of the Community. You will intuitively know your own priorities from a higher level of Knowing.
Music is Communication – and ‘THE VOICE’ is certainly a piece of Music that connects and was given to us for our vulnerable time right NOW.
I invite you to listen to this beautiful song HERE or below.
The music may be downloaded for absolutely free – it is a true Gift. I add the beautiful Lyrics below.
“The Voice”
I hear your voice on the wind
And I hear you call out my name…
“Listen, my child,” you say to me
“I am the voice of your history
Be not afraid, come follow me
Answer my call, and I’ll set you free”.
I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice, I will remain.
I am the voice in the fields when the summer’s gone
The dance of the leaves when the autumn winds blow
Ne’er do I sleep thoughout all the cold winter long
I am the force that in springtime will grow.
I am the voice of the past that will always be
Filled with my sorrow and blood in my fields
I am the voice of the future, bring me your peace
Bring me your peace, and my wounds, they will heal.
I am the voice in the wind and the pouring rain
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice that always is calling you
I am the voice.
I am the voice of the past that will always be
I am the voice of your hunger and pain
I am the voice of the future
I am the voice, I am the voice
I am the voice, I am the voice.
Hearing is a significant sense and like we can SEE with our Inner Eyes, we can hear with our Inner Ear.
Our Hearing is one of our most beautiful gifts as it allows us to hear and listen to Music – the universal expression of Love and our deeper Knowing of Joy, Harmony, Timelessness and ‘Home’ that connects us all – never mind what language we speak or which cultural background we have.
While listening to the sound of music or hearing songs and rhythms we love, all our senses can be triggered connecting to spheres deep within us where we are all ONE.
This Chapter on HEARING will focus on what connects us through our auditory organs and far beyond. . .
