A distinctive part of the culture here
in the Cordillera is the ganza—small, brass, flat gongs ranging in
size from about 10 inches in diameter to about a foot and a half.
They're usually held in one hand by a rope thong and beaten with a
stick held in the other, and while playing the ganza players also
dance. Traditionally the gongs are played exclusively by men, who, at
least in certain dances, dance and play in an inner circle while the
women dance in a larger ring around them. In the community dances
everyone follows the same motions, the rings circle, reverse
directions, contract and expand all simultaneously (or not so
simultaneously based on the knowledge and skill of the dancers). To
me it all seems like a big game of follow the leader.
The individual gong rhythms are fairly
simple, but they blend together in wonderful and unexpected ways,
combine this with the different timbres of each individual set of
gongs and every iteration of the same melody will be different. I
keep asking people if the players know the rhythms beforehand or if
they're improvised, and I keep getting the same answer “uuum...well
they kind of just know”. So did they get sat down one day and get
taught the individual rhythms of this or that song? Maybe, but
probably not, I expect it's more just a case of hearing the same
rhythms from childhood, and finding ones place.
I'm having some trouble explaining the
ganza so generally, partially because I'm woefully ignorant, but also
because ganza styles are so diverse. Everyone plays the same type of
gongs, but every tribe has their own rhythms, and their own ways of
playing. In some tribes one of the men will hang the gong from his
belt and play it with two hands like a drum, while others play the
normal way. Some tribes add a solibao drum, or bamboos which are
struck against the ground to get a sound that reminds me of bull
frogs. The dances are different, with different ways of stepping, and
different motions made by the women's hands (remember that the men's
hands are busy) Then there are all the different functions of the
ganza. There are community rhythms which I've mentioned, there are
wedding rhythms, courtship rhythms, and war rhythms. I'm sure there
are more but those are the ones I've seen so far. Of course each of
these has its own dance, some for a whole lot of dancers, some, such
as the courtship dances, only two. One particular dance I love to see
is the scarf dance, where a young lady dances with her shawl, until a
young man comes and takes an end, and they dance off together each
holding the shawl. The symbolism is rather clear. (any Filipinos
reading this can help me, is this an Ibaloi dance? I can't remember.)
So why did I feel it was worth it to
write a blog about ganza, other than my natural musicians curiousity.
I love the ganza because to me they personify so many of the best
things about the Philippines. Anyone can join the dancing, or the
playing if you're brave, it's not so involved or difficult that a
stranger can't join in. Am I saying that it's simplistic? No not
necessarily, there are subtleties to the ganza and the dancing which
is where the beauty is. Like many Filipino dishes, the recipe is
simple, but the details and the skill of the cook is what makes the
meal delicious. In the dancing, the steps are simple, but the grace
of movement makes it beautiful. Is grace the right word? Grace is often used to mean something slightly effeminate, and fluid. We call ballet
dancers graceful. Dancing for the ganza is not like ballet. There is
something blocky and ...fierce about it, especially in the male
dancing, which I find fascinating. But the movement is still
graceful; joyous and free.
A friend of mine told me that the
gongs traditionally are a call to a feast, that anyone who could hear
the gongs was invited. It seems to me that this is still true. The
gongs are loud, obnoxious, and joyful; they beg you to participate,
and they are always accompanied by food. In these ways they are just
like Philippino parties, and that's why I love them.
I stole all these pictures from the internet.... I know I have some of my own...just wait till I find them
