Bertsularis :qualities

You will be accompanied throughout this site by improvisers. During your visit: click on their photos to discover what they have to say.

"I’ve already mentioned my desire to become an improviser, but I didn’t feel at all capable. I never tried to create any verse, even when I was alone the thought never even crossed my mind.

I’d heard some of my friends say that in inns some improvisers competed against each other with verse and that when they heard them they laughed heartily.

At that time I didn’t go out to inns. One year, on the second day of the village fête, I’d arranged with my childhood friend Lorentzo Tolosa to go to the dance that evening. The dance was to take place in front of the Angelesainea inn.

What I remember is that just as we were going to leave, we noticed four or five men improvising in the inn’s kitchen. Lorentzo and I observed them from the window".

"Firstly, an improviser must have a good master of Basque which enables him to play with the language, because in most improvisations that’s what marks the improviser’s originality and quality of reasoning.

Also, you must enjoy it: if you get no enjoyment out of it, you won’t learn. And I thing there’s also something “else”. In the field of sport, if you’re not in good shape to start with, even if you acquire a great technique, you won’t ever get past a certain level. Likewise, in the field of improvisation, you need to have this “trigger”, this ability to give things a personal touch.

Some improvisers do their best when they deal with a subject in detail, they give their verses a lyrical dimension. Others are unrivalled when they use humour.

Each improviser will give his improvisation his own personality. That requires specific qualities"

"You need to have a good command of the language and above all enjoy playing with words. Not only when you improvise, but rather as a way of life.

You also need to know how to compose with others. When you go to a village, most of the time you don’t know anyone. Nevertheless you have to find subjects for conversation to discuss with people you don’t know at all, and that’s not always easy. But it makes you a more open person.

Moreover, you’re at a disadvantage because the others are on home ground. That’s also very rewarding. But I think that today anyone can learn to improvise in an improvisation school. It’s very mechanical. If a 10 year old child goes to improvisation classes, and if the teacher isn’t too bad, by the end of the year the child will have learnt to sing a “zortziko ttiki’’, that’s a fact. It doesn’t however mean that he’ll be an improviser.

To become an improviser, several factors come into play: a love for people, charisma, luck too, and your passion for this discipline"

"One day someone asked Uztapide if you’re born an improviser or if you become one. And he answered: first of all you have to be born. He was right.

We all have certain qualities, and there are others we don’t have. To compose an improvisation, you need to have a good mastery of language, have a minimum amount of eloquence and the ability to express yourself. It’s something you learn.

On the whole, as an improviser you must be an honest person because you’re in the public light and improvisation isn’t a profession. It may earn you some money, but I wouldn’t like it to be a profession. I don’t think it should become a vocation"

‘‘Improvisation is not about talent, it’s a question of practice. An improviser must above all master the Basque language.

He must also have a sense of humour, and it’s true that all improvisers, or almost of them, do. He must also be able to sing touching verses. Touching improvisations are mostly used at championships, although humour remains the most important.

 Throughout the history of improvisation the subjects used have evolved a lot. Previously the most popular subjects were country life, the Basque Country, tradition and faith.

Today all subjects are dealt with, that’s what’s changed, and improvisers are educated, which wasn’t the case previously. But the values remain unchanged. An improviser has to read the press.

If you don’t keep up with events you may find it difficult to improvise. You also need to read books and work on old improvisations.

That’s what we do in improvisation classes: we study the way in which former improvisers used metaphors, in order to learn to form our own ideas"