Myanmar | Nat Pwe | Pegu Medaw

Academy Myanmar Pyi Kyauk Sein Ensemble Yangon U Win Hlaing Dance Group Pegu Medaw (Mother Buffalo of the city of Pegu) This video presents excerpts of a performance representing a nat pwe (ceremony for the nat spirits) held by a group of mediums from Yangon led by U Win Hlaing and musicians led by the Master Pyi Kyauk Sein. The musicians are all masters and leaders of their respective ensembles gathered especially for this occasion. They accompany the rite and dances of the Nat Kadaw (mediums) that are “entered” by the various spirits of the nat during the ceremony. Writes Lorenzo Chiarofonte in the introductory note to this event that in Myanmar the cult of local spirits (nat) is strictly interwoven with the daily life of the people both in the villages and in urban settings. Devotees pray and call upon the Thounze Khunna Min (the official pantheon of the 37 nat) asking for help in obtaining good health and economic improvement. The nat kadaw, considered as “brides” and “dancers of the spirits” play an important mediating role, connecting the human and supernatural world during the nat pwe, a ceremony in which the nat are recalled and asked to dance and provide their advice, “entering” the body of the medium. Necessary support to this rite is the musical ensemble hsaing waing made mainly of melodic percussions. Leader is the pat waing, with 21 tuned drums hung on a circular frame, accompanied by two gong-chime instruments (kyi waing e maung hsaing) and by a shawm (hnay). Besides this melodic section there are the large drum pat ma, the chauk lon pat made of six tuned drums, the sidaw with drums beaten with sticks, linkwin cymbals conferring rhythmic liveliness, and the sung voice invoking the spirits and telling their feats. In this excerpt Kyaw Win Naing embodies Pegu Medaw, the Mother Buffalo of the city of Pegu, accompanied by the young Prince Athakouma, her adopted son, embodied by Zaw Win Naing. The two spirits are welcomed by melodies and rhythms belonging to the Mon people of Southern Myanmar, of whom the Mother Buffalo is patron and protector. The ensemble welcomes the spirit of the Mother Buffalo performing a typical Mon melody: the slow lilting character of this rhythm fits quite well with the slow and heavy pace of the powerful Mother Buffalo spirit. This event, part of the cycle named ‘Music and Rite’, was organized by the Intercultural Institute for Comparative Music Studies of Fondazione Giorgio Cini, after a research, and with the scientific advice of Lorenzo Chiarofonte, in cooperation with Nay Win Htun of the Gitameit School of music of Yangon, and the Department of Philosophy and Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice. Academy Myanmar Pyi Kyauk Sein Ensemble: Pyi Kyauk Sein (director), Aung Soe, Hla Myaing, Kyaw Kyaw Lin, Kyaw San Hlin, Min Han, Zaw Win Naing, Zin Min Htike. Fondazione Giorgio Cini, Venezia, 17 November 2017 Video: Beppe Drago More info on this event: