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The
Tupan (Bass Drum)
byTzvetelina,
age 15
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Tupan
(Bass Drum)
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Pernik
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1960
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Heads:
synthetic material
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Diam.
(head): 60 cm
Height (body): 30 cm
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The
"Alexandre Dumas" School of Foreign Languages,
Bulgaria
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If you hear
the echo of heavy rhythmic beats as you go on your way, it is because
there is a party in a nearby village and the tupan is at work. Since
the 15th century, the tupan has been a part of all Bulgarian folk
groups. Accomplished musicians are able to draw sounds from it that
can inspire a whole range of feelings all the way from exhilaration
and liveliness to solemnity and grief. This is why the tupan is
a part of every event in people's lives.
Could we ever image a folk wedding without its cheerful teasing beats?
It is always the tupan that calls young people to village dances. What sidelong glances, what brushing of hands, what pounding hearts it arouses!
But the beat of the tupan becomes grave and mysterious during the dances of the nestinar. Their sound is heard in the night air and the dancers, their feet bare, begin to dance around the embers of the fire in time to the music. The glow of the dying fire reflects on their strained faces and the measured movements of their bodies. All the spectators hold their breath and then one of the dancers leaps onto the hot coals with strange shouts. The others follow. Their bare feet are resting on burning coals but their faces betray no pain at all.
How can we explain this phenomenon? By the magic power of the tupan? No one has the answer. But the effect of the performance is quite special.
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