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July 5th, 2008
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Jagalmaj bridges the continental divide

Troupe keeps Central Asian traditions alive

April 16th, 2008 issue

By Kira Rose

For the Post
COURTESY PHOTO
Performances feature authentic native garb and instruments.
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Jagalmaj


When: Wednesday, April 23 at 8
Where: Dahab's Sultan Salon (Dlouhá 33, Prague 1-Old Town)
Admission: 200 Kč (for
reservations, call 224 827 375)
The captivating sounds of traditional folk songs emanate from a small meeting room at Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL). Gathered around an aged wooden table surrounded by abstract glass sculptures, Jagalmaj’s members are engrossed in practice.
The ensemble steps out next week at Sultan Salon in Old Town as part of an evening of nomadic music, songs, dances and storytelling, accompanied by traditional Central Asian cuisine. The documentary film Aral, Fishing in the Invisible Sea, will precede the concert.
The film concerns the ethnically diverse Karakalpaks, a Turkic-speaking people who inhabit the delta region of the Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea, and their fate in the wake of the Aral’s drastic diminution over the past few decades. Apart from the music, the event will be in English.  
“Meager traces of national identity remain in Central Asian countries dominated by Russian and Western popular culture,” says band member and event organizer Janyl Jusubjan. Jagalmaj’s mission is to revive and preserve old traditions. Formed 10 years ago, the band initially consisted of RFE/RL employees hailing from various Central Asian countries. Today, its seven core members frequent venues like Roxy NoD, Kaštan and the Bohnice festival.
Jagalmaj’s repertoire includes songs in Kyrgyz, Kazak, Karakalpak, Turkic, Uzbek and Azerbaijani. Onstage they play at least 10 instruments, including the Kyrgyz komuz, Kazak dombira, Azeri tar, Uzbek rubab and Russian bayan.
RFE/RL journalist Jusubjan grew up playing the komuz, a three-stringed lute common to Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyz members Gulsara Toktosun and Elvira Juma were also involved in music prior to joining the ensemble, Toktosun in dance groups for 15 years.
“We play a variety of music that evolves and changes,” Jusubjan says. “Our concerts are explorations of ourselves that reawaken memories in our hearts and minds.” The ensemble’s nomadic music relies on improvisation and imitates rhythms of nature like wind, running water and the galloping of horses.
During rehearsal, periodic peals of laughter announce the presence of Juma and Toktosun’s young daughters Saiara and Akmaral. Once their mothers beckon, two pairs of bright red lips simultaneously burst out in song. It’s clear that the girls’ skills in song, dance and instruments are comparable to their mothers’, a reflection of their desire to impart their cultural heritage to the next generation.
Written during the 1916 Kyrgyz uprising against tsarist Russia, Jagalmaj, or “wild bird,” is a young man’s song about a girl in the pasture one Kyrgyz summer. It’s an appropriate name for a band that espouses love as a means of transcending conflict.
 “We can learn from each other and live peacefully,” Jusubjan says.
Kira Rose can be reached at features@praguepost.com


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