Kyrgyz epic storytelling : the Manas
Turgunaaly Zhusup Mamai is a Manaschi ("the one who tells the Manas"), a inheritor of the century-old kyrgyz tradition of story-telling.
The Manas is an epic poem telling the story of Manas, the kyrgyz hero, who rallied Kyrgyz people behind him to fight for their homeland. The poem has been transmitted orally for centuries and has several versions, one of them including about half a million verses.
Turgunaaly Zhusup Mamai is the grand son of a revered manaschi ("great Manaschi") who was able to tell the whole story at once, taking about 7 days non stop. Turgunaaly Zhusup Mamai can tell the Manas for several hours.
Telling the Manas is like being induce in a trance, where all the epic of the poem appears through the acting of the poet, which can be violent when it's about a battle or very sad when it is about a loss.
The Manas is often performed during cultural public events in Kyrgyzstan; people can listen to it for hours and get in the same trance stage than the manaschi!
On this video, Turgunaaly Zhusup Mamai is just telling a sum up of the whole story, which tells about Manas himself and about his son and grand son.
Recorded in Bishkek, january 2015.
Watch video Kyrgyz epic storytelling : the Manas online without registration, duration hours minute second in high quality. This video was added by user Un voyage en Accordéonistan 28 February 2015, don't forget to share it with your friends and acquaintances, it has been viewed on our site 3,21 once and liked it 4 people.