Jim Berenholtz, renaissance man

Interview with Jim Berenholtz. We discuss what events in his childhood led to all his adventures; the impact of growing up in New York City; what inspired him to be creative in so many different artforms; his fascination with creating mandalas and how they come into play in other areas of his art; mandalas as a form of therapy; the challenges of weaving classical and contemporary music styles of the Western world with ancient and native cultures together as a composer; the tuning system in gamelan orchestras and Indian classical music; microtonality; his opera Buffalo Nation; his current project, The First Light; addressing the dark history of America in his art; artist in Japan that address their nation’s dark history; bhuto; why he wrote Buffalo Nation and the research involved; becoming friends with the grand niece of Sitting Bull; the Ghost Dance of 1890; how Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse were depicted by the media much like Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden; tribes and cultures he identifies with; when he knew Buffalo Nation was complete; his musical, Songs of Forgotten Relatives; what distinguishes operas from musicals; George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess; rejecting labels; the inspiration for his ballet, Luna; scoring the music for the movie Lords of the Deep; composing the music for his double CD, The Psalms of Ra; what led him to work with the ancient traditions of Egypt; his book, Journey to the Four Directions, Eye of the Dragonfly and Shedding Skins, the Snake Odyssey; the Harmonic Convergence; burying 36 snake skins around the world at sacred sites; what it means to be a ceremonial artist; the role of the shaman; snake dancing; the dance of Shiva; how people respond to his snake dancing who are not familiar with the culture and traditions he is drawing upon; his relationship with his snakes; Kundalini; how he became a snake dancer.

Featured song is "Song of Marawa".

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