“Sleep is a kind of knowledge that takes place in the soul”.
(Aristotle)
In many quotes, dreams are emphasised as objectives or goals and are seen as a process by which our imagination creates material desires that are often considered unreachable. Some also compare them to hope. But hope is the expectation and confidence of favourable outcomes in the future. We surrender our human abilities to external facts that will guide our future actions. When these future actions fail, the prevailing mentality tells us to pursue our dreams. For example, chasing money and fame. This vision leads us to failure and the loss of one of our most important realities, as it portrays the dream as a purely imaginary and fanciful fact that dominates our frustrated emotional drives.
In the positivist, materialist and reductionist paradigm in which we live today, the conviction has prevailed that dreams are not a tangible reality for learning. According to this perspective, dreams lie outside the parameters that enable us to analyse and physically recognise our environment and are therefore not a source of knowledge.
“It is not dreams that make reality greater, but real action based on dreams.”
(Neil Armstrong)
The songs presented in this project aim to confirm the hypothesis that every dream is a reality from which we can learn and which we can transcend. Learning through dreams is not charlatanism or mere imagination, but a plausible and accessible reality when a person opens up to their inner world.
In his dream, Carlos Ronda Mas presents a musical project influenced by different cultures from the African continent. First and foremost, it is about visualising some of these different cultures that suffered under slavery for so long. However, they are still affected by racism today. Over the course of many years, these cultures have set in motion an intercultural process across the American continent that has produced a new form of cultural expression.
The project is also a research work, which Carlos has been working on for many years. The artist brings several of his facets in the musical field to bring cultures closer together and break down walls that pretend to emphasise the differences over the similarities that connect us as human beings. Carlos wants to publicly defend these cultures, which are sometimes marginalised or misunderstood, in order to promote their dissemination, expansion and understanding in the European environment.
The “concept of the dark night of the soul” so often described in poetry is a clear example of what learning and teaching has meant to the artist. This project is a long journey that has given Carlos the freedom to realise his own vision of a musical dream.
“Dreams are today's answers to tomorrow's questions”.
(Edgar Cayce)
In the field of percussion and its teaching, Carlos Ronda Mas faced the challenge of understanding the concepts of time and space and how these are used to create various sensations that influence rhythmic movement. It was above all the music most undervalued in the media that gave the musician the greatest insight. Above all the negroid cultures, which have always been emotionally close to him because of the way they are played. The countless variations they have produced have made it easier for Carlos to access rhythmic concepts that are not taught at a classical music academy.
In the 1990s, information about African cultures was rare in the media. Only the so-called “Salsa Latina” enjoyed a good diffusion in Spain. That was the beginning of a personal self-discovery. A great rhythmic diversity opened up right under Carlos' nose.
“Dreams and passions are like magnets that attract us to our destiny”.
(Shakti Gawain)
Hypnopedia, by Carlos Ronda Mas
Just the Kids dreaming while dancing
It’s not a mental game, nor a verbal fantasy
It’s a meaningless law
That governs and shakes to oblivion
A history repeats itself, and love
Whit its hands oppresses
They think and lie
Those who do not dare
Neither wake up,
Nor understand
Just the Kids dreaming while dancing
It’s not a mental game, nor a verbal fantasy
Open that door into a world
Dawing of hidden mysteries
From nightly dreams
Of an innocent slumbering body