Método Pimenta (Alexis Díaz-Pimienta)

Is an improviser born or made? This question has lingered for centuries in the minds of improvisers, lovers, and scholars of poetic improvisation. And the answer has almost always been the same: “They are born with it. You can’t learn to improvise, because it’s an innate gift.” However, the Pimienta Method, with which hundreds of children and young people in Cuba have learned, is a proven and affirmative answer to this age-old question. Its creator, the Cuban repentista Alexis Díaz-Pimienta, began at the age of 5 on Cuban radio and television, and has accumulated more than 40 years of repentista experience, more than 25 years of research, and more than 15 years of teaching experience in Cuba, Spain, and other Latin American countries. This method is entirely playful and participatory, effective for learning to improvise in verse, in any stanzaic form, and in several languages: primarily Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Galician, and Catalan. All of this… in a short time. It doesn’t matter if the learner is starting from scratch or has experience and wants to refine their techniques. Furthermore, the method is designed for both learning and teaching. It includes oral, written, board, playground, and blackboard games, as well as hundreds of exercises that can be done alone or with others. The Pimienta Method brings to life the answer of the Mexican master Guillermo Velázquez to the age-old question of whether an improviser is born or made: “An improviser is born by becoming.”

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