Poetry night combines contrasting styles

A poetry evening was recently held at El Kasbah in Castle Street, featuring poets Jonathan Teuma and James ‘The Heartist’ Ablitt.

The combination of these two poets of contrasting styles performing together was first tried at the MAG’s monthly Native Tongues open mic evenings and, with a few tweaks, exported to this more intimate taverna setting.

It worked beautifully and could be the forerunner of future recitals.

Jonathan Teuma welcomed the audience, which included family, fans, friends and poetry performers. Both poets took turns on the mic for three short sets each, which could be called a ‘mano a mano’, however seasoned artists and firm friends that they are, both downplayed any rivalry and fed off each other’s contributions at the microphone.

Jonathan kicked off his set with four flavours from his repertoire.

Rebujito, a popular refreshing Spanish drink consisting of sherry poured over ice and topped with sprite or a similar lime lemonade, is also the title of his opening Yanito flavoured witty poem about who we are.

Slam is the Jam is all about what Jonathan is best known for, slam poetry. As a professor in a Spanish university, he champions fast-paced performance poetry where 10 contenders get three minutes each on the microphone. A form of white rap competition which uses chilled rhythms as a backing.

Comedic skills and his witty writing combine with stage persona to bring this genre home to audiences with good results.

His third offering was a cover of an Asturian poem, Las Rimas Amargas, with chillout music as background.

His set closed with a new original poem called La Fuente, which he said was inspired by the quality of the work of Rock Rap TV, a new group of local urban poetry performers headed by Kailash Noguera, some of whom were present on the night.

James Ablitt came on for his first set which kicked off with a popular chant, Made up of Everything. Joined by the audience replying to the chants and assisted by a hand drum, it set the mood for his yoga philosophy sutras and chants “where the Guru dissolves the whole Universe”.

Love is fearless, about vulnerability, followed on and it was a very chilled and haunting poem delivered with precision and in a smoothly articulated rap style.

Forget what you may have previously seen or heard about rap and witness a quality performance like James’ debut at El Kasbah.

If you have not yet seen James perform his unique brand of deep and personal poetry, you can go down to Wellington Front for a taste of his Native Tongues open mic nights at the MAG.

These once-a-month gatherings, which are designed to foster interest in poetry and performance, also feature regular contributions from established and aspiring poets in a small club setting.

They were started last summer by Jonathan Teuma and are now continuing with James Ablitt holding the torch to help new talent get exposure and microphone experience.

Teuma, a hugely talented poet, has various books to his name so his work is more widely known and his performances are always welcomed by a growing number of fans.

James is currently working on a project called A Beautiful Mind, which he trailed in his remaining sets among his more personal poetry.

He is certainly destined to be a poetry heavyweight and gives impeccable performances from a rich repertoire which is truly absorbing to witness.

The remaining sets of the evening saw both poets shine with engaging performances full of talent and energy.

Both can be followed on social media platforms and their entire performance was filmed, destined I’m sure, to be featured there.

Seek them out and if you like them, follow them so that whenever future performances like the one partially described above, will not be missed.

It was a great night which cements my view that poetry thrives in Gibraltar and we have the artists to prove it.