ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kyra Gaunt - Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY.

Why you should listen

Kyra Gaunt's book, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop, published by NYU Press, won of the 2007 Alan Merriam Book Prize awarded by The Society for Ethnomusicology, which contributed to the emergence of black girlhood studies and hip-hop feminism. It also inspired a work by fellow TED Fellow Camille A. Brown, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, which was nominated for a 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Gaunt's articles have appeared in Musical Quarterly, The Journal for Popular Music Studies and Parcours anthropologiques, and she has contributed chapters to I Was Born to Use Mics: Listening to Nas’ Illmatic and The Hip-hop & Obama Reader, among other publications.  

Gaunt's scholarship has been funded by The Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a nationally- and internationally-recognized speaker. She also is a certified expert witness in federal and state cases on the unintended consequences of social media. She also continues to perform and record as a classically-trained, jazz vocalist and R&B singer-songwriter. Her original compositions are available on the CD Be the True Revolution available on iTunes and CDBaby.

More profile about the speaker
Kyra Gaunt | Speaker | TED.com
Small Thing Big Idea

Kyra Gaunt: How the jump rope got its rhythm

Kyra Gaunt: Como a corda de saltar ganhou ritmo

Filmed:
453,746 views

"Down down, baby, down down the roller coaster..." O hip hop deve muito às rainhas das duplas cordas de saltar. A antropóloga da música, Kyra Gaunt, leva-nos numa fascinante viagem à história da corda de saltar.
- Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:12
If you do it right, it should soundsom like:
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Se fizerem correctamente, deve soar assim:
00:14
TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat, TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat, TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat,
TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat, TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat, TICK-tatCARRAPATO-tat.
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TICK-tat, TICK-tat, TICK-tat,
TICK-tat, TICK-tat, TICK-tat.
00:18
If you do it wrongerrado, it soundssoa like:
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Se fizerem mal, vai soar assim:
Tick-TAT, tick-TAT, tick-TAT.
00:20
Tick-TATCarrapato-TAT, tick-TATcarrapato-TAT, tick-TATcarrapato-TAT.
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00:21
[SmallPequeno thing. BigGrande ideaidéia.]
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[Algo pequeno. Ideia grande]
00:25
[KyraKyra GauntGante on
the JumpSalto RopeCorda]
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[Kyra Gaunt sobre
a corda de saltar]
00:28
The jumpsaltar ropecorda is suchtal a simplesimples objectobjeto.
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A corda de saltar é um objecto simples.
00:31
It can be madefeito out of ropecorda,
a clotheslinevaral, twineguita.
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Pode ser feita de corda,
de estendal, de cordel.
00:34
It has, like, a twirl"giro" on it. (LaughsRisos)
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Parece que... é torcida.
(Risos)
00:37
I'm not sure how to describedescrever that.
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Não sei como descrever.
00:38
What's importantimportante
is that it has a certaincerto weightpeso,
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O que é importante
é que tenha um certo peso
00:41
and that they have
that kindtipo of whipchicote soundsom.
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e que faça aquele som de chicote.
00:44
It's not clearClaro what the originorigem
of the jumpsaltar ropecorda is.
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Não se conhece ao certo
a origem da corda de saltar.
00:48
There's some evidenceevidência
that it begancomeçasse in ancientantigo EgyptEgito, PhoeniciaFenícia,
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Há provas de que começou
no antigo Egipto, na Fenícia,
00:52
and then it mosta maioria likelyprovável traveledviajei
to NorthNorte AmericaAmérica with DutchHolandês settlerscolonos.
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e, provavelmente,
viajou até à América do Norte
com os colonos holandeses.
00:56
The ropecorda becamepassou a ser a biggrande thing
when women'smulheres clothesroupas becamepassou a ser more fittedequipado
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A corda tornou-se importante
quando as roupas das mulheres
ficaram mais adequadas
01:01
and the pantaloonPantaloon cameveio into beingser.
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e apareceram as culotes .
01:03
And so, girlsmeninas were ablecapaz to jumpsaltar ropecorda
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Assim, as raparigas
conseguiam saltar à corda
01:06
because theirdeles skirtssaias
wouldn'tnão seria catchpegar the ropescordas.
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porque as saias não ficavam
presas nas cordas.
01:09
GovernessesGovernantas used it
to traintrem theirdeles wardsenfermarias to jumpsaltar ropecorda.
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As governantas treinavam
as suas protegidas a saltar à corda.
01:13
Even formerlyantigamente enslavedescravizados AfricanAfricano childrencrianças
in the antebellumAntebellum SouthSul
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Até as crianças africanas
escravizadas no Sul,
antes da guerra civil na América
saltavam à corda.
01:16
jumpedsaltou ropecorda, too.
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01:17
In the 1950s, in HarlemHarlem,
BronxBronx, BrooklynBrooklyn, QueensQueens,
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Nos anos 50, em Harlem,
no Bronx, em Brooklyn, em Queens,
01:22
you could see on the sidewalkcalçada,
lots of girlsmeninas playingjogando with ropescordas.
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via-se, nos passeios,
muitas raparigas a saltar à corda.
01:27
SometimesÀs vezes they would take two ropescordas
and turnvirar them as a singlesolteiro ropecorda togetherjuntos,
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Às vezes, juntavam duas cordas
transformando-as numa só,
01:30
but you could separateseparado them and turnvirar
them in like an eggbeaterbatedor de ovos on eachcada other.
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mas podiam separá-las e transformá-las
numa espécie de batedeira.
01:34
The skippingsaltando ropecorda
was like a steadyestável timelinelinha do tempo --
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A corda de saltar
era uma linha do tempo estável
01:37
tickCarraça, tickCarraça, tickCarraça, tickCarraça --
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— tick, tick, tick, tick —
01:38
uponsobre whichqual you can addadicionar rhymesrimas
and rhythmsritmos and chantscânticos.
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na qual se pode adicionar
rimas, ritmos e cantigas.
01:42
Those ropescordas createdcriada a spaceespaço
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As cordas criaram um espaço
01:44
where we were ablecapaz
to contributecontribuir to something
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onde nós podíamos
contribuir para algo
01:47
that was farlonge greatermaior
than the neighborhoodVizinhança.
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que ia muito para além do bairro.
01:49
DoubleDuplo DutchHolandês jumpsaltar ropecorda remainspermanece
a powerfulpoderoso symbolsímbolo of culturecultura and identityidentidade
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As cordas duplas permanecem
como um símbolo poderoso
de cultura e identidade
para as mulheres negras.
01:53
for blackPreto womenmulheres.
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01:54
Back from the 1950s to the 1970s,
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Dos anos 50 aos anos 70,
01:56
girlsmeninas weren'tnão foram supposedsuposto to playToque sportsEsportes.
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as raparigas não deviam
praticar desportos.
01:58
BoysMeninos playedreproduziu baseballbaseball,
basketballbasquetebol and footballfutebol,
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Os rapazes jogavam basebol,
basquetebol e futebol
02:01
and girlsmeninas weren'tnão foram allowedpermitido.
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e as raparigas não podiam.
02:03
A lot has changedmudou, but in that eraera,
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Muito mudou desde então,
mas naquela época
02:05
girlsmeninas would ruleregra the playgroundParque infantil.
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as raparigas dominavam os recreios.
02:07
They'dEles seria make sure
that boysRapazes weren'tnão foram a partparte of that.
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Elas garantiam que os rapazes
não participavam.
02:10
It's theirdeles spaceespaço, it's a girl-powerseu poder spaceespaço.
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É o espaço delas,
o espaço do poder feminino.
02:12
It's where they get to shinebrilho.
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É onde elas brilham.
Mas eu acho
que também é para rapazes
02:14
But I alsoAlém disso think it's for boysRapazes,
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02:16
because boysRapazes overheardouvido those,
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porque eles ouviam as cantigas
02:17
whichqual is why, I think,
so manymuitos hip-hophip hop artistsartistas
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e é por isso, penso eu,
que tantos artistas de hip-hop
02:19
sampledamostrados from things that they heardouviu
in blackPreto girls'meninas gamejogos songsmúsicas.
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usaram ritmos que ouviram
nas cantigas das raparigas negras.
02:23
(ChantingCantando) ... coldfrio, thickGrosso shakemexe,
actAja like you know how to flipgiro,
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♪ ... cold, thick shake,
act like you know how to flip,
♪ Filet-O-Fish, Quarter Pounder,
french fries, ice cold, thick shake
02:26
Filet-O-FishFilé de peixe, QuarterBairro PounderKg,
frenchfrancês friesfritas, icegelo coldfrio, thickGrosso shakemexe,
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02:29
actAja like you know how to jumpsaltar.
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♪ act like you know how to jump.
02:30
Why "CountryPaís GrammarGramática" by NellyNelly
becamepassou a ser a GrammyGrammy Award-winningPremiado singlesolteiro
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A música "Country Grammar"
da Nelly ganhou um Grammy
02:34
was because people already knewsabia
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porque as pessoas já a conheciam.
02:37
"We're going down down babybebê
your streetrua in a RangeGama RoverRover ... "
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♪ We're going down down baby
your street in a Range Rover ...
02:40
That's the beginningcomeçando of "Down down, babybebê,
down down the rollerrolo coastermontanha-russa,
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Isto é o inicio de "Down down, baby,
down down the roller coaster,
02:44
sweetdoce, sweetdoce babybebê, I'll never let you go."
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♪ Sweet, sweet baby,
I'll never let you go."
02:46
All people who grewcresceu up
in any blackPreto urbanurbano communitycomunidade
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Todos os que cresceram
numa comunidade negra urbana
02:49
would know that musicmúsica.
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conhecem esta música.
02:51
And so, it was a ready-madeReady-made hitacertar.
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Então, tornou-se num êxito de imediato.
02:54
The DoubleDuplo DutchHolandês ropecorda playingjogando
helpedajudou maintainmanter these songsmúsicas
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As cordas duplas ajudaram
a preservar estas músicas
02:58
and helpedajudou maintainmanter the chantscânticos
and the gesturesgestos that go alongao longo with it,
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e a preservar as cantigas
e os gestos que as acompanham,
03:02
whichqual is very naturalnatural
to what I call "kineticcinético oralityoralidade" --
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algo que é muito natural
ao que chamo de "oralidade cinética"
03:06
wordpalavra of mouthboca and wordpalavra of bodycorpo.
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— passa de boca em boca
e da boca ao corpo.
03:09
It's the thing that getsobtém
passedpassado down over generationsgerações.
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É algo que é passado
de geração em geração.
03:12
In some waysmaneiras, the ropecorda
is the thing that helpsajuda carrylevar it.
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Em muitos casos, a corda
é o que ajuda a transmiti-lo.
03:15
You need some objectobjeto
to carrylevar memorymemória throughatravés.
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É preciso ter um objecto
para transmitir a memória.
03:18
So, a jumpsaltar ropecorda, you can use it
for all differentdiferente kindstipos of things.
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A corda de saltar pode ser usada
para muitas coisas diferentes.
03:22
It crossesCruzes culturesculturas.
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A corda atravessa culturas.
03:24
And I think it lasteddurou
because people need to movemover.
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Penso que aguentou até hoje
porque as pessoas precisam de se mexer
03:28
And I think sometimesas vezes the simplestmais simples objectsobjetos
can make the mosta maioria creativecriativo usesusa.
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E às vezes os objectos mais simples
podem ter os usos mais criativos.
Translated by André Santos
Reviewed by Margarida Ferreira

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kyra Gaunt - Ethnomusicologist
A member of the inaugural TED Fellows class, Dr. Kyra Gaunt is an ethnomusicologist, singer-songwriter, and a social media researcher on faculty at University at Albany, SUNY.

Why you should listen

Kyra Gaunt's book, The Games Black Girls Play: Learning the Ropes from Double-Dutch to Hip-Hop, published by NYU Press, won of the 2007 Alan Merriam Book Prize awarded by The Society for Ethnomusicology, which contributed to the emergence of black girlhood studies and hip-hop feminism. It also inspired a work by fellow TED Fellow Camille A. Brown, BLACK GIRL: Linguistic Play, which was nominated for a 2016 Bessie Award for Outstanding Production.

Gaunt's articles have appeared in Musical Quarterly, The Journal for Popular Music Studies and Parcours anthropologiques, and she has contributed chapters to I Was Born to Use Mics: Listening to Nas’ Illmatic and The Hip-hop & Obama Reader, among other publications.  

Gaunt's scholarship has been funded by The Ford Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities and is a nationally- and internationally-recognized speaker. She also is a certified expert witness in federal and state cases on the unintended consequences of social media. She also continues to perform and record as a classically-trained, jazz vocalist and R&B singer-songwriter. Her original compositions are available on the CD Be the True Revolution available on iTunes and CDBaby.

More profile about the speaker
Kyra Gaunt | Speaker | TED.com