Yo-Yo Ma & Lil Buck

So on my daily ritual of hunting the internet for something, anything that catches my eye, lead me to this truly amazing clip of Yo-yo Ma performing with a young man by the name of Charles “Lil’ Buck” Riley.

Damian Woetzel presents Yo-yo Ma performing The Swan from the musical suite, The Carnival of Animals. Also joining Yo-yo Ma is a young man from Memphis, TN by the name of Charles “Lil’ Buck” Riley. He is performing a dance that originated in Memphis called Jookin’.

This is an amazing music and dance piece that showcases two seemingly different worlds of art coming together in harmony. It’s as though Lil’ Buck’s movement was made to fit to The Swan. And listening to Ma perform on his cello is an amazing experience in its self. By the way his cello is supposed to be over 270 years old which is a 1733 Montagnana which is worth over two million dollars! Watch as Ma and Buck seem to inter play with each other, paying close attention to how the other interprets the song. As if these two styles of dance, and music, come together in a seamless partnered dance.

This introduction by Bill Irwin at a performance with both Yo-Yo Ma and Lil’ Buck explains it all!