Reviews
Vision Magazine
“We find these joys to be self-evident, that all children are created whole, endowed with an innate intelligence. With dignity and wonder, worthy of respect. The embodiment of life, liberty and happiness, children are original blessings, here to learn their own song. Every girl and boy is entitled to love, to dream and to belong to a loving village and to pursue a life of purpose.
We affirm our duty to nourish and nurture the young, to honour their caring ideals as the heart of being human. To recognize the early years as the foundation of life and to cherish the contribution of young children to human evolution. We commit ourselves to peaceful ways and vow to keep from harm or neglect these, our most vulnerable citizens.
As guardians of their prosperity, we honor the bountiful earth whose diversity sustains us. Thus, we pledge our love for generations to come.”
—“A Covenant for Honouring Children,” track 2 of Resisto Dancing by Raffi Cavoukian.
When a CD begins with words like these, and especially when they are spoken by the likes of the Dalai Lama, Jane Goodall, Mrs. Jetsun Pema and Tibetian youth, as well as Raffi, the “Children's Troubadour” himself, not only is it something special. It is something revolutionary. And so it is with Resisto Dancing: Songs of the Compassionate Revolution, the latest by Canadian children's musician Raffi Cavoukian.
Raffi has been entertaining kids for three decades with classics like Baby Beluga, Bananaphone and Shake My Sillies Out. But this is Raffi like you've never heard him before. The new CD is designed for BG's (Beluga Grads), which includes “parents, educators, decision makers, grandparents” and anyone who has an influence on the lives of today's children all over the world.
In a diversity of tracks that range from folksy ballads (Human Child, Blessed Be, Tomorrow's Child) to funky world beats (Resisto Dancing, It Takes a Village, Salaam Shalom), in Resisto Dancing, Raffi presents the philosophy that he calls “Child Honouring” (he has written a book by the same name).
Bottom line- if you are someone who wants to make a better world for children and likes music that comes from the heart, pick up a copy of Resisto Dancing. It's sing-along tunes will inspire you to help bring “a new paradigm into being: a peaceful culture, a child-friendly world, a world that honors its young.”