Leading Songtaneous

Wow — what a gift! Singing with a couple hundred (just my guess looking out over the crowd) people in this weekend’s opening ceremony.
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I get to bed at a remarkably decent hour Friday night and arose around 7am to finish my prep and get on the road. I was due in Mankato at 10:30 am and since I was the opening act, I wanted to be early. *grin*

When I arrive, things are in stir due to the 2nd convergence of this conference and the Mankato marathon. I find my contact Laura and meet the sound team. It turns out the ballroom has been renovated with a brand new (and better!) acoustic design and sound system and this conference is the first event in the “new” space. I receive my wireless microphone and do a quick sound check.

(Everything works fine. *smile*)

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I step on the stage and see the faces of all the people who have come to this conference in search of … something.

And I relax into the knowledge that I am searching, too. And that we can search together.

(And remember, as my mom says, that they want me to do well.)

I joke about sitting in my car feeling “less-than-positive” energy about the marathon which has again intersected with my route to this conference. I offer my apologies and bless anyone willing to run 26 miles. *smile*

Then we breathe.

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We start by singing to ourselves. Then we sing to our neighbors. The energy shifts: the fear dissolves and is replaced with delight. And then (my favorite part!) the community begins to form.

I ask the singers to move from the parts they are singing to a unison tone. I ask them to find this tone while they are singing. I tell them this is a model for how we can communicate; how we can be individuals and part of a group at the same time. We get pretty close to a single note (with just a few pretty harmonies) and I am moved to sing what I can only call a blessing. Beautiful.

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The weekend rushes by. I present Songtaneous workshops Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning. I meet lively, open and adventurous singers. People thank me for my presentation, ask me questions about the opening and offer me lunches (with cookies!). We laugh and sing and make community from circles of song. Sunday afternoon, I join a smaller, but spirited group of conference attendees to close the weekend.

Music-making in Mankato. Yum.

It was a whirlwind of a trip to Vancouver to work with Rhiannon and new and repeat singer friends. The thing about my singing trips is that I don’t really get a sense of the cities I’m in. We typically sing 6 to 8 hours a day and this trip was no exception. I can tell you it was cool (in the 50s) and overcast. We went to a couple of yummy restaurants and had some great meals that we ordered in and/or prepared. The rest of the time we spent in our singing space or at the home of one of the singers.
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Stone the Bunny

I arrived Thursday evening after nearly missing my connecting flight at LAX (that is one BIG airport). My flight attendant out of L.A. was “Stone the Bunny” and he had a tail pinned to the back of his pants. (Yes, really.) Going through the customs line at YVR, I stood behind actress Laura Prepon (Donna from that 70s show) which created quite a stir. (I decided not to be all tourist-y so I don’t have a pic.) She ignored us all with a gracious (and I’m guessing practiced) obliviousness. (I decided to take these unusual experiences as good omens. *smile*)
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Vancouver International Airport

From the airport, I took the sky train (like the metro in Paris and the train in Amsterdam — how did I become such a world traveler? *giggle*) and then the city bus to the L’s house where I stayed for the long weekend. My fellow bus riders were friendly and extremely kind in helping me find my stop. Upon my arrival, my housemates and I headed to the home of one of the other singers for dinner and a meet-and-greet. Then home to bed to get ready for the big weekend of singing.
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Most of the group got together Friday before Rhiannon and the remaining 2 singers arrived to start singing and continue getting to know each other. It always amazes and delights me how quickly improvisation can bond a group of singers. The 20 of us come from throughout the states and Canada. I reunited with one of the copilots from my European studies and two singers from my trip to Hawaii in 2006. This was the first time this particular configuration of singers had gathered, but by the end of the weekend, I felt like I had known these folks for years. (Ah, more singing family. *smile*)

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Inside the singing space

We did our videotaping on Saturday, Sunday and finished Monday. This was unlike the workshops in which I have participated in the past, because our goal was to demonstrate each of the exercises very clearly. Besides, any time you try to document improvisation, it changes it a bit. For example, we had to be aware of camera and mic placement (not to mention wardrobe *smile*).

So there were some do-overs and some loose planning.  A couple of times, we had to restart things due to changes in light or environment (sudden rain showers Sunday afternoon meant resetting mic placement and beginning again). At times Rhiannon chose who she wanted to demonstrate the exercises and at other times she asked who felt really strong at an exercise. I noted that for me this was a shift because usually when I’m in a workshop, I’m pushing myself to practice the things I don’t do well. Once I relaxed into this new perspective, it was really fun.

I really enjoyed reviewing the many exercises I have learned from Rhiannon over the years and going through them with such accomplished singers. I also liked learning how people used and adapted the exercises in their own studios and workshops. It got me excited about teaching improv workshops here in the Cities (more on that soon).

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On Monday evening (Thanksgiving in Canada), the remaining singers (some had departed earlier) met to talk about what improvisation means to us and how it is being activated in our lives. Whew! Powerful and heady stuff full of compelling stories and exciting projects. It is wondrous to see how the music is working in all our lives and the connections and changes we are making possible. We took a short break for pie (mmm … pie) and then said our farewells.

The Give Get Sistet: Valandra, Mankwe, me & Libby

It was a busy week leading up to the Give Get Sistet Concert event and I squeezed in more errands, to do lists and rehearsals than seemed possible. The morning of the concert, I rose bright and early to begin prepping the food. (I had wanted to get a start on it Saturday night, but finally made myself go to bed to make sure I was well rested for the singing. *smile*)

My friend K came over around noon and we chopped and chopped (and chopped and chopped *grin*) vegetables for roasted potatoes, bruschetta and stuffed mushrooms. We loaded up the food, the rest of the auction items and my outfit and headed to the concert house (where K did even more chopping. What a trooper!).

The line for the oven.

Then my friends just kept arriving and kept helping. (Thank you, friends!) Some set up the auction, others worked on the food and the Sistet members and my MC (my friend Michele Denise Michaels) arrived to warm up and do sound check. Needless to say, it was wonderful (and a little chaotic!) to have so many helpers.

About an hour before the doors opened, I went upstairs to iron my pants, change into my outfit (discover I had forgotten my shoes. Whoops!) and prepare to sing a concert. I felt a little guilty (and, okay I’m big enough to admit it, a teensy, teensy bit worried) as I escaped upstairs while leaving my friends to finish everything for our guests. The Sistet gathered in our “green room” for some last minute notes and togetherness and then came downstairs to do a sound check.

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My friends told me I'm not allowed to say I don't cook anymore. *smile*

With sound check over, I walked into the kitchen and was so touched by the care and attention everyone had given to everything. The food was excellently completed and beautifully presented. The auction items were all displayed with their corresponding bid sheets (and pens!). My friend photographer friend Patty was taking “behind-the-scene” photos and our guests were arriving — beginning with my landlords. *grin* I was particularly honored by the attendance of so many people with whom I’ve sung in the past.

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Oh right, the concert!

Yes, I baked.

I told Michele (who attended the dress rehearsal Saturday) that I was a little concerned because the Sistet hadn’t ever run our entire sets with the improvised pieces “in place.” We rehearsed songs and we practiced improvising (yes, there is such a thing *smile*), but we never worked on moving in and out of what I put on the set lists as “IMPROV/SOLO MOMENTS.”

(In other words, we hadn’t rehearsed the improvising. Duh. When, when, when will I learn to trust the improv process?)

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

It was so good we hadn’t. The music had a freshness and electricity in it that only comes from inventing in the moment. And even though in the improvs none of us technically knew what we were doing, I was safe in the knowing that we would get where we were going together.

So the concert was …

The concert was all I had hoped it would be. A stirring journey through songs and improvisations with my fantastic and daring fellow Give-Getters in front of an appreciative and participating witnesses. But also fun and playful and silly. (Just the way I like my music!)

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.] (*Note: this “track” is actually from Saturday’s dress rehearsal, but Michele like it so much I promised I’d post it. *smile*)

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It was wonderful to integrate so much of what I have learned over the past year – singing for our listeners, singing with them and having them sing for us. Letting the music take us where we needed to go together. I basked in the joy of a community built by music.

I thank everyone who participated in the event; from those who were in the room to my family, friends and classmates overseas who donated, prayed, wished and hoped for the success of the evening.

I am honored, deeply touched (and still slightly dumbfounded) by the grace which was showered upon me for the night.

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

Bass-playin' Brice

On the third day, our instrumentalists joined us.

Brice (pronounced Breese), a small, soft-spoken and very, very sweet bass player sat on a stool to play his bass, which towered over him.

For all his sweetness, he was a beast on the bass. He began to study the bass at age 18 (I couldn’t even guess how old, or young, he is now?) and also told us how he took a fiberglass bass into the Cameroon Rainforest and lived and made music with the aboriginal people there. (When asked if he had a teacher there, he replied “I had a friend.” *smile*)

His wife and toddler son visited us often throughout the week.

On Brice’s first (or was it second) day with us, we broke into smaller groups — mine had 5 of us in it — and got to create duets with him. Here is an excerpt of the piece I created with him. (You can hear some of the “accompaniment” provided by the city — and nearby construction workers — in it. *smile*)

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

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Gunga with some of his instruments

Gunga is a percussionist who has lived in Amsterdam for over a decade, but still speaks with a thick Scottish brogue. Rhiannon labeled him the “trickster,” and he certainly put us through our paces.

Take the exercise where I had to harmonize with him as he played whistling tubes as an example. Gunga played them beautifully and with much more subtlety than you might imagine would be possible. He displayed incredible musicality while playing all these instruments he has constructed mainly from children’s toys and what we might consider “non-musical” items.

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

As the week progressed, he joined us often and became more and more tender with our group and vice versa. (I even got a smooch on the cheek during our final concert Friday. *smile*)

On our fourth day (Wednesday), my small group (the same 5 singers) worked on duets with Gunga. Here is a snippet from that duet.

[Oops! You\'ll have to visit songtaneous.com/blog to listen.]

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Both Gunga and Brice (and our dance instructors, too) were incredibly generous in the time they gave to us. They came for extra sessions and added so much to the rest of our week. I really enjoyed improvising with them and now I am thinking about how I might work with instrumentalists in my own projects.

Mati Elias

On Monday, our first guest — Mati — joined us to do movement work. I admit to feeling apprehensive about this. Before we arrived, Rhiannon asked us to think about how we experience our bodies in performance? Umm … okay?

(As you might have guessed, this is something I had never thought about. *wry grin* So I felt pretty sure that I was going to struggle with connecting my voice and my body.)

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But, as is usually the case during these weeks, things that might be challenging in other contexts or environments “just were.” A large part of it I’m sure is the trust the group built over the course of the year. After all, it is much easier to be vulnerable and to try new things when you’re not worried about your classmates judging you. (And I never was. *smile*)

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Once I let go of the idea that there was a way I was “supposed” to move, everything just kind of worked. Now, I am not saying that I turned into an expert, but I did find ways that the movement helped me find more in what I was singing.

A lot of the time as singers, we get kind of stuck (physically) in one place, in front of our microphone or in our little corner of the stage. Staying in one spot or position is a made-up rule – we can break the rules when it makes (musical/artistic) sense to do so. (I’m actually exploring these rules in the Fringe show in which I’m currently performing.)

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Mati really put us through our paces (I took a looonnnng  bath that night *grin*) but it was interesting and enlightening to sing after doing so much movement with my body. For me, it really grounded my singing.

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Martine van den Dool

On Thursday, we worked with Martine. A long-time friend and collaborator of Rhiannon’s, Martine is a dancer who has studied modern dance and improvisation, as well as singing. She brought movement “games” and exercises to the group designed to help us sense the the space that we were in and to notice who else and what else was happening in the space.

Martine challenged us to work to perceive what the audience might see in our movement. She also helped us to use larger and more kinds of movements (particularly important to me, since I don’t always feel comfortable moving. *smile*) I liked that she required that we work through the exercises “without drama,” meaning that even when we were felt we were making mistakes, we didn’t need to get upset, anxious or excited about them.

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With both Mati and Martine, getting to watch others and practice my own movement reinforced how powerful movement is. Even errant or unconscious movement. To the audience, movement communicates something.

I also find I am more and more curious about and connected to this idea of the voice as an organic instrument. The movement sessions were great chances to think about using my entire body to sing, not just my larynx and lungs.

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Both Mati and Martine joined us in our final performance. (I’m hoping to get video soon. *smile*)