One of the differences in this third week of singing was that we worked with more guests and did more singing in public. We also spent more time working with movement.

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.)

…

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*)

…

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.)

…

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.

…

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.

…

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.

…

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

 

 

(Here is part 2 of my “report” on my recent trip to Amsterdam. ~sg)

On Sunday (7/1), my week of classes began. We met for our daily singing sessions in a lovely space called De Roos (The Rose).

My roommate Sarah and I walked to the park the first day and only got a little bit lost because it turns out De Roos is located in the Vondelpark. (The Vondelpark is a 120-acre park within the city).

De Roos has several rooms (we had our assigned space for the week), as well as a cafe, gift shop and lovely outdoor patio. (I ate lunch on the patio almost every day. *smile*)

…

The staff were very kind to us (even when we were boisterous), from my front desk buddy Ruben to the lovely and efficient young woman (whose name I never learned *frown*) who worked in the cafe and told me on the day of our concert, “Good luck! You look beautiful.”

…

We spent the first day getting musically reacquainted by working in duets, trios and quartets. Here’s a short excerpt from a quartet I created with Rahel, Juerg and Paula.

[audio:http://songtaneous.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/2011-08-01-quartet.mp3|titles=2011-08-01-quartet]

…

Afterwords, we went into the Vondelpark for an impromptu (dare I say improvised? *grin*) picnic of take-out Thai food — Holland is geographically close to a lot of Indonesian countries so they have a lot of Asian food there — and afterwords headed to Vertigo Cafe (also in the park) for a nightcap. It stays light until after 10pm so it was easy to be out quite late without really knowing it. *smile*)

Lucky for us, Vertigo was situated conveniently between De Roos and the Vondelkerk, our performance venue. (Especially since the two days it rained during the week were the days of our public community singing event and our showcase performance.)

Arriving in Amsterdam

I arrived in Amsterdam on Friday, July 1 (having left most of Thursday somewhere over the ocean) at about 1:30 in the afternoon. I arrived a couple of hours later than planned due to a delay in my flight from Detroit.

Upon arriving, Margreet (Nicoline’s sister) collected me from the airport and took me back to her apartment to wait for my friend and class copilot Nicoline. In her lovely apartment, she made me a coffee and gave me access to her wireless Internet while she finished some work. I emailed family and friends to tell them I had arrived and then attempted to stay awake (*yawn*)

…

Nicoline arrived about 4:30 to take me to my accommodations for the week — a lovely apartment in West Amsterdam. I would be rooming with my German classmate (and former roommate) Sarah who would arrive on Saturday.

After climbing an impressive flight of stairs (“Sorry, it’s Amsterdam,” quipped Nicoline) and getting a tour of the place, I threw my suitcase and backpack in the corner, changed clothes and went out in search of food. We had the use of our host’s bike, but I didn’t feel up to the adventure of biking having been awake for 20-some hours. (Traffic in Amsterdam is cuh-razy!)

With my trusty map, I headed out in search of the De Roos (aka “The Rose” where we would meet for our daily singing sessions) to get an idea of how long it might take to walk there the next day. I made it about half-way and then headed back home to eat (and sleep). I stopped by the grocery store and managed to buy a few groceries with the euros I had left from my trip to Tenerife. (Good thing I had those euros, too! Much of my trip was spent figuring out how to get cash since my debit card wouldn’t work in the Netherlands. Grrr.)
…
My classmate Paula also arrived Friday night and, with some regret, I turned down her invitation to visit the Van Gogh museum (they have live music on Friday nights), but at that point, I had been up for more than 24 hours and I just couldn’t do it.

(I never did make it to the museum. *frown* Oh well, next trip, right? *smile*)
…

Saturday, Paula and I met to walk around the city. I was starving (my primary jet lag symptom, it seems) so we stopped at a cafe for a coffee and sandwich. While we were sitting there, Juerg (another classmate) biked by. (He was wearing a bright orange and yellow backpack or we might not have seen him.) The three of us went to another restaurant for another coffee (they drink a LOT of coffee in Europe *smile*) and then I headed home to wait for Sarah to arrive.