“Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you …”
– Johnny Richards & Carolyn Leigh
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Congratulations to my “big sis” (make that Dr. big sis!) on depositing her dissertation on the same day I made it to Paris.
Twins, whaddya gonna do? *grin*
"It's all a blur." – Dr. Big Sis
"Ooh la la!" – sg in Par-ee
(As my German friends say,) Wau, where to begin?
A week ago, I completed the final in-person intensive of the improvisation course I have been taking. Called All The Way In, 21 of us studied together for a year and met three times (in Europe) to practice skills, build relationships and strengthen our spontaneous singing.
We met for the final week in Amsterdam and focused on collaborating, performing and sharing our music. I stayed a couple days after the course to rest up and get some one on one time with some of my classmates. (I even snuck in a trip to Paris!)
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After a few days in Madison to combat the worst of my jetlag, I drove home yesterday.
What a shock! (or something less polite *grin*)
So. It was 59 degrees and raining when I left Amsterdam, wearing jeans, a scarf and my trusty fleece. And yesterday, we reached 97 with a heat index of 105!
The bizarre change in temperature sort of reflects how I feel about ending my year-long course of study. Bewildered, bemused and a bit stupified.
I don’t even know what to say about the trip. We sang and danced (and sang) and worked with instrumentalists (and sang). We laughed and cried. Oh, and we made beautiful spontaneous music.
I am still organizing (and receiving) photos, audio and video files. I’ll post them as I have the time and energy.
For now, here’s the group after our Friday night concert. (They loved us. *smile*)
The All The Way In 2010-2011 class, post concert.
Valandra!, Manke, me and Libby before the event.
So.
I planned to share some audio from my Saturday night gig at the Guthrie in today’s post, but my Saturday didn’t quite go according to plan.
Long story short, I left my recorder, the necklace I wanted to wear and my purse at home. (Fortunately, I brought some cash to get out of the parking ramp or it could have been a complicated evening. *rueful smile*)
But as my work in improv has taught me, you have to stay in the present in order to participate. So I released my disappointment (and expectations) and chose to be in the moment with my beautiful fellow singers.
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It paid off, we sounded great! We kicked off the musical lineup for the evening with the first of two “mini-sets.” In between our sets, violinist David Sutton did his magic from the catwalks. With a loop-er and some pedal effects, he made his violin sound like a quartet! We came back on stage for another two numbers, including a beautiful improvisation based on a round (By the Waters of Babylon) Ms. Libby taught us.
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I missed the juggler, Cale, who apparently dazzled despite being on crutches. (Actually, I heard he incorporated them into his act. *grin*). And then MC Dan Chouinard chatted up the event guests as up-and-comers Cedar Avenue got ready for their set.
We moved into the fundraising portion of the evening and while I don’t know how much money Pfund raised, I can report that the action during the live auction was fast and furious! *grin*
Dan and Lori (Dokken) did a duet accompanied by Dan on accordion and then Michael Monroe took the stage with his midi guitar. With it, he showed us how he can become an entire band, playing drums, bass and other instruments on the guitar and singing backing vocals for himself. Again, all with the help of looping technology.
The sizzling salsa septet 7 Steps to Havanna got the crowd on its feet to end the evening with dancing although I admit taking time out from the dancing to sample the Guthrie desserts. *smile*
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P.S. Thanks to Dan Chouinard for snapping the photo of us!
