An Unexpected Gap in my teaching ...
A couple of nights ago I was able to do something that I can only occasionally do > sing in a monthly CircleSinging group that has been meeting in an Oakland Church for nearly a decade. The large downstairs room not only was very resonant, but sound also rang through the entire bottom floor of the building—a singer's dream, for sure.
About mid-way through I was invited by the facilitator, David Worm, to improvise in the middle of the circle as well co-lead by creating new parts for the 40 or so participants. Fortunately, David and I sung together in my vocal group, The Mirabai Ensemble, for five years, and even though we have been a bit out of touch in the last year, it was remarkable how easy it was to swim in the waters of spontaneous composition. As many as six different vocal parts weaved their way into a beautiful mosaic, like a rain forest after a sudden downpour. Even though I was concentrating on all of the complexity and reacting to what was developing, I experienced time as moving very, very slowly. Within a couple of minutes my breath deepened and slowed down, not unlike what I feel like when receiving a good massage. To quote Neil Young, "And when it was over it felt like a dream..."
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