BAY AREA VOCAL IMPROVISATION & COMMUNITY MUSIC
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What Shall We Do Without Us?

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May 2017

​I read on the internet to gather some of this info. I love my iphone, I enjoy facebook, and I work on my computer a lot of the time. Now some of my music is scanned into my computer and youtube is a good ol’ friend. Yah, all this technology is super helpful with
my process as a musician fo sho!
 
But I don’t have to tell you that we are crazy knee deep into technology in a way that sometimes keeps us from connections with others. The level of entertainment, curiosity fulfillment, and time wasting available online is beyond measurable. The gift of this for me is that I massively value sitting in front of a friend eating a meal or sharing a cup of tea. I am happy when I am in a dance class and I get to laugh and connect with others. When I am in nature being with the silence and natural sounds, I feel my cup is full. And I am elated when I get to be in a circle singing with others!
 
No mater what has happened that day, that week, I get a massive recharge. My endorphins start to dance and the happy thang comes over me. Because I am getting to look in your eyes, feel the spirit of your song, or dance and laugh with you.
 
So, checking out your connections on facebook is fun, but have you thought about the neural connections you are reinforcing in your brain when you are making music?
 
“It’s really hard to come up with an experience similar to that” as an education intervention, said Gottfried Schlaug, the director of the Music and Neuroimaging Laboratory at Harvard Medical School. Not only does it require attention and coordination of multiple senses, but it often triggers emotions, involves cooperation with other people, and provides immediate feedback to the student on progress, he said. Music, on its own, has also been shown to trigger the reward area of the brain, he noted. [1]
 
So, my dears…it appears that coming together to do activities with other humans is becoming one of the basic needs for nervous system regulation and perhaps the survival of our relationships.
 
Stay with us, we are here…
 
Art by Kenneth Patchen

[1] Published in Print: Education Week
November 25, 2013
Studies Highlight Brain Benefits From Music Training
Vol. 33, Issue 13, Page 6

 

Safe, Synchronous Singing in July

6/24/2020

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Solstice Greetings, Happy Juneteenth, Happy Pride, and let’s keep raising our voices for equality and justice!
 
I continue to hold space in my heart for all BIPOC all over the planet, that hearts may heal, voices may continue to peacefully rise up, and that legal systemic changes that we can each stand for can till the land of outdated paths that have been so deeply entrenched.
 
Every day is a new education for me, and I pray that I may remain humble and teachable as I discover my own ignorance and blindness.
 
We’re over 3 months into the Covidian Era, and I am still without hugs. WHAT?!?! Y’all know how crazy that is for me! I have no housemate to argue with, which is lovely, but the other side of that is that I have not yet created a safe pod of peeps to cuddle with. A work in progress…touching feet has been a intermediate activity that brings a surprising amount of satisfactory oxytocin!
 
Some of you remember the day pictured above at Point Pinole. Ahhh…the joy of singing together. Since singing of all kinds has primarily been transferred online, and I have contended with my inner NO (Not Online), while slowly adapting and scanning life for where the YES (Yummy Energy Source) is, I started to daydream and the images of spacious connection outdoors with plastic face shields begun to surface, because another oxytocin releasing activity is eye contact.
 
No longer a daydream, for last week I did a pilot class. We had a good time, we could hear each other, and felt safe.
 
So, guess what?!?!
 
Bay Area Vocal Improv is back in real time!
 
Six Week Series:
 
Tuesdays:  July 7 – August 11, 2020
 
7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
 
Large private back yard in Elmwood
(location disclosed after registration)
 
Your own face shield will be provided.
 
There is an empty cottage on the premises for bathroom use.
 
Registration closes on July 5, 2020.
 
Sliding scale for the series: $60 - $150
20% of proceeds will go to Black Futures Lab (https://blackfutureslab.org/about/) Project.
 
Max 8 participants for space safety
 
You can register HERE and you will receive NO Zoom link - - YAY!!!!!!  J
 
But you will receive a confirmation, instructions, a waiver to sign, and the address.
 
Love upon love and may the voice be with you,
 
Renée


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  • UPCOMING EVENTS
  • Contact
  • About Renée
  • Blog