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

 

Yes, We sang!

1/28/2020

1 Comment

 
Hello and Happy 2020!

I missed you last month! A BIG Thank You to my friend and colleague Pollyanna Bush for subbing my class in January!

I just got back from the amazing 4 day Replenish for Business Women's Retreat with Julie Wolk and her team, and I am feeling juiced up around upcoming offerings for this year! Stay tuned...

This month I facilitated a team of 45 Google executives at a summit designed to encourage collaboration among their peers.Many of these people did not know each other before the event and the team leader found that historically they were shy to connect. It was such a pleasure to work with this group – a mix of extroverts and introverts, most of which were unfamiliar with my work.

By the second day, one of the teams felt enough ease to begin making requests for inclusion of their ideas in the class I had formulated and we collaboratively created the next step.

This is improv right?!

It is constantly changing in the moment and I found that creating space for their contributions brought a sense of aliveness into their bodies, more willingness to risk, be goofy in the presence of their peers, and tap into their creativity, while also choosing their level of challenge. Witnessing this take place was the highlight of the experience for me and I am still glowing from it!
 
How we respond to change can set us apart as human beings and as leaders in our world. Neuroscientist Dr. Joe Dispensa speaks about how in order to create change in ourselves, we need to begin by disrupting our usual patterns by doing what we do differently. Take a different route to work, use your non-dominant hand to do things, add a new routine, look at things upside down, or learn a new language.

Is music your next new language?
This universal language brings humans of all demographics, color, size, shape, sexual preference, gender identity, and age together. You don't need know anything about anyone, you just play together.

Singing and making music together is probably the most ancient activity known to humankind. It's part of virtually every ritual around the world, rites of passage, celebrations, and grieving with community. In our present time, these rituals might encompass a faith gathering, a sporting event, such as the very coordinated chanting that happens in Japanese baseball games, a concert, a protest, or an honoring of an individual.

The unified field that is created when we sing together is the medicine for this time where we seem to be so split apart, and if you’re in for this singing evolution, join us as we enter 2020 knowing that at the end of the year we can say: “Yes, we sang!”

Through it all, we sing…

See you soon beloveds!

1 Comment
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  • UPCOMING EVENTS
  • Contact
  • About Renée
  • Blog