Time Capsule

Kickin' it Old Skool Day Two, and I am having a lot of fun with this. Today's prompt has us capture  this moment in time.

What are you reading?
I haven't figured out a way for me to carve out time to read on a regular basis. Long commutes are great for reading, but my city life right now doesn't include that. Don't get me wrong, I don't miss long rides on crowded subways but I do miss having an excuse to read. My bad habit: I have trouble finishing books. Last week I had a longish trip and not having to drive gave me a chance to dig into Vocal River, the Skill and Spirit of Improvisation (by Rhiannon). I have followed Rhiannon for years, and she is such a completely satisfying and magical artist, weaving together impromptu music and words. She is also a master teacher, and I've had the opportunity to be in several workshops over the years. I grabbed this book as soon as I could, knowing that her life's work and wisdom would be here. It has moved me to tears several times already, something I didn't expect. I'm halfway through this book, and I do intend to finish it.

What are you watching?
I've been catching up on Disney animations I missed as a child. I recently watched The AristoCats and Cinderella, and Snow White is on her way. My television guilty pleasures are Dancing With The Stars and Long Island Medium. I love seeing the stars' growth and learning, cheering them on from my couch as they create and express more and more fully each week. I've been watching Long Island Medium thanks to Netflix instant play, and she and her family make me laugh (I was born and raised on the island) and I also get the welcome reminder that there's more to this life than what we can see.

What are you listening to?
As we are a two-musician household there's always a large variety of music on the stereo: jazz, contemporary classical, tango, singer songwriter, classic R&B, classical, folk, world, and just weird music that defies genre labels. At this moment, however, I'm listening to my guy work out some more creative arrangements of Christmas tunes he'll be playing at a gig tonight.

What are you loving?
I'm loving the spaciousness of my life this week. I just came off a month and a half of solid creative work and practicing music, and I'm enjoying a little break and some time to tune into what it is that I want to create next. Plus my brother and family are in town and I'm happy to spend time with them and my little toddler niece.

What are you wearing?
Today is a dress down day, jeans and a tee-shirt with a monkey on it. I do love getting dressed up too, for tango or for dinner.

What are you creating?
I'm in the middle of knitting a sweater for myself, based on a Craftsy class: The Perfect Fit Seamless Crazy Lace Cardigan. In the past couple of years I've become a knitting addict, and I'm not happy if there isn't a project on the needles. But I've also slowed down, and it seems like this sweater is taking forever. I'm looking forward to having a sweater I'll wear a lot, in a very practical everyday color. Gray. Ha!

What are you looking forward to?
I'm looking forward to getting more deeply into creating music for solo violin and electronics, but also to whatever new collaborations and inspirations may pop up. Also, I'm hoping that this holiday season is more relaxed and spacious, giving me a chance to savor and enjoy more, and also dream about what I want to create next year.

And now for the teensy bit of writing:

Parfait

Long and tall,
you sit on the formica counter
countering all hipness.
Our hips balanced on round vinyl buttons
held high on twisty chrome stands.
My short legs dangle from the red stool,
thighs sticking to unbreathing faux hide,
shorts too short to stop sweat from merging with seat.
The tug of gravity pinches sticky skin.
The pull of your high, cool pile,
sweet colors and textures
stacked in fluted, gleaming glass.

Grateful for an artistic community

This week for the Happy Book blogging group we're focusing on who we'd like to thank. I feel immense gratitude to be in the company of a group of talented people who create beautiful work together. The amazing dancer/improviser/teacher, Mark Lamb, has created this wonderful monthly event. It was his vision, and it was built through the wonderful contributions of those inspired by that vision. Dancers, choreographers, improvisers, musicians, cooks, pastors, even a baby. The circle grows larger and larger, and the salons keep getting better and better! At the salon last Saturday, September 11, I witnessed this beautiful piece called "Peace Requiem." May we honor those who have passed, not by waging war but by cultivating peace and compassion in our hearts and in the world.

Riding the wave

On Saturday I went to see a dance performance at Lincoln Center's recently reopened and simply beautiful Alice Tully Hall. Shen Wei Dance Arts performed a three-movement piece entitled, "Re-" that has me continuing to think about it, even now. The following evening, I had the chance to hear once again a segment of music used for one of the movements, only this time in the subterranean music venue, Le Poisson Rouge. Todd Reynolds, the violinist, introduced the piece he was about to play and explained that during the creative and rehearsal process it had taken on the name, "Killer." As I listened to the powerful and terrifying piece for violin and electronics in the dramatically dark club with its starkly lit stage, I could literally see the choreography from the night before. Actually, it was more like a kinesthetic inner compulsion fighting to emerge through my own body. I wanted to dance it. It struck me then: this music was such a perfect fit with that particular physical movement that the two had become inseparable in my mind.

I think music is meant to move us. Not only emotionally, but often literally. Some of my most cherished memories of music making are when body, breath and sound are riding on the same wave, the same impulse, moving as one. Try singing a line from a favorite song, investing it with the intention and the emotion the song calls for, without moving anything below your head. Completely unnatural, right? It hurts just thinking about it! But sometimes, I get so caught up in the technical challenges of trying to play or sing something that my body gets out of sync with my mind. In a recent practice session with other improvising vocalists, I was soloing over a delicious sonic bed my compadres had laid down when I felt compelled to step and gesture while I sang. I decided to go with it, and you know what? It all felt like one perfect thing.