10:25am on a Thursday morning, just back from a challenging dance class and here we go. I have no work today, which is fine, as it's been a productive and enjoyable week with a number of fun gigs, so it feels fine to have a day to dance, write, do yoga and then go to the 'Self Compassion' talk at the library this evening. The announcement for it really caught my eye, though I'm often initially skeptical of 'self-improvement' type lectures. But this one felt different, and I'm going to check it out.
What felt different was reading the blurb about how we are trained to feel 'special' and how our self esteem is often wrapped up in our accomplishments... which can often lead to a roller coaster of highs and lows. I'm paraphrasing here, but that's what I remember from the announcement. That idea of our 'specialness' being a trigger for unhappiness definitely rang a bell with me, as I notice the same phenomenon in my life. So I will bestir myself to get down there for the free lecture with a professor Kristin Neff from U of Texas, and I'll find out what her research has shown her. It feels like a significant thing, and I'm open to learning about it.
But in the meantime, I'd like to write about some of the cool things that happened musically yesterday, starting with the Eugene Parent Child Preschool, where I've been music specialist for about 6 years. I was working with the 4's class who are about to graduate and I brought in some 'new material' for them, though the songs are ancient. One was 'High Hopes' which they liked a lot, and the other was 'Sipping Cider Through a Straw' which is a good one for echoing and general musicianship. Both went well, and then Otto said something about 'I know how to break dance'. I asked if he would show us and I played a little funky thing on the guitar and asked everyone to clap along while he danced. He was a little shy about it, though willing, and it was pretty cool. Then I had all the boys (who wanted to) try it and it was great. They were getting down, smiling, using their bodies in new ways, totally going for it.
Then it was the girls turn, and only two of them wanted to try it (which is totally cool with me). People should have the choice to try it or not. These two did a little duet, and not surprisingly, they were very tuned into one another, copying each others moves, rather than just 'doing their own thing'. I complimented them on that and taught that it's good to see what others are doing while you dance and sometimes you can join in with their ideas. Each group got to try it again and the dancing got more uninhibited and beautiful. More girls joined in the second time around, and now that I think about it, it would have been good to break the kids into two groups, but not based on gender. That's an easy choice, but not necessary. OK, next time... We're gonna revisit that one again.
In the evening, I had a first time gig at an 'Independent Living Center' with a group of seniors. I got there early, checked the piano and the room, started flirting with the old timers prior to the show. One lady said, 'Do you see her? She's 103 years old'. I should have resisted the temptation, but instead I blurted out, 'You don't look a day over 102' (I don't think she thought it was as funny as I did, but oh well, you win some you lose some. This was still 'pre-show' and I asked if any of them get to dance. One said, 'you can't dance with a walker'. And I said 'sure you can' and I grabbed a walker and did a couple of spins. The 103 year old said, 'don't make fun of us' and I said, no way, I'm not making fun at all. I told her about my friend Alito Alessi, who travels the world leading workshops on 'Dance-ability' in which every person, regardless of their mobility level gets to dance.
I started to play my set, and they were just a little bit subdued, a few singing along, some polite applause, but no juice. I did my best to liven it up, but the way they were arranged wasn't really conducive to building the energy. They were spread out a little too much, some over here, some over there, some in the back etc. After about 15 minutes, I had a brainstorm to go grab the percussion instruments out of my trunk and pass them out, just to increase the participation level. I said, 'hang on, I'll be back in 60 seconds' and I returned with my gear. At first people were reluctant to take something, 'no thanks, I'll just listen' (when the activities director tried to pass out a few instruments. I wasn't having that, so I started pulling instruments out, giving this guy a maraca, this one a tambourine, this one a guiro etc, until everyone had something. There was one 100 year old guy who didn't really respond when I approached him, until the person sitting next to him told me that he was blind. I gave him a tambourine and a stick and off we went.
I gave them the usual instruction. "When I say the number 4, everybody STOP" We played 'Dayo' We played 'Macnamara's Band', 'Hey Good Lookin' and people were into it. One old dude was digging the guiro, another lady was playing some good tambourine, while taking in oxygen through her nose. The 103 year old knew a ton of songs and made some suggestions, which I asked the activities director to jot down so I could learn them for next time. The hour went by quickly and they enjoyed it a lot. One of the best songs for the senior set is 'Always' by Irving Berlin. 'I'll be loving you always, with a love that's true, always...' I tell them, 'all you have to sing is one word and the word is 'always'. It gives them a place to come in, and it always works well. Nice tune, and Berlin was quite the master song writer.
After the gig, I went by Quackers for the weekly blues jam, and it was one of the best ever. My friend Rob laughs because I often say it was the 'best ever', but then again, I only tend to write about it when it's a great night over there. Last night there were tons of great players who showed up and we ended up going 45 minutes longer than normal. I played for about an hour or so until I got relieved by TR Kelley (female) who never shows up there. She's a great player. Chris Ward is a smoking guitarist who rarely shows up and I got to groove with him, and Skip and Josh and Darcy Lee on vocals, and some drummer I didn't know who was just fine. Like I say, there's nothing quite like grooving along with excellent musicians, locking in as a bass player, adding subtle and not so subtle changes to the music. In a way it's like steering the boat because the bass is a fulcrum between the rhythm and the harmony, so it's a great place to be when things are cooking, and damn, it was cooking last night.
And I got to dance with my friends beforehand, super fun improvisation, we've been doing it for a long time now and it's just a blast to have that freedom on the dance floor. Wow, gratitude and good exercise both. Que mas quieres? (now I need a rest....)
