A Bunch Of Singing Fools
Sep. 27th, 2005 08:36 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chelidonLast night was the first rehersal for the winter production I've gotten involved with -- the story we're working with is the Russian folk tale, "The Fool of the World," and the music we're using is a mix of Russian and other Eastern European (Ukrainian, Bulgarian, etc) folk and choral arrangements, some of which last night we learned orally, no score, which is always fun. I've done Russian choral concerts in the past, and that music always takes me back to childhood, sitting in a Russian or Ukrainian Orthdox church with my grandmother and grandfather, ornate gold gilt dome above, surrounded by baroquely gold-encrusted paintings and glass and icons of the saints and apostles, the air thick with rolling clouds of pungent incense and the deep, rumbling earthy voices of the men singing in complex harmony, in waves of sound almost palpable, hypnotic. I'l say one thing -- I may not have chosen that religious path, but those folks knew how to do ritual, and how.
I'd kind of forgotten how much I enjoy being around amateur production company people, even more than the bits of pro and semi-pro work in my past. There's a wide range of ages, background, and experience, and everyone is connected by a deep love for the music, for the art, that really is lovely. There's no other reason for people to be there, than love. I find I'm glad to meet so many new people who come from in and around my community, with whom I can share this love. The artistic director, producer and most of the other key folks, some of whom have been involved with this production company for more than 20 years, are brilliant and inspired, not to mention hugely artsy-crunchy-- besides your usual theatre/choral warm-ups, we start rehersals with yoga, movement, chakra work, and lastly, a long period of intense toning that is nothing less than the creation of a living temple of sound -- a co-creative improvisational ritual, and this bunch of people do it more powerfully and spontaneously than most I've seen. And it's become a household thing for me, too -- one of my Lovely Housemates is in the production (soprano, natch), and another, who has a fine arts background, is going to be doing set design and creation, so we'll be able to come back home and talk about it and practice together.
Yum. Sometimes I forget how much doing the art I love, and being surrounded by people who are doing the art they love, feeds me. This kind of collaborative artistic expression serves as a very valuable counterbalance to all the time I spend focused on individual solitary work, writing, working on the house and land. mmmm, balance. Ah-yup.
I'd kind of forgotten how much I enjoy being around amateur production company people, even more than the bits of pro and semi-pro work in my past. There's a wide range of ages, background, and experience, and everyone is connected by a deep love for the music, for the art, that really is lovely. There's no other reason for people to be there, than love. I find I'm glad to meet so many new people who come from in and around my community, with whom I can share this love. The artistic director, producer and most of the other key folks, some of whom have been involved with this production company for more than 20 years, are brilliant and inspired, not to mention hugely artsy-crunchy-- besides your usual theatre/choral warm-ups, we start rehersals with yoga, movement, chakra work, and lastly, a long period of intense toning that is nothing less than the creation of a living temple of sound -- a co-creative improvisational ritual, and this bunch of people do it more powerfully and spontaneously than most I've seen. And it's become a household thing for me, too -- one of my Lovely Housemates is in the production (soprano, natch), and another, who has a fine arts background, is going to be doing set design and creation, so we'll be able to come back home and talk about it and practice together.
Yum. Sometimes I forget how much doing the art I love, and being surrounded by people who are doing the art they love, feeds me. This kind of collaborative artistic expression serves as a very valuable counterbalance to all the time I spend focused on individual solitary work, writing, working on the house and land. mmmm, balance. Ah-yup.
