Forms of community arts

[Ann Kilkelly]

I'd like to talk about singing and dancing as ways to create community. I just finished a workshop with Ysae Barnwell of Sweet Honey and the Rock, and it was a very profound experience of community and of history and of dealing with social issues, yet we spent most of our twelve or so hours singing. How does singing and/or dancing actually make community among the people "performing?" Any respones?

[Molly Henderson]

I have several ideas about why singing creates strong community so quickly, but I have no basis other than my own experience for them.

First, I think group singing is very Gestalt. The sum is so much greater than its individual parts. A person can be an active participant without anyone looking right at them, or hearing only them. Indeed, part of singing in a group is listening to the group in order to blend in. You must pay attention to what is going on in the group, and put yourself into that in a complimentary way. Group singing is about what the group can do, not about what individuals can do. And it is so easy to disappear into a group when you sing with them, so that you become a part, rather than an individual.

Secondly, singing and making music together make us very attunded to other's biological rhythms. When you sing with others, their voices literaly resonate inside your body, along with your voice resonating inside of them. I think it is very difficult not to connect with someone when your bodies are feeling the same rhythms and resonating the same sounds on a very physical level.

Finally, I think there is some connection with the idea that we can never hear our own voices. This was very difficult for me when I was studying voice. I worked an worked on something that I would only ever hear echoed. Recordings never really do you justice, and what we hear when we're singing is full of interferance from our own resonators. I'm not sure how this connects....we can only hear our voice through the reactions of others and therefore have to pay more attention to them than us? I'm not sure. But it seems to have bearing, so I thought I'd put it out there.

By the way, I'm a terrible speller. Sorry.

[Linda Frye Burnham]

Thanks for your thoughts on this. I have always felt this way too. Here's an item from an old edition of APInews that might interest you.

"A choir of human voices singing in harmony is the most elegant metaphor we have for a community that works," says Carol Estes in YES! Magazine’s Fall 2001 issue. She features community choruses like Victoria’s Getting’ Higher Choir (Can.), Eugene’s Peace Chorus (Ore.), Seattle’s Labor Chorus (Wash.) and the Labor Heritage Rockin’ Solidarity Chorus of the San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.). Choruses empower communities by "reclaiming their right to sing," but "we’re motivated by more than aesthetics alone," says Peace Choir Director Val Rogers. "We’re singing for liberation, singing for a better society, to reinforce values that are vital to us, and to reclaim some of our cultural commons." For this and more community-arts stories see YES! on the Web.

http://www.yesmagazine.com/19technology/estes.htm

[Herb]

Is there a group like this in Blacksburg?
If not, Id like to help organize one.
Herb