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If troubled times compel you towards the deepening of culture work, you long to step beyond being entertained and instead be involved in music making, you’re moved by the works of Martín Prechtel, Stephen Jenkinson, Vanessa Andreotti, Manchan Magan, Dougald Hine, you’re interested in ancestral skills, permaculture, community building, sustainable living, wholistic economies…. this may be a fit for you.Though the above examples don’t draw an obvious line towards a singing day, for me they’re a broth of influences which stir the ways I raise my voice in response to the increasingly polarising and fretful times we’re living into. I’ve lived in off-grid community, joined direct action movements, immersed in communication/deep listening training,…again and again recognising systemic patterns mirrored in interpersonal relationships. So I’ve searched wider, deeper. I’ve found myself drawn to the understory study of ‘how did things get to be this way?’ Refusing to glibly accept that humans are innately short sighted, selfish, dominant…that they always have been and it’s inevitable for this path to continue…that there’s nothing to be done…even though, yes, we continue to blunder with tragic consequence.
So these are some examples of people and ways of being/doing who illustrate to me that there have been other ways of crafting relationship in the world, relationships faithful to limits and true health, for all relations. Ways of thriving and feeling good in life while holding ourselves accountable to harm and responding accordingly. Throughout these enquiries, song has been a vital thread; bridging conflict, amplifying ceremony, enabling joy, supporting grief, fertilising planting/harvests, empowering resistance. Cultural histories where people have known and lived by its power. Song is in our bones, and throughout turbulent histories, across time and cultures, people have known and lived by it…and continue to.
So this is my invitation to you to join my exploration on November 22nd.
The shape of our time will look something like this (with a midway break – tea’s and coffee provided):
A brief greeting. A physical and vocal warm up bringing our awareness into the connectedness of our bodies and voices. Gradually learning a selection of songs which stir a pot of wonderings like those above. I teach songs step by step, call and response, layering into our collective memory until we’re weaving a rich basket of harmonies and rhythms. Whatever your singing experience or ability, your voice is tenderly welcomed and valued. More confident/experienced singers warmly support and include those who’ve lived with discouraging narratives. In this way, spells (“I can’t”, “my voice is unwelcome”) are de-spelled.
It’s my intention that we all come away loosened and nourished, with renewed strength to meet our daily living and systems with resolve to cherish life and support the possibilities and existing endeavours of interdependent communities sprouting and fruiting. I keep doing this work because people tell me this is what happens.
Cost: Pay What You Can. Visit ticket page for full details of options: https://snappytickets.co.uk/event/still-we-sing-bristol/
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Event venue
BS2 9YP, Bristol, United Kingdom
Tickets
Concerts, fests, parties, meetups — all the happenings, one place.