Flamenco and more

I've been staying with a friend in South West Spain, flamenco country. The landscape is uncompromisingly hot and arid . In some of the beautiful parks in the towns there grow date palms, aloe vera, washingtonias, as well as a vast, gangling giant of a tree, a Ficus from Australia. Its hollow sounding roots extend out at head height, shaded by its enormous asymmetric branches, a tree that shelters and hosts innumerable species, including us below. In David Abram’s new book 'Becoming Animal' he describes us human beings as part of the interconnected web of nature. Often scientists isolate one part in order to understand it, but ultimately everything is connected to everything else. And then I ponder the superb flamenco performance we heard and saw one night . We were enchanted within the dancer’s passionate performance: the speedy and earthy rhythms of her feet, contrasting with the elegance of her fingers and the swooping and bending of her body. I felt I was experiencing a whole ecosystem in one, it was not just one art form, it was a system of art forms, and they mirrored the wider surrounding. They directly related to the passionate and harsh landscape from which it has grown. Maybe, as well as our bodies, culture evolves out of landscape too?

Walking the Cornwall coast path last week, happened up on a plaque on a barn in Cadgwith that mentioned singing.This led me to visiting the pub on the Friday evening, and boy was it the highlight of my holiday. Suddenly the pub was singing, led by several men, fishermen mostly. We had stumbled upon the real thing- a community singing for their own pleasure. We were welcomed to join in- traditional songs, some well known, some specifically Cornish. It felt like the beautiful rich bass voices led the songs, people joined in with harmonies, and interestingly, no-one clapped at the end. This was being IN the singing, not performing, there was no audience.

Sustainable farming project in El Salvador- needs our support

If you care about supporting subsistence farmers in a developing country to help themselves, to build sustainable farming practices, to build resilience to the effects of climate change, please go to this site: http://www.indiegogo.com/viva-permacultura?a=772826 Check out the short video, and contribute to their Crowd Funding campaign. I know Karen personally. She has devoted 12 years of her life to building up this inspirational project. Please, give what you can: 2 weeks worth of cups of coffee from Costa/Starbucks would be £30. Candy

SKYE singing holiday April 2011

Well, we all got there, mostly on the world famous scenic train journey from Glasgow to Mallaig, to gather in Armadale, on the Sleat peninsula in the south of Skye. We booked the Ardvasar community Hall for the week, both to sing in, also to gather, eat and hang out each evening. We were staying in some well appointed lodges up on the hill on the Clan Donald estate, overlooking the sound of Sleat, across to Knoydart.

We were a group of 25, from ages 15 all the way up to late sixties. Some had lots of singing experience, some had none. Michael was our wonderful cook for the week, cooking us superb 3 course meals each evening. We sang our hearts out every morning, took off for walks or car journeys in the afternoon to explore the spectacular scenery, returning early evening to eat, sing, and entertain ourselves.

On our last evening, we had a excellent evening sharing our songs, and cabaret acts, enjoying the talents within the group: a hilarious skit by Ani and Amie, our teenage singers, some numbers by our newly formed band, Betsy's USA dances, and Lizzie, performer and wordsmith, wrote the poem below. And we were blessed with 2 impromptu guests from France and Algeria- a student couple were walking and camping on Skye, heard the music, and were invited in to spend the evening with us, eating haggis and neeps, and joining in the singing. They spent the evening grinning from ear to ear.

Candy bedecked in hues of heather,

Conducted our choir whatever the weather

With songs from distant lands and times

Some in gaelic and some with rhymes.

Enthusing our group with her skills and grace

Harmonies flooded each voice and face

Robin with his ‘rovin’’ watchful eye

Took care of us all the island of Skye.

Michael a wizard of bread and dinner

Made us a feast, each night a winner.

For everything that you’ve done for us

Accept our gift of a rousing chorus

March 2011 Newsletter

I feel honoured that I have been invited to run another Soul Soundings, this time in Wells Cathedral on Wednesday 27th April, 7.30-9.30pm.

This is a unique opportunity: we will have the entire space to ourselves, to explore the resonance of this ancient and sacred building with the human voice, connecting us to each other, to spirit and to the building itself. We will move around the building, experiment with different tones, use echoes, drones and free singing, as well as learn some simple songs. This event is open to all, from experienced musicians to beginners, and we will learn music by ear.

If you are interested in coming, tickets are £12 adults, £5 children, available from Wells Cathedral Shop, or via paypal on the Workshops/Events page. All profits will go to Barenboim-Said Foundation, which promotes coexistence and interaction amongst cultures through music, and the spirit of peace, dialogue and reconciliation.

Testimonials from Bath Abbey Soul Soundings June 2009:

“Both for me and two other people who are completely new to this type of singing it was a revelation of the power and beauty of music, the human voice and singing. It was a perfect event which we will not forget.”

Recently Sounding It Out supported a very worthwhile charity called Peace Direct by travelling to London to sing in Paddington Station, to raise their profile and spread their hopeful message. They are celebrating International Women's Day with this inspiring video. Please do have a look and pass it on. www.peacedirect.org/justonewoman

And finally, do have a look at the Guardian newspaper, Travel section, on Saturday March 19th. There will be an in-depth article about a singing/walking holiday I recently facilitated for the Rambler Countrywide Holidays in Matlock Bath. We were privileged to have a journalist and photographer sing and walk with us for 2 days.

Here are some more photos of our time on Bardsey island, off north Wales, sent by Jayne from USA.
Is Claudia sounding the pan for dinner, drying it off, or summoning the spirits of the place?

Bardsey Adventure Holiday Sept 2010

Highlights: Singing to the seals down on the beach. They preferred some songs to others!
In the stillness of one balmy evening, we stood outside and sang "Shine on Me" to the lighthouse. Some people were moved to tears. At sunset, we had seen the outline of the Wicklow mountains 50 miles across the Irish Sea- just magical.
On our last evening, we invited everyone on the island to come and hear us sing the songs we had learnt all week, in the old school house. We probably attracted 50% of the island's visitors- about 10 people, including another choir leader from Shropshire.