Anita Bondi, Stan Stewart, Marci Molina and Susan Bradford
Posted by Marci Molina on August 27, 2011 under Marci Molina | 
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from our garden
Three tomatoes are walking down the street
– a poppa tomato, a momma tomato, and a little baby tomato.
Baby tomato starts lagging behind.
Poppa tomato gets angry, goes over to the baby tomato, and squishes him…
and says, ’Ketchup.’
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on September 16, 2010 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment
I just improvised a birthday song for a friend. It was so much fun that I thought I’d share it with you all. My “birthday” and any day gift to you. Enjoy!
(improvised lyrics to the tune of Skylark)
Birthdays are like any other day, these days.
And they come and go with ease and grace:
I watch them flow into the moon
While it brings brightness to your face.
May you have a birthday like none e’er before
May your time on earth be blessed and more:
May you have ev’rything you dream.
(bridge)
And on your birthday true,
may you be filled with inspiration’s kiss,
let this year be the
one that takes you to the sky!
It will lift you high.
Strange as it sounds it’s gonna make you fly, so
(back to verse)
Ride on, to a year that beats this birthday song;
To a path that opens up ahead
Like you’d been there all along –
With your heart so strong!
(final major seventh chord)
Bless you…
(copyright © 2010 by Music for the Moment, Inc., all rights reserved or reversed depending on my mood, etc., blah blah blah)
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on January 20, 2010 under Anita Bondi, Stan Stewart | 2 Comments to Read
Our Monday night InterPlay/improv dance class does a movement meditation on the theme of “easy focus” to a loop I created in the moment before becoming the videographer. Enjoy.
…And here, we do a favorite InterPlay improv form called postcards on Easy Focus. The round cards we’re holding up are from The InterPlay Inspiration Deck (created by Anita Bondi who also teaches the Monday night class).
You can see another version of this Easy Focus evening in the improv studio on the InterPlay Virtual Friday Blog.
Playful blessings…
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on December 1, 2009 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment
From a journal entry dated 3rd September, 2009, April Point, Quadra Island, British Colombia, Canada
Here’s my crackpot theory: people who in some way have “not been heard” are made most vulnerable by playing with creativity or performance techniques centered in the voice. Even if I’m wrong about generalizing, my own personal experience bears this out. And I’m inspired to reflect on this now because I’ve just completed my first workshop with Rhiannon at Hollyhock Retreat.
Making way for the trail at Hollyhock Resort
She’s an awesome teacher and performer (live and on CD). I’m finding renewed passion in myself as I enter into these playful techniques that she has been formulating for years.
It only took me a few hours of the workshop to be feeling deeply. My inner turmoil came to the surface when I was drafted into the role of beat-box in a quintet. Beat-box vocal percussion has been an elusive form for me. I’ve taken workshops in it, but have never been successful at making the techniques come to life in my mouth and vocal cords.
So, when it was my turn to be the “drummer”, I accepted the challenge. When it was over, I judged that I’d done poorly and felt ashamed. My impulse was to hide out and minimize the experience.
So I chose another direction. I outed my shame to the group in the sharing time.
Sunrise at Hollyhock
Bringing shame out into the open (in a safe group of people anyway) is almost always a cleansing and cathartic experience for me — and this time was true to form.
In subsequent improvisations where I needed to be the drummer, I used variations on TaKeDiMi: a vocal form in which I am more capable and practiced. (Thanks to Rhiannon and everyone else in that workshop community for creating the space for this to happen. There were many more examples of this sort of cracking open at Rhiannon’s workshop. They were experienced by other memebers of our community of 16, so they are not mine to share. It’s enough to say that my experience was not an isolated happening.)
The fact that the singing involved is spontaneous (improvised) is important as you can imagine. This is the song of the heart. That call of longing from the core. Vocal improvising cracks me open to my own yearning to be heard. Singing greases the wheel of desire that’s been waiting to roll out.
This is part of what calls me to improvised music and creating “songs” from improvisations.
Playful blessings…
Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on November 30, 2009 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment
20-some people sitting in a circle. Each one draws a card. Well, not everyone. There are 21 cards. Round cards. The InterPlay Inspiration Deck.
The 20-some must be 23. The last trio shares a single card.
We’ve been improvising (pure InterPlay) for hours. Stories. Movement. Intuition. As the card slides into my finger tips, I accept that now-familiar picture and story. It’s the Practice card. Again.
Each person in the circle, in turn, shares what the card brings out from their life or experiences of the day. Many quote from the card. I repeat the phrase (again): “She knows that to change your life, you just need to change your practice.” I enjoy that the message is an inspiration, a blessing. Not the heavy way that I’ve held this sentiment other times.
InterPlay Inspiration Deck display
The sharing is beautiful. People cry. There’s a tear in my eye. Anita is across the circle from me. She’s in the trio sharing the Incrementality card with two other women. She is telling us her experience of seeing the cards used in this circle in this way.
I am inspired.
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