Poem 0168 (for Anita): demonstration

Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on August 15, 2011 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment

Outside my morning window, two birds are having a bit of a chat.
It seems that they want to demonstrate that they each can sing
A song of their own choosing.

Amazing how such so-called “unintelligent” creatures understand
So deeply for what they were created: to sing their own simple
Song and not worry about critiques.

We ultra-smart humans on the other hand can create bountiful
Arguments and conundrums in our own favor; eradicating whole
Days dedicated to the pursuit.

I think it’s time for me to simply sing — ignoring anything from smiles
To stern glances — and carry on for my own bemusement and joy:
Even to the end of the morning.

Poem 0125 for Anita: song 2

Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on March 16, 2011 under Stan Stewart | 2 Comments to Read

When the mouth opens
And partakes of the air about it,
Anticipation fills the void.
For in the song, there is no
Emptiness.

It is full:
Of you, of itself, of the world.
This song, each song,
Sung by the new singer.

For temerarious muscle
Must move and connective
Tissue alongside vocal organs
Will tremble with the sounds
This body is evoking.

“I am me.” The song cries.
It does not matter what literal
Words are uttered. This is the
Real song.

“I am my own self and I claim
This breath, this air, this soundwave,
This energetic moment as
A true expression of me.”
Even the humming, the wordless song recites
This mantra.

Then, as the sound of the song
Abates, the impassioned and
Invigorated self knows the empowerment
Of “I am” and the singer
Soon enough
Longs to repeat the act
Of singing
Once again.

~ by Stan Stewart

Copyright © 2011 by Music for the Moment, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

125/1,000

circle singing and being open-hearted

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…

(Inter)Play

Posted by Stan Stewart (Sawyer) on November 19, 2009 under Stan Stewart | Be the First to Comment

Anita and I will be heading to Oakland, California tomorrow, to join with other InterPlay leaders in a day of play, reunion, and celebration on Saturday.  I enjoy playing with other people who like to play.  I’m really looking forward to some (Inter)Play.

I consider improvisation to be a highest form of art.  Having heard the mantra “just improv” from other artists too many times, I’ve been continually more and more committed to improvised music and dance and storytelling over the past decade.

Back in 1999, I became “certified” (if not certifiable) in InterPlay, an active, creative way to unlock the wisdom of the body.  Under the mentorship of Phil Porter and Cynthia Winton-Henry, I moved from a clunky techno-geek to being a slightly less clunky techno-geek — which was a huge change. Above all, I learned that I really do have a body and that it really does inform me about almost everything about me. This was — and still is — a miracle.  No matter how “spiritual” I may be (or believe myself to be), I will always be a body in this life.  The other thing that I learned is that improvised art (dance, storytelling, singing, instrumental music) is an incredibly cathartic and artful experience.  Both of these learning have stayed with me 100% over the years.

What I imagined I’d be telling you about in this post is my passion for improv.  Now that I’m here typing this, I find that words are insufficient for what I want to get across.  So let me try this scattershot approach:

The Exformation round card from the InterPlay Inspiration Deck

• improv art informs my whole self (InterPlay is also about integration of body/mind/spirit)
• when I practice my improv artforms I am more grounded and vulnerable
• improvisation is an exformation (this is what InterPlay calls moving information out of the body) — I (and I would say all humans) need exformation to stay healthy and conscious
• improvising connects with now — how Zen can ya get?

So sing a little song, tell a little story, dance a little dance in the name of now.  It’ll be good for your body, mind and soul.

Bless you.  Bless me.