You can sing. Yes you can!

Listen Edith, I know you're singing and you know you're singing, but the neighbours may think I'm torturing you. - Archie Bunker

Archie Bunker said all kinds of stupid things. Luckily, Edith was good-natured enough, and smart enough, not to listen to him most of the time.

I’ve met too many people who have told me that they were told that they can’t sing. Not just, “I can’t sing.” But, “My mom or my teacher, someone said so. So, I won’t sing, don’t sing.”

This really bothers me.

Everyone can sing, should sing. People sing differently. Some will like your voice, your style, and others won’t. We’re not all expected to be Celine Dion or Sarah Brightman, Pavarotti or Elvis. But, when everybody’s singing American Pie or 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall, you should join in. It feels good.

Sing in the car. Sing with your baby. Sing to your plants, your garden. Sing when you’re cooking. Sing when you’re vacuuming. Sing when they don’t expect it.

Sometimes during a quiet moment at the dinner table, or while everyone’s reading, I’ll sing a little something. Lately, my little something is: Grab somebody sexy: tell him, Hey!

I feel the same way about dancing.

It bothers me when people don’t dance and say they can’t dance. Bah. Just do it. It feels good. Don’t let anyone tell you you’re not a good dancer. If they do, don’t let it stop you. Moving to music is heavenly. I take every opportunity I can to dance.

I’m not going on TV to dance with the stars. I dance in my kitchen. I dance in the basement. I dance at concerts. I dance at weddings, all night long.

I got a really great greeting card once that said: Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth. Mark Twain said that first. Smart guy.

Try to sing and dance and love more. It feels good.

Yours in harmony,

Renate

Dances with seniors

Hello Everyone!

The YRCC had fun last night at Sunrise Senior Living in Aurora. We were upstairs on the third floor with the folks that can’t usually make it to a concert downstairs.  

The music moved her

Some of them were very lively, though. Several of us danced with one of the seniors! She had a great time. I like it when our music moves our audience so much and they feel comfortable enough that they get up and dance. It happens. I can totally relate. I love moving to music and can’t always control myself.

Sit down

Others were not so happy about her getting up and moving. They asked her to sit down. I understand their point of view too. It’s a bit distracting having someone dancing. But, I wanted to say to them, “Get up and join her. Dance while you still can. And if you can’t, at least be happy for someone who still can.” You’d think that seniors would get that. I hoped that they could see that we were fine with it so they could relax too.

We like our seniors’ performances to be casual and fun. We interact with the audience, talk to them and include half an hour of sing-alongs.  Some of our music is pretty impressive and we look great with our black bottoms, white tops and pretty red scarves. Maybe that’s a signal to some people to sit and behave. Or, maybe they want to look at us. If someone is standing, they can’t see.

Distraction

We do hear some funny comments about how we look. Last night, someone pointed out to me that Michael wasn’t wearing a red scarf a couple of times (until I put one on him) and another pointed out that she could see lots of toes (-it was hot). I always tell the choir that they can be more relaxed at the seniors’ homes, and wear short sleeves, short pants or skirts and have bare legs because it’s hot and we’re trying to be informal.

For our public shows, we’re fussy. We have our pretty red scarves with gold music notes. We wear white shirts with long sleeves and black pants or skirts with black hose and shoes. We don’t want anyone distracted by our clothing or shoes. One pair of white socks, or bare legs, and that’s all some people will see.  We work really hard on our music. We want them to focus on that.

Appreciation

When an audience is sitting and listening and then they clap, it’s good. When they are moving and clapping and singing along, and then shout out at the end, it’s heavenly. Yesterday, several people spoke to me after the concert to tell me how much they appreciated it, and to ask if we could come back. Even one of the ones who was sitting quietly and without expression throughout called me over to say thank you.

This time, it was especially important to hear that all went well, because it was actually fairly stressful for us, and did not go as well as we would have liked it to. It was far from perfect. We had trouble with the space, with not being able to hear or see each other, and issues with our equipment. We had a very shaky start. Throughout the program there were challenges. Still, we had some truly beautiful moments.

Sharing

I’m so lucky be the conductor. I get so much more face time with our audiences. I talk to them during the show. I was the first dance partner last night. I’m the one that most people seek out at the end to say thank you to. I try to remember to share that with the choir. This blog is another opportunity to do that.

Don’t worry. They loved us. We worked hard and we were good.

Yours in harmony,

Renate