Thursday, January 22, 2009

Music as a Lifeline

I just finished watching War Dance, a moving 2007 documentary about children from a village in civil-war-torn northern Uganda. The focus is on a national music competition that the children prepare for, and shows the power of music and dance to help lift the children out of the tragedy of their lives. Most are orphans whose parents were killed by rebels. Watching Rose, a pre-teen, tell her story of soldiers lifting her mother's and father's heads out of a cooking pot to identify them, is heartbreaking and almost too much to take. She says, "when I saw my mother's head, I felt like I was losing my mind."

She lives with an aunt who sees Rose mostly as a tool to bathe the children, cook meals, do laundry, clean the house, and a myriad of other chores; we see Rose being threatened with a beating if it's not all done right. One wonders how on earth this child has any spirit left, and it's easy to think there's no hope for her.

But then we see her singing with a choir and preparing her costume for the traditional dance part of the competition. Her aunt doesn't want her to go. But we hear her voice tell us, "my heart tells me I must go, so I am going."

And there's the boy who carves and builds his own xylophone for the musical part of the competition. We watch him shave blocks of wood until the sound is right to his ear. If it doesn't sound the way he wants it to, he somehow knows how to shave off just the right amount for the correct tone.

I kept thinking about the parallel to what the slaves had to go through in our own country. It's not that far removed a story. The beatings, watching one's relatives killed or taken away by force, the fear they must have lived under. All of it is common. And, sadly, it still goes on.

But it is a wonder to behold the power of music and dance to lift these children out of horrible circumstance into a second, a moment, an hour of transformation, infusing them with the strength and the grace to carry on. These children have nothing to hope for but the possibility of winning the competition. We see how it drives them, how it gives them pride and hope for better things.

During the dance competition, Rose puts it all into perspective: "When I dance, my problems vanish. The camp is gone. I can feel the wind. I can feel the fresh air. I am free and can feel my home."

I'm struck by how so many us of have similar feelings when singing gospel music. And that's why it's important for us to keep on with our mission of bringing the songs and their history to as many people as possible. "We are free and we can feel our home." I'll bet the slaves felt that, which gives Rose's words even more poignancy. Our problems vanish, no matter what difficulties we struggle with. And that's what makes gospel music universal and everlasting. To see the African part of where it comes from in this film was powerful, to say the least.

Watch the movie if you can. It will change you.

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Opening for Sweet Honey in the Rock! Rehearsal at the Merrill last night....

Wow, what a privilege. Ten of us from Rock My Soul, combined with 10 members each from the Brunswick Naval Air Station and Women in Harmony choirs, rehearsed last night at the Merrill Auditorium in Portland. On January 18, as an opening act for Sweet Honey in the Rock, we'll sing 3 songs: "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired" by Rev. James Cleveland, "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Round," (a traditional spiritual turned Civil Rights song) and "Total Praise" (not sure who the author is). All are so inspiring! Everything came together last night--what a sound! Everyone is so excited; it is such an honor to be part of this concert, which will serve to raise money for the Portland chapter NAACP. Here are some photos of us rehearsing....









Kalli leading "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired"Tracy and Brett, joking as alwaysSteve (left, on piano) and Kalli leading BNAS
I'm hoping we can get a grant to fund Steve and Kalli to come to some of our rehearsals and lead us in the near future. I love the way they teach everything by ear and feel. As Steve and I were saying last night, it helps us sing from the heart and not the head. Their approach reminds me of the one Sister Alice Martin used with our workshop in Omega a couple of years ago (see the July 2006 post on this blog). Very refreshing! I'm truly enjoying working with them--they're great guys.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Finally, time to write again!

I am embarrassed that I haven't written for more than a year, and more than a little stunned that so much time has passed so quickly! The good news is that Rock My Soul has been going full steam ahead, and things are getting more and more exciting. The not-so-good is that it's hard to keep up the pace, so I'm working on creating balance and letting go of things I don't need to hold on to (at least, that's what I've resolved for the new year). I hope our readers will bear with me as I make the transition!

A few of us are gearing up now for a mass choir performance with 2 esteemed choirs from the Portland, ME area: Women In Harmony and the Brunswick Naval Air Station choir (BNAS). We are especially excited, because, thanks to the support of Rachel Talbot Ross from the Portland NAACP, we'll be opening for Sweet Honey in the Rock at the Merrill Auditorium on January 18! We'll perform 3 songs together, and I for one feel privileged to learn from Steve and Kalli, co-directors for BNAS. I think members of RMS feel the same. What an honor this will be!

I brought my camera to last night's rehearsal, but due to the excitement of learning 2 songs and directing one, I totally forgot to take pictures. However, I promise to bring the camera AND take photos so I can upload them right after next week's rehearsal.

More later....
Dawn