Music!!!

Today, it has been confirmed that Mackenzie and I will be performing at the Goose Route Dance Festival in Shepherdstown, WV this summer. I need to make a short work to show in addition to the work I am already bringing which has sparked in me, a long-standing habit and pleasure: the music binge! I am a lover of music and truly enjoy searching for music that moves or inspires me in some way. In fact, I must admit that it was not dancers that inspired me first to want to dance...it was music that made me want to dance! And another perhaps surprising declaration is that I hear music all the time, in everyday circumstances, where many people may not think to pause and listen...the sound of my dishwasher, as it rinses the plates: Shoosh, shaa-shoosh! Or the sound of girls talking excitedly to one another: Dee dee-dee-dee! Or the sound of the drip from the faucet: ka-plink, ta-plink...

I have been fortunate enough to grow up in a house hold where music was a part of the usual going's-on. My father, a percussionist, housed his many sets and treasures in the basement, directly below me and Mackenzie's room. Every evening, I could be literally rocked to sleep, strong vibrations moving through my chest, a sonic massage. My mother exposed us to classical music, Patsy Cline and the Beatles. Every morning, bright and early, like clockwork, our parents would turn on the stereo to play the flavor of the day...blues, rock, jazz, salsa, gospel, country, and the list goes on. Mackenzie and I learned piano during the years between first grade and eleventh grade. And for a few years in there, we played violin.

Now, as a grown woman, I often find myself spending my time and hard earned money looking for the next sound I am to embody. I enjoy having music made specifically for me, but I also like the surprise of stumbling upon a lovely surprise on iTunes or at the book store or from the hands of a friend, who knows a guy, who knows the bass player for this underground band...

Tomorrow, there will be more binging to be had. I will have to keep myself from looking at my bank account for fear I might catch a dose of reality...

~Cara