We'd love to share with you our creative week of movement, music, gardens, virtual tours around the world, photos, and lots of meaningful moments of connection. Read below to find out how we creatively spent time together last week!
In Simon's Music is Life class we took a virtual tour of Simon’s and Kathleen’s sprouting gardens. The Artists took their cameras up close to see the abundance of life coming to bloom while listening to the soothing music of Erik Satie piano music.
We thought about all the ways that music can be found in nature:
The birds, they sit perched on top of the fence and they sing to one another
Water trickling, like a babbling stream
The lake, lapping on the shores. The waves make a beautiful noise!
We all marvelled at how this change in weather has an impact on us.
“It’s a hopeful time of year”
“People are smiling a whole lot more with the sunlight”
In Jenn’s Nia Movement & Music class we talked about nature and took a virtual tour around the world, exploring 20 of the most beautiful places to travel to.
One of the places we all agreed is beautiful is the Amalfi coast in Italy.
We decided that traveling by helicopter would be the most exciting way to experience the wonders of the world including flying over and into an active volcano. One of of our members has done this in Hawaii and highly recommends it!
Lake Joseph is a special place for one our members who remembers sharing her natural gift of swimming with her kids and then her grandkids.
We looked at how the English language is highly influenced by nature with its use in idioms. Here are few that we shared:
“I’m shaking like a leaf” - to tremble
“To turn over a new leaf” - we thought that only happens in a perfect world, most people are not able to do that!
“A thorn in my side” - someone who is a nuisance!
“Tip of the iceberg” - it’s the unknown
“Barking up the wrong tree” - It’s when you don’t know what you are talking about.
In Steve's Piano Concert and Music History class we discussed pictures and stories. Pictures tell such a rich story, especially those taken by your own camera! Steve and Simon shared their amazing shots of moments in their lives and told the stories behind their images. Here are a couple of images that they shared that open up meaningful conversations.
The picture below was taken when Steve placed his telescope in front of his camera and captured this beautiful image of the moon. One participant said “You are very observant, how much we miss if we forget to take in the moment!”
Simon shared a beautiful photograph of the magic of water lilies weightlessly sitting atop of a still lake. Someone jokingly said “Didn’t Monet hire someone to dust his water lilies, because they always looked so perfect!”
Steve shared a very evocative image of a spotlit stage of the Montreal Jazz Festival right before his trio came out to play.
We marvelled at how music plays a special roles in our lives, so we took the time to think about “What does music mean to you?” in one or two words. Here's what we shared:
Clarification, “It sorts things out for me”
Love
Bring me alive
Wiping out the bad stuff
Transports you
Calming, gentle
Enjoyment
Everything becomes very nice
In Robin's Singing & Songwriting class, we were very spontaneous. Robin had planned an underwater theme and then, as it happens, we were inspired by our cultures, so we went with flow as they say. We ended up exploring what it means to be Canadian, because that was what was on all of our minds!
So what does it mean to be Canadian, and what is so special about Canada?
People celebrating their own identities
Free speech
Taking part in the Calgary Stampede - not only to see the cowboy culture, but as well as witnessing the First Nations Traditions
Cottage country, and swimming in lake Simcoe
The landscape, to drive across our beautiful country. Starting in the maritimes, through the prairies and into the rocky mountains.
6 kids in a station waggon traveling across the country to experience new ways of living.
Our huge country borders two oceans!
Calgary has “Mountains near, rivers clear, sunshine every day."
Checking out the underrated sites of the badlands and the wind sculpted hoodoos.
To learn to respect our wildlife, and look at it from a distance otherwise you'll be hung up by a moose!
Here are the lyrics to the quaint country song we collectively created together:
One of our participants ended our time together by saying “Let’s keep our country a little wilder and respect our wildlife!”
We also enjoyed a concert given by Sydney Baedke, a Canadian Soprano Opera Singer through Concerts in Care this week!
Join us next week for more creative connection and stimulating conversation! And don't forget we have a free concert on Thursday May 27 with the Fellows from the Glenn Gould School of Music! Book your classes and reserve your spot for the concert here.
