Embodying Rhythm

Rhythm, Music, Education, Performance

Newsletter

January Update

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Dear Ones,

HAPPY NEW YEAR!
May 2016 bring you peace and happiness.
We hope you’re keeping warm and enjoying the snow even as it comes and melts away.

David and Stephanie Mientka have been in the practice studio all week getting ready for their concerts this weekend – Friday in Grand Junction and Sunday in Montrose. They’ve been kind enough to share mini-performances with the little one and it’s entrancing. They will be performing classical and folk music from around the world as a viola and percussion duo (David will be playing tenor marimba, frame drums, and drumset). The full details are below.

Also of note, David has been asked to do a TED talk for TEDx Paonia on February 6th, 2016. The theme is ‘pushing through the pavement’ and David’s talk is about rhythm and shifting our perception. Event details below. TEDx is the same day as our World Music Salon in Paonia (February 6) so you can listen to talks during the day and then hear music in a very similar format – 15 – 20 minute performances with stories and some explanations from Western Slope world musicians (including Beth Quist, Javier de Los Santos, and more) in the evening.

Many Blessings,
Arlyn and David

www.embodyingrhythm.com

 

__UPCOMING CLASSES__

Youth Marimba Ensemble Class Wednesdays from 3:45pm – 5pm in Hotchkiss at the Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts. Weekly January 13th, 2016 – March 30th (no class Feb. 17 or March 16). 10 classes. $125. Scholarship info available by request; no one turned away due to a lack of funding. This class is open to new marimba players as well as build on ensemble concepts from previous classes. Grades 4 – 8. Register with the Alderdices 872-4238 or ladyarlyn (at) gmail.com

Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

 

__UPCOMING EVENTS__

This week Friday and Sunday:
VIOLA AND PERCUSSION: EXPLORING ETHNIC FOLK MUSIC WITH A CLASSICAL TWIST. Violist Stephanie Mientka and percussionist David Alderdice will present a unique evening of music utilizing the exotic harmonies, rhythms, and improvisational techniques of folk music from around the world. Featured composers are Kenji Bunch, Bach, Hungarian Bela Bartok, and Spaniard Manuel de Falla. www.junctionconcerts.com/aldedice_mientka.html

  • David Alderdice at TEDx Paonia on Saturday, February 6, 2016 9:00 am. This event will likely sell out quickly, we recommend getting your tickets in advance.
  • David & Arlyn Alderdice & Friends in a World Music Salon in Paonia, CO on Saturday, February 6, 2016 7:30 pm.  With performances by Andy Skellenger – Tabla & Tabla Tarang, Javier de los Santos – Spanish & Mexican Guitar, Beth Quist – Hammered Dulcimer and Voice, Carbondale Rhythm Collective – M’bira & Percussion, David & Arlyn Alderdice – Frame Drums & Shakers, and a group improvisation at the end of the night.

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“Smile, breathe and go slowly.”
– Thích Nhất Hạnh

“You are never required to do more than you can do in peace.
Right now, take a breath, return to peace, and refuse to leave.”
– Martha Beck

December Update

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Dear Ones,

Many blessings to you and your loved ones on these darkening days. We are also glad to know that soon (December 21st, 9:49pm in Colorado) the darkest night will come and then the return of the longer days.

We’ve been enjoying practicing (frame drum and marimba for Arlyn, melodica, marimba and drums for David) and Arlyn’s even been getting in a bit of sewing after the little one is in bed. We pounded some cabbage for kraut this week and are looking forward to feeding our bacteria well (more info from Michael Pollan).

We’ve got some fun performances to let you know about in the events section including Marimbas and Community band at the HHS Band Concert on Tuesday, December 15 at 6:00 pm. For our class offerings, Arlyn will offer an Adult Marimba Ensemble class for four weeks in January; David will offer a Youth Marimba Ensemble class; and David will offer an intermediate frame drum class – details below. If you don’t see the class that works for you, please contact us and put in a request.

Happy Holidays,
Many blessings,
Arlyn and David
embodyingrhythm.com

___UPCOMING CLASSES___

Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

Adult Marimba Ensemble series Sundays at the Embodying Rhythm Percussion Studio in Hotchkiss with Arlyn Alderdice. 1 – 2:30pm no prior experience needed. Please register: 872-4238 or ladyarlyn (at)  gmail.com. January 3, 10, 17 & 24.Offered as a gift.

Youth Marimba Ensemble Class Wednesdays from 3:45pm – 5pm in Hotchkiss at the Embodying Rhythm Teaching Studio. Weekly January 13th, 2016 – March 30th (no class Feb. 17 or March 16). 10 classes. $125. Scholarship info available by request; no one turned away due to a lack of funding. This class will be open to new marimba players as well as build on ensemble concepts from previous classes. Register with the Alderdices 872-4238 or ladyarlyn (at) gmail.com

Intermediate Frame Drum Class Wednesdays from 7 – 8:30pm in Hotchkiss at the Embodying Rhythm Teaching Studio with David Alderdice, 6 week series January 6th, 2016 – Feb. 10th  $66. Scholarship info available by request; no one turned away due to a lack of funding. Register with the Alderdices 872-4238 or ladyarlyn (at) gmail.com

 

___UPCOMING CONCERTS___

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A video from our recent concert with The Carbondale Rhythm Collective in Carbondale, CO

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I’m sure that I’ve shared this poem with this list before, and still when I was looking for a “different” solstice poem, all I wanted to hear was this one, so I invite you to read it again with fresh eyes.

Sweet Darkness

When your eyes are tired
the world is tired also.

When your vision has gone
no part of the world can find you.

Time to go into the dark
where the night has eyes
to recognize its own.

There you can be sure
you are not beyond love.

The dark will be your womb
tonight.

The night will give you a horizon
further than you can see.

You must learn one thing.
The world was made to be free in.

Give up all the other worlds
except the one to which you belong.

Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet
confinement of your aloneness
to learn

anything or anyone
that does not bring you alive

is too small for you.

 — David Whyte
from The House of Belonging
©1996 Many Rivers Press

November & Practice

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Greetings,

We hope you are doing well; things here are starting to settle into a bit more of a steady rhythm as the days get shorter.

With the darkening days, it’s a great time to go inward, and to go to the practices that keep us healthy. It is amazing what a bit of consistent dedicated practice can do for any artform – but especially for playing music. As simple as matching our breath to our steps while walking, or actively listening to music, or practicing rhythmic patterns on the chair while waiting at the dentist’s office, practice of all kinds will help deepen our musical relationships and improve our playing.

Here are two books that both David and Arlyn have read and enjoyed on the subject of music practice:

First, Learn to Practice by Tom Heany “First, Learn to Practice is a book about how to practice a musical instrument – any musical instrument. It’s suitable for all musicians – professional, amateur, student or beginner. “Certainly part of the problem in learning how to play an instrument is the way an individual approaches practicing. One must be committed to spending lots of time on eye, ear, and hand coordination; learning how to listen; learning how to sight-read; and, having fun during those many hours of conquering notes on and off the page. But, how many “students” really know how to practice in the first place?”

The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life – Master Any Skill or Challenge by Learning to Love the Process by Thomas M. Sterner “In those times when we want to acquire a new skill or face a formidable challenge we hope to overcome, what we need most are patience, focus, and discipline, traits that seem elusive or difficult to maintain.” Sterner writes about learning to love the process.

happy practicing,
Arlyn and David

www.embodyingrhythm.com

___UPCOMING EVENTS___

Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

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Fall Song

Another year gone, leaving everywhere
its rich spiced residues: vines, leaves,

the uneaten fruits crumbling damply
in the shadows, unmattering back

from the particular island
of this summer, this NOW, that now is nowhere

except underfoot, moldering
in that black subterranean castle

of unobservable mysteries – – -roots and sealed seeds
and the wanderings of water. This

I try to remember when time’s measure
painfully chafes, for instance when autumn

flares out at the last, boisterous and like us longing
to stay – – – how everything lives, shifting

from one bright vision to another, forever
in these momentary pastures.

– Mary Oliver

October and World Music

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Greetings,

We hope that you are well.

The first of the World Music Concert Series Concerts is fast approaching and it’s been fun to hear the sounds of Turkey and North Africa coming from the practice studio here at the Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts. We would love to fill up the Blue Sage for this concert which would also ensure that the World Music Series can continue for years to come. Many of the sounds at this concert will be new to the North Fork Valley, the oud – an 11-stringed lute from central Asia, the ney – an ancient end-blown reed flute from Persia (same flute written so beautifully about by Rumi) and the morsing – a south Indian jaw harp, which don’t get played so often here. There will also be upright bass and percussion accompaniment. Please support live music, there just isn’t anything else like it. It is an art-form that takes place entirely in the moment and then passes away again into the silence. We hope to see you there.

love,

Arlyn and David

www.embodyingrhythm.com

 

___Upcoming Events___

• David Alderdice plays at the Mountain Harvest Festival: www.mountainharvestfestival.org/event-schedule/

– Grizzly Pears Jazz Band – Friday the 25th of Sept. 7pm. NoFo Foods – Pub Crawl

– Three Tinkers – Saturday the 26th of Sept. 3pm at Paonia Town Park Gazebo

– Grizzly Pears Jazz Band – Sunday the 27th of Sept. 11am at Paonia Town Park Gazebo

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• David Alderdice with Tomchess: Musical Journeys of a 21st Century Musician. Saturday, October 3, 2015 7:30 pm at the Blue Sage. More information.  Tickets.

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Riq, Tar, and Frame Drum Class with David Alderdice
Wednesdays beginning October 7th: 7-8:30pm at the Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts teaching studio outside of Hotchkiss. A seven week series October 7 – November 18, 2015. Register by replying to this email or by calling 872-4238. Offered as a gift through The Learning Council

This class will mainly focus on traditional rhythms and grooves of North African, Persian, Arabian, Balkan, and Turkish origin as well as some modern applications and musical sensibilities from these regions. This class is open to all levels and will help to broaden our musical awareness and rhythmic understanding while making these ethnic rhythms fun and accessible. Bring your drum or use one of ours.

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Grizzly Pears Jazz Band –  October 23rd. Opening for the Dirty Bourbon River Show 8 pm at the Paradise Theater

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 • Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

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– Upcoming in the World Music Series:

• David & Arlyn Alderdice with A World Music Salon: Beth Quist, Andy Skellinger, Javier de Los Santos, & the Carbondale Rhythm Collective. Saturday, February 6, 2016 7:30 pm at the Blue Sage. More information.  Tickets.

• David Alderdice with Jon Seligman: Near Eastern Sounds, Old and New. Saturday, March 19, 2016 7:30 pm at the Blue Sage. More information.  Tickets.

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THE REED FLUTE’S SONG by Rumi, excerpted from Coleman Barks’ translationListen to the story told by the reed,
of being separated.

“Since I was cut from the reedbed,
I have made this crying sound.

Anyone apart from someone he loves
understands what I say.

Anyone pulled from a source
longs to go back.

At any gathering I am there,
mingling in the laughing and grieving,

a friend to each, but few
will hear the secrets hidden

within the notes. No ears for that.
Body flowing out of spirit,

spirit up from body: no concealing
that mixing. But it’s not given us

to see the soul. The reed flute
is fire, not wind. Be that empty.”

Hear the love fire tangled
in the reed notes, as bewilderment

melts into wine. The reed is a friend
to all who want the fabric torn

and drawn away. The reed is hurt
and salve combining. Intimacy

and longing for intimacy, one
song. A disastrous surrender

and a fine love, together. The one
who secretly hears this is senseless.

Every thirst gets satisfied except
that of these fish, the mystics,

who swim a vast ocean of grace
still somehow longing for it!

No one lives in that without
being nourished every day.

But if someone doesn’t want to hear
the song of the reed flute,

it’s best to cut conversation
short, say good-bye, and leave.

Sliding into September

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Dear Ones,

Thanks for staying in touch with us through the newsletter, we appreciate you.

Life continues to be full – seems to be a theme with pretty much everyone we come into contact with as well. Now we must consciously choose how we want to spend our time in order to do the things that are important or the time just slips away. Here’s to choosing the path that serves all of our hearts and souls the best.

blessings,

Arlyn and David

www.embodyingrhythm.com

 

_____UPCOMING EVENTS_____

 • David Alderdice with the North Fork Community Chorus at the Blue Sage on Saturday, August 22, 2015 7pm $8 advance $10 at the door tickets and info 970-527-7243

 •  The North Fork Valley Embodying Rhythm Marimba Project in Hotchkiss, CO on Saturday, August 29, 2015 noon – 1pm – free and open to the public as part of the Celebrate the Fork festival at the Delta County Fairgrounds.  info

 • David Alderdice with the 3 Tinkers in Hotchkiss, CO on Saturday, August 29, 2015 5:00 pm. $30 for a full day of music at the Celebrate the Fork festival. info

 • David Alderdice with Celebrate the Beat at the Montessori School at Crawford. Thursday, September 3rd. 6pm

• David Alderdice plays at the Mountain Harvest Festival: www.mountainharvestfestival.org/event-schedule/

– Three Tinkers – Saturday the 26th of Sept. 3pm at Paonia Town Park Gazebo

– Grizzly Pears – Sunday the 27th of Sept. 11am at Paonia Town Park Gazebo

– Kid’s Fashion Show – Sunday the 27th of Sept. 2pm at the Paradise Theater

• David Alderdice with Tomchess: Musical Journeys of a 21st Century Musician. Saturday, October 3, 2015 7:30 pm at the Blue Sage. More information.  Tickets.

 • Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

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Fall Marimba Classes begin September 16th: registration is through the Blue Sage: www.bluesage.org 970-527-7243

Adult Marimba Class: 2-3:30 on Wednesdays beginning September 16th – Nov. 18. 9 week series (no class Oct. 14). $105.

Beginning Youth Marimba Class: 4pm – 5pm on Wednesdays beginning September 18th through December 16. 12 week series (no class Oct. 14 or Nov. 25) $135 with a $80 deposit due upon registration.

Intermediate Youth Marimba Class: 5pm – 6pm on Wednesdays beginning September 18th through December 16. 12 week series (no class Oct. 14 or Nov. 25) $135 with a $80 deposit due upon registration.

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Tickets for the World Music Concert Series directed by David Alderdice at the Blue Sage in Paonia are currently on sale. More information.  Tickets.

MUSICAL JOURNEYS OF A 21ST CENTURY MUSICIAN Follow the evolution of the Oud & the Ney from Central Asia through North Africa, to New York and even to rural Colorado.

Tomchess, – Oud, Ney, & Morsing
Charlie Mertens – Double Bass
David Alderdice – Frame Drums

DATE: Saturday, October 3, 2015 7:30 PM

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WORLD MUSIC SALON A select group of professional western slope musicians will share their individual world music studies, repertoire, & love of music during this unforgettable evening.

Andy Skellenger – Tabla & Tabla Tarang
Javier de los Santos – Spanish & Mexican Guitar
Beth Quist – Hammered Dulcimer and Voice
Carbondale Rhythm Collective – M’bira & Percussion
David & Arlyn Alderdice – Frame Drums & Shakers

DATE: Saturday, February 6, 2016 7:30 PM

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NEAR EASTERN SOUNDS: OLD & NEW Many of the musical selections are drawn from Turkish classical and devotional repertoire, music from the golden age of Egyptian cinema (1940s-50s), as well as Mr. Seligman’s own compositions.

Jon Seligman – Percussion
TBA – Upright Bass
Meg York – Woodwinds
David Alderdice – Percussion

DATE: Saturday, March 19, 2016 7:30 PM

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Also: Work-trade positions are available here at the Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts. 2 hours of work a week transfers to a 1 hour drum lesson. 4 hours of work a week transfers to a 1.5 hour drum lesson plus a scheduled practice time here at the studio. Reply to this email or call 872-4238 for more details and to apply. Statement of intention required.

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STORY WATER by Rumi

A story is like water
that you heat for your bath.

It takes messages between the fire
and your skin. It lets them meet,
and it cleans you!

Very few can sit down
in the middle of the fire itself
like a salamander or Abraham.
We need intermediaries.

A feeling of fullness comes,
but usually it takes some bread
to bring it.

Beauty surrounds us,
but usually we need to be walking
in a garden to know it.

The body itself is a screen
to shield and partially reveal
to light that’s blazing
inside your presence.

Water, stories, the body,
all the things we do, are mediums
that hide and show what’s hidden.

Study them,
and enjoy this being washed
with a secret we sometimes know,
and then not.

August Update

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Dear Ones,

As tends happen, it feels as though the summer is moving quickly. The marimba summer-camps went fabulously well, thanks for all who attended, and we’re glad we got to share the talent at the Paonia Library with everyone. Now it’s time for a bit of camping and a few festivals. See details below.

We are opening a few work-trade positions here at the Embodying Rhythm School of Percussive Arts. This allows students to spend more time with us and as they say, everything is everything – gardening relates to music relates to playing in the sandbox with the small child, relates to washing dishes. 2 hours of work a week transfers to a 1 hour drum lesson. 4 hours of work a week transfers to a 1.5 hour drum lesson plus a scheduled practice time here at the studio. Reply to this email or call 872-4238 for more details and to apply. Statement of intention required.

In other news, season tickets for the World Music Concert Series directed by David Alderdice at the Blue Sage in Paonia are currently on sale and individual concert tickets go on sale August 1st. More information.  Tickets.

many blessings,

Arlyn & David

www.embodyingrhythm.com

 

_____UPCOMING EVENTS_____

• David Alderdice with the 3 Tinkers in Montrose, CO Saturday, August 1, 2015 5:00pm Riverbottom Park FUNC Fest

• Pretty Gritty at the Blue Sage on Friday, August 7, 2015  8:00pm – 11pm. $15

• David Alderdice with Beth Quist at the Crestone Music Festival on Saturday, August 8, 2015  2:45pm. tickets

 • David Alderdice with Sea Stars at Arise Music Festival on Sunday, August 9, 2015  1:15pm. tickets

 • David Alderdice with the 3 Tinkers in Hotchkiss, CO on Saturday, August 29, 2015 4:00 pm

 • Youth and Community Parade Band continues on Monday Nights at the Hotchkiss High School Band Room 6:30-8:00pm. Bring your instrument and join the band!

 

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NEXT TIME by Mary Oliver

Next time what I’d do is look at
the earth before saying anything. I’d stop
just before going into a house
and be an emperor for a minute
and listen better to the wind
or to the air being still.

When anyone talked to me, whether
blame or praise or just passing time,
I’d watch the face, how the mouth
has to work, and see any strain, any
sign of what lifted the voice.

And for all, I’d know more — the earth
bracing itself and soaring, the air
finding every leaf and feather over
forest and water, and for every person
the body glowing inside the clothes
like a light.