Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast…and it has the ability to trigger very sharp memories, the places where stories can be born.
Sometimes, there is more than just ONE memory. When I hear “Georgy Girl", it triggers two very distinct recollections of different times in my life.
My best friend and I were walking our dates home from the midnight showing of the film, Georgy Girl, in Chicago, the winter of 1966. We were all students at ballet school and danced along the sidewalk as we hummed the movie’s theme song and watched our breath materialize in the cold, crisp air of the night. Standing outside the dormitory where the girls lived, we shivered as we said goodbye to them. Was it the cold that made our knees shake, or just our nerves as we both wondered, would either of us get a goodnight kiss?
After driving almost fifteen hours and 800 mles from Three Rivers, Quebec to Richmond, Virginia, my troup of eleven girl chorus dancers and I arrived just in time to don our costumes, pass out our music, “Georgy Girl” to the band and do the opening dance number at the Virginia State Fair. I thought we were in luck when the band was one we had previously worked with in Pennsylvania; Claire Trevor and the York Spring Garden Band! I stood off stage and motioned to the conductor for the tempo. He nodded in agreement, turned to the band and promptly began to play our music twice as fast as it was supposed to be. It was like something out of a slapstick movie being played at high speed. We couldn’t lift our knees high enough, or get all the steps in, as we raced through the number. The audience was laughing, we were not!
Any song from Fiddler on the Roof brings back images and many backstage stories from two different tours of the show that I danced in. Those memories spark others from other shows I did, all the people I knew and the places I traveled when I was in the theatre. Even just a few notes can trigger a flood of recollections that could be turned into a string of pearls for telling.
Go ahead, listen to anything on the radio. Tune in to an oldies station and see what images come up. Baby Boomers, what memories come to mind when you hear, “I want to Hold Your Hand”, or “Satisfaction”?
And then there’s that ONE song that I can’t help rockin’ to the beat when I hear it! And I can see the faces of the teachers at that school dance, wondering just what WERE the lyrics that the Kingsmen were singing in “Louie Louie”?
GCC Students: Use the comment section below to write a short paragraph about a piece of music that reminds you of a time/story. SHORT - 5-6 sentences (PROOFREAD your response). Respond in the COMMENT section below before 2pm Tuesday and receive up to 15 extra credit points.
Other readers are also encouraged to respond...and I will give you extra credit too!
- National Storytelling Network? You should be.
Monday - 10/16/17 - 7:00 pm
Storyfind - F
Monday - October 23 - 7:00pm Terroir Wine Pub
Friday - 10/27/17 - 7pm
Saturday - October 28th - 7pm
Last week I attended one of the Storyscope events. John Genette has partnered with Jennifer Linde, Leah Marche and Judy Schwiebert to develop a fascinating model for community sharing and belonging. It's more of a place to "share" your story vs. "Telling" your story. The group of attendees breaks into smaller "circles" of 6-8 people. Each person in the smaller groups shares their story based on a particular theme. The theme for October thru December is "Home".
