Rock the Vla

I’m about to turn 30.

My first instinct was to write everyone I know that lives on the east coast and invite them to a party that celebrates all things Mattie…. and then I realized that I had that party a few months ago.

When I left Portland my dearest friends threw me an amazing going away party. There was chamber music, speeches, baby ketten karaoke, and lots of general waypost-cocktail-induced merriment.

For the last week I’ve been reflecting on milestones and how we celebrate them. We throw huge birthday and new year’s eve parties, but how often do our lives actually change in those moments?

The milestones happen in-between birthdays.

I knew I had to do something huge before I turned 30. I knew I had to move to NYC. And now that I’m here, turning 30 just feels like another Sunday with homemade enchiladas.

But leaving Portland, leaving my best friends and family, changing careers, and going off into the unknown with everyone’s blessings… that is a celebration far more meaningful than a birthday bash!

Some of my favorite moments included…

PAYBACK. My mother demanded that I perform Bach at my own party, so I got her back by demanding that she sing Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run” for her karaoke debut.

TOASTS. The “fearless leader” elect – Christopher Corbell – put the whole bash together and started off the speeches.

SINGING & DANCING. The Dalcroze dorks got down to Bon Jovi’s “You Give Love a Bad Name”.

(click here the entire photo set, taken by the very talented Gary Stallsworth)

HEART-SHATTERINGLY-CREATIVE GIFTS. Like this amazing painting by my violin student, Alysse Kerr.

And the song “Our Hearts Belong to Mattie”  that Toby Loftus created and performed with Gulchin Tarabus. (while the assemblage sang along)

Oh Portland, if you think the homesickness hasn’t kicked in yet, you are beyond mistaken. I love and miss you. Thanks for throwing me such a great party!!! I’m loving my new life in New York and have settled in with all of the confidence that YOU gave me.

And you, New York City, I’m turning 30 on Sunday and you are most welcome to come over for homemade enchiladas.

Mattie

I had a blast mentoring students as part of being the Entrepreneur-in-Residence for Project Jumpstart at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music last week.

One student, Malcom Cooper, has a talent for crafting poems on the spot based on random words. He wanted to create one for me so I gave him the following guidelines,

Words: Critic, Pigeons, Guidance, Afro

Topic: Transitions

Mood: Ecstatic

Within five minutes he recited my poem….

Moving and hustling
In a city so bustling
Taking guidance from signposts
Gliding on to feel fed

Contentment is cooing but
Success I am wooing and
Dangerous complacency
Going out of my head

With pigeons around me
No critics to confound me
I look up and above
Finding clear skies ahead

Like an Afro on Marley
I feel hearty like barley
Sitting here as I pause, peer
And worries I shed

—-

And all I could do was clap with glee. Oh, hello there NYC!!

Mattie

“How about Thursday?”

“Yes, let’s all get together Thursday.”

“Great, oh look! It’s Valentine’s Day!”

“Awwwww, I heart Dalcroze.”

And thus the Dalcroze dorks found themselves joined by *Dalcroze Joe to celebrate “I heart Dalcroze” day.

Today we revisited a lecture by Stephen Neely about pendulums. Here’s where I might start to lose you, so check out this video where he explains how in Eurhythmics we “develop physical models that we hope we can use to parallel the artistic experience.”

We played around with the model of a pendulum, and then decided to do a movement and piano improv based on that idea.

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And it wouldn’t be a complete dalcroze date without doing a little bit of the Painting Project…

‘Untitled’ by Mattie Kaiser

And the greatest thing about the internet is that we don’t have to be in the same room to interact! Here’s a painting made by Aaron Butler in NYC, performed by Jessica Schaeffer in Ukiah, California!

“Grass Green Two Loop and Dash” by Aaron Butler

Happy “I ♥ Dalcroze” day, and here’s to many more celebrations to come!

Mattie

* We’ve given ourselves nicknames, because we’re dorks:

Gulchin Tarabus is… Anna Grusis

Mattie Kaiser is…. Maxent

Joe Klause is…. Dalcroze Joe

Jessica Scaeffer is… Jemiola

Aaron Butler is… The Professor

When an acquaintance asked me why I wanted to move to New York City I shrugged, responded “personal growth”, and chuckled as if it were meaningless.

“Personal growth? Well, that’s as big of a reason as any.”

It takes a lot of courage to break down the empire for the sake of growing. I’ve always admired people who have done it, even when they are madly in love with Portland. My friend Brian Benson once referred to Portland as ‘the treadmill of awesome.’ – Brian made the leap, dedicated himself to his writing, and is now going to be published!

Another friend, a country singer/songwriter decided he had to move to Nashville in order to make his dreams happen. Travis Dow was one of my favorite Portland friends, and while I was sorry to see him go, I knew he was talented enough to make it in Nashville.

Last November, Travis died after a short and intense battle with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. It was shocking, and one of the saddest things that I’ve ever personally experienced. To express anything further, I have to turn to the words of his wife, Katie Radebaugh Dow:

“It is no secret that he was a staggeringly courageous in his battle with cancer, but it is my hope that you will all know that he lived every day of his life with that admirable conviction and courage. He gave every ounce of himself to living, loving and creating with passion.

He said that his music was his greatest legacy, but I know that it is much more than that. In honor of him, I hope that we will all consider living each day more intentionally, with passion for our dreams and those we love. Don’t let the moments pass you by – embrace those you love fully, give love courageously, honor the gift of life and breathe beauty into each day. He did.”

It’s in Travis’s honor that I go. It’s in his honor that I dedicate myself to growing, to getting off the treadmill of awesome and pursuing what’s next.

THANK YOU for your support and encouragement. If you’re in Portland I’m going to miss the shit out of you, and if you’re in New York I’ll see you soon!!

Mattie

PS – The title refers to a wonderful oil my friend Cheryl gave to me last summer. The letters stand for “Jump Off A Cliff While Being Encouraged And Safe Landing”.

Al, Travis and Mattie – Epic Timberline Adventure – March 2010

I watch a lot of A Show With Ze Frank. The magic about Ze’s show is that he has found ways to get his audience to actively connect with him and each other though games that he creates. And even though the show is online, it manages to be inviting, interactive and fun!

Dalcroze Eurhythmics could use a little help from Ze Frank…while it’s inviting and absolutely delightful once you actually get yourself in a classroom, in general, this form of music education is having a very difficult time creating and maintaining a presence within our 21st century lifestyle.

I bring you… *The Dalcroze Dorks!
(*This name is tongue in cheek, please don’t be offended. We love Dalcroze Eurhythmics, and our goal is to cheerfully spread the word.)

Gulchin Tarabas and I got together last Friday night to go over some Dalcroze inspired piano improv activities. I showed her some paintings from my iPad, and we went nuts with it.

We’d like to invite you to take part in The Painting Project.

1) Upload a painting. (make it yourself, or find an old favorite. I highly recommend this iPad app called Paper.)

2) Send to a friend. They record an improv based on the painting.

3) Upload the video, and pass it on!

The first piece is based on a painting I made called “View from the Dock” – My favorite moment of this video comes at 58 seconds when I give Gulchin my ‘concerned citizen’ look… there was definitely a battle taking place of whether this piece was going to be dark and murky, or bright and sunny.

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We decided to try Aaron’s painting since we wouldn’t have the invested interest in the creation of the painting, we could only respond musically to what we were seeing.

What kind of music can you create based on a painting? Try it out yourself!

Mattie