Song Retrieval
Recovering your true voice
A daylong workshop led by Pilar, with Jim Benson
Welcome to a musical improvisation that includes the body, soul, mind, breath, and whatever else you need to fully express your soul's song, including in-the-moment songwriting and vocal technique.
All levels of singing ability are invited. The group will be limited to 10 participants to assure individual attention.
Song Retrieval was a sacred initiation that allowed my voice to find its true nature. Pilar and Jim offered such a clarity of reflection that my inner "song" was undeniable. Finally, I fell in love with my voice!
—William Wandall
Cost: $325
May 30, 11am - 5pm, at a private home in Berkeley
For more information or to register, contact Jim at 415-455-8985.
Jim says: "I’m thrilled to be working with Pilar in such an intimate setting, with participants who are courageously seeking a more full expression of themselves. Please join us in this rare confluence of vocal and physical embodiment."
To visit Pilar's website, click here.
When a woman in a certain African tribe knows she is pregnant, she goes out into the wilderness with a few friends and together they pray and meditate until they hear the song of the child. They recognize that every soul has its own vibration that expresses its unique flavor and purpose. When the women attune to the song, they sing it out loud. Then they return to the tribe and teach it to everyone else.
When the child is born, the community gathers and sings the child's song to him or her. Later, when the child enters education, the village gathers and chants the child's song. When the child passes through the initiation to adulthood, the people again come together and sing. At the time of marriage, the person hears his or her song. Finally, when the soul is about to pass from this world, the family and friends gather at the person's bed, just as they did at their birth, and they sing the person to the next life.
In the African tribe there is one other occasion upon which the villagers sing to the child. If at any time during his or her life, the person commits a crime or aberrant social act, the individual is called to the center of the village and the people in the community form a circle around them. Then they sing their song to them. The tribe recognizes that the correction for antisocial behavior is not punishment; it is love and the remembrance of identity.
When you recognize your own song, you have no desire or need to do anything that would hurt another. A friend is someone who knows your song and sings it to you when you have forgotten it. Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.
If you do not give your song a voice, you will feel lost, alone, and confused. If you express it, you will come to life. We attract people on a similar wavelength so we can support each other to sing aloud. Sometimes we attract people who challenge us by telling us that we cannot or should not sing our song in public. Yet these people help us too, for they stimulate us to find greater courage to sing it.
You may not have grown up in an African tribe that sings your song to you at crucial life transitions, but life is always reminding you when you are in tune with yourself and when you are not.
From “They’re Playing Your Song” by Alan Cohen
