Extreme Slow Soundwalk

November1, 2003 at whatever location you're at you are invited to take part in the first annual Extreme Slow Soundwalk. The spirit of the event is best described below, by our good friend Michelle Nagai. If you are in New York, by all means contact her to take part. If you are in Hamilton, Ontario, contact us. If you can organize an Extreme Slow Soundwalk in your town or city, pass on your contact information and we'll post it here.

For now though, read Michelle's note below, and pass it on.

------- Forwarded message follows -------

Dear out-of-towners, remote friends and far away acquaintances...Perhaps you
can make your own soundwalk wherever YOU ARE on November 1st...and if you
do please let me know, I would love to hear about it...

Extreme Slow Soundwalk
Saturday November 1, 2003 / 11 AM
McCarren Park at Bedford Avenue and N. 12th Street
Brooklyn, NY

Saturday November 1 is All Saints Day. Preceded by Halloween on the 31st and followed by All Souls Day on the 2nd, this stretch of days is a time, in many traditions and faiths, to honor the departed - a time to visit resting places and make offerings and a time to acknowledge the living spirit that moves around us. Like every other day, November 1 is also a day to listen ­ here and now we listen into the rushing wind and scattering of leaves as winter approaches. We listen to know what is underneath, to sense the movement in what appears to be stillness, to hear
the sound in what appears to be silence.

***

The Extreme Slow Walk is a teaching of Pauline Oliveros and a practice of Deep Listening. The walker moves in the slowest possible way ­ one foot moving through each point, shifting weight almost imperceptibly into the ground, transferring balance from one leg to the other, "knowing always that no matter how slow you are walking you can always go much slower...The purpose of the exercise is to challenge your normal pattern or rhythm of walking so that you can learn to reconnect with very subtle energies in the body as the weight shifts from side to side in an extremely slow walk." (Pauline Oliveros, from her forthcoming book on Deep Listening).

The soundwalk is a practice of focused listening in which one moves through an environment with complete attention to sound. Any environment, at any time of day or night, can provide space for soundwalking. Sometimes a soundwalk can employ a verbal or written instruction of what to listen for during the walk. Sometimes the soundwalker activates the soundscape (playing along with the sounds) using the voice, musical instruments or objects encountered in the environment. Soundwalking is a practice I have incorporated into my work over the past several years and can by done by anyone, anywhere, without limit to age, background or musical training. Soundwalking has been around for 30-plus years, promoted largely by composers, acoustic ecologists, artists and activists, particularly a group of Canadian composers that includes R. Murray Schaffer, Barry Truax and Hildegard Westerkamp, among others.

In this public, outdoor walk, we have the opportunity to experience the energetic subtleties of the Extreme Slow Walk and the sense-opening actions of a Soundwalk all in the context of an urban Autumn morning. As we walk, the point is not to "perform" but to be present in the slow walking / deep listening state, in an environment where unknown energies and the unexpected might allow something incredible to happen.

I hope you can join me for this event. If you plan to attend, please RSVP to mn@treetheater.org or 718-349-7684 - it¹s possible that the location or time may change, so I need to know who to expect...

Peace,
Michelle

--

Michelle Nagai
1049 Manhattan Avenue #2
Brooklyn, NY 11222
USA

718-349-7684
www.treetheater.org / mn@treetheater.org

E-mail: fenner@magma.ca

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