There is a proverb from Zimbabwe that states, ‘If you can walk you can dance...if you can talk , you can sing.”
“For most of human history, people sang together. It wasn’t seen as a competition or a contest. It was a joyful communal experience,” says Daniel Levitin in This is your Brain on Music.
“In the past 500 years we have had concert halls which set up a separation between the performer and the audience that didn’t exist in human history before.”
“Not only is singing good for the soul but there is a growing body of clinical evidence that indicates that singing, with its emphasis on deep breathing and good posture, can help to heal the body,” adds Oliver Sacks, neurologist and author of Musicophilia: Tales of Music and the Brain.
This is why it is an effective way to remember or to learn. It is no accident that we teach our children with rhymes and songs.
The music burrows itself so deep in the nervous system, that even when people suffer devastating neurological disease or injury, music is the last thing they lose.
Those are just a few of the benefits that flow when people get together and Sing For Pure Joy, says Mary Dennison, who will once again be bringing together a choir to tap into the music starting Aug. 29 at The Lodge on Fouth, 1127 Fourth Ave., Ladysmith from 6:30 to 8 p.m.
“If you desire an added boost of endorphins gleefully flooding through your body raise your voice in glorious song with heart-felt melodies, soulful gospel songs and rousing spirituals,” Dennison says.
And anyone can join in the chorus. “This is not a paper-trained choir. No written music is used. All songs are taught in the traditional method of call and response,” Dennison says.
Find out more by contacting Mary Dennison at 250-202-1003 or singforpurejoy@gmail.com for details and specific dates.
