Posts Today I sang with a group of people and felt timeless. Tonight I sang with a group of people and felt like I was 15 years old.
Today I danced with a group of people and felt like the space and energy was different and more exciting than I had expected. Tonight I danced with a group of people and as they waved their arms back and forth, I felt like I had finally made it to the Countdown studio.
If you’d asked me two days ago whether I would have done any of that today, I would have politely suggested it was very unlikely, while making a note to file you under “slightly deranged but nice”.
The opening ceremony for the LIANZA conference was spine-tinglingly beautiful. As an outsider mob, we were welcome to the space of the traditional occupiers of the land. The music of the women calling to each other across the air bridge was one of those unexpected moments where what you expect to be boring and straight-forward is suddenly tinged with poignancy and clarity. Con has described this Powhiri in her account of the day. As part of the ceremony, the visitors and hosts sang together.
The dancing bit came a later during Dr Diane Mara’s presentation, Invisible Knowledge, Virtual Journeys and Real Communities . Her very personal account of the stories of Pacific people in New Zealand finished with a sequence of slides of Pacific Women graduates from Dr Mara’s Faculty. During this, Dr Mara played music and encouraged the audience to dance. It was like we were dancing in celebration of the women graduates. I *want* more confernces where people sing and dance together on the first day. And the second day. And all others.
The second lot of singing and dancing came tonight at the Auckland Zoo. I was disappointed that I had to miss the Paul Young and Tony Hadley concert in Perth on Friday night, because I was flying to New Zealand. Almost as soon as I stepped off the plane, I saw that they were appearing at the Zoo here.
Paul Young’s voice sounded as though it had almost given out, but he did the whole pop- star, spikey-haircut-with-slight-mullet, dance-about thing that kept the crowd very pleased. Tony Hadley – ex Spandau Ballet - was a revelation. He has probably the best live singing voice I have ever heard – super power ballard strength. The highlight of my evening was his version of Queen’s “Somebody to Love”.
Nice to be woken up a bit and shaken about by the unexpected.
Glad you made it to the zoo in time for the concert!
Shame you missed the singing introduction to Samantha Callaghan’s presentation earlier.
Your introductory paragraphs in this post reflect perfectly your uplifting experience at the conference. Give my love to all those librarians I met while I was living and working in Auckland.