Music at Noon
at Santa Clara University

Wow! My first time attending Music at Noon in the Music and Dance Building here at Santa Clara University and it was absolutely thrilling. It was truly spectacular to see these artists, which consisted of a guitar player, singer, and three wonderful dancers, all collaborating to combine individual sounds and movements to create a stunning performance of Flamenco. The artists informed the audience that much of what they were doing was individual and collective improvisation. I was so intrigued to understand their process as improvisors: how do the dancers decide which steps to take next, or the guitar player come up with a riff that quickly transforms into the melody, or the singer decide when to go high or low, loud or soft?

I definitely would have asked them to describe their processes, or if the improvisation has become entirely natural to them at this point after working together for some time. This was the greatest part of this hour long show, that the performers made it clear when they were improvising and communicating to each other how and when one wanted to take the song and dance somewhere else, and they were so in tune with each other’s artistic desires that it was incredible and new each time. I immediately thought of Twyla Tharpe’s chapter on “Scratching” in her book, The Creative Habit, she says, “It sounds obvious, but I wonder how many people, whatever their medium, appreciate the gift of improvisation. It’s your one opportunity in life to be completely free, with no responsibilities and no consequences.” (100) This is how it felt to watch those Flamenco performers, they were free, focused only on the craft and not the consequences, and they had no fear regarding their improvisation, only freedom.