Everyone can sing.
This is the motto of the song and dance camp, Summer Show-Offs, that I have
been blessed to work at the past two summers. Anyone that knows me knows that
the only kind of singing camp that I could be a part of is one with a motto
like that. With little to no musical background or training, working and
teaching at a day camp where children learn four dances and five songs in four short
days has been an experience like no other. It’s been like jumping into a cold
pool off the diving board instead of easing into the pool on the shallow end. One
second you’re dry and the next you’re head-first in cold water, and it’s sink
or swim.
Before you question the legitimacy of a musical camp that
would hire a ‘non-musical’ person, let me say that there are extremely talented
staff-members on board. It’s a privilege to work along side some of the most
talented dancers, vocalists, choreographers, and show people in the country.
When I was standing on that diving board staring down at the summer job ahead
of me, I kept asking myself why on earth, with all of that talent at their
finger tips, Mrs. Cecile and Mrs. Robyn, the camp’s owners, would hire me along with them. I love to sing, I
love to dance, but I lack the usual qualities that make someone ‘talented’ in
those areas: pitch, a musical ear, range, coordination, etc. But after two
summers fully submerged and jamming to that irresistible beat, I finally get
it. They hired me and others like me because they understand the goal of the
camp, and more importantly, they understand music itself.
Every week at Summer Show-Offs, I help almost forty third
and fourth graders to put on a show, complete with props, formations, five
songs, four dances, and forty solos, in four days. And let me be the first to
tell you, it’s a good show. But parents don’t sacrifice a considerable chunk of
money to see a good show on Friday. They don’t pay to have their kids occupied
from 9 to 2 during the week. There are much cheaper ways of accomplishing those
ends. They pay because of the gifts of confidence and character that music
brings to their precious children. This
music changes lives.
There is something surreal about how music touches a person.
Listening to a song can change our mood in a matter of seconds. It can comfort
us. It gives so many gifts to the listener, whether it’s the beautiful poetry
of words in a song, a delightful combination of notes that both soothes and
rejuvenates, or dancers and colors moving along with the music that both
enhances and completes it. What we are doing when we teach children to sing and
dance, or like at Summer Show-Offs when they get to do both in the form of a
show, is we are handing them one of the most powerful tools in the world. We
are giving them something that relentlessly blesses others, and filling them up
with it so that they can give it right back. Rarely do we trust eight and nine
year olds with things of importance. But when we entrust them with music, a
song to sing, a dance to dance, we give them the precious chance to be givers
in a world where up to that point in their lives they’ve had to be mostly
takers. Children thrive on this trust. It draws out every desire to give and to
bless that they have in their beautiful hearts. It impresses upon them the
nudge of responsibility that pushes them towards discipline. We give them every
tool and training needed to have a perfect show on Friday, they need only work
hard and do their best. And it is hard work, much harder than what is normally
asked of kids their age. But nothing compares to the overwhelming feeling of
confidence that each child is blessed with on Friday after they have not only
completed the goals set for them and done their best but after they have had the
chance to pour out themselves on stage with the gift of music.
Music does not discriminate. Everyone can sing, as the
camp’s founder Cecile Martin always says, just like everyone can jog. Everyone
that can walk can jog, but not everyone can sprint or run a marathon or jog for
a long period of time. Similarly, not everyone has Mariah Carey’s range or
Norah Jones’ soothing voice or Michael Jackson’s dance moves. But everyone can
sing and everyone can dance. Luckily for me, I’m part of the ‘everyone’. There
are songs I can sing and dances I can dance and therefore a gift that I can
give through music. That is one of the beauties of being human. Making music is
such a broad concept that uses so many different talents. It teaches you to
find yours, use it, do your best at the rest, and work with others of different
and, more often than not, better talent. And that’s what kids (and myself)
learn at Summer Show-Offs. Music cannot be about one person. If there is a show
that seems to have a star, that star would not be as wonderful without it’s background
singers or supporting roles. Music is a
gift.
Music is pouring out yourself and working harmoniously with
other people who are pouring out their own gifts in order to bless an audience,
whether it’s an audience of one or of one thousand. Music is about people. Mrs. Cecile and Mrs. Robyn weren’t crazy for
hiring people like me after all. I love people and especially kids, and at the
end of the day that’s all that matters and all that music itself cares about.
Music has changed my life in so many ways through this camp.
So many times people look at music as the opposite of athleticism or ‘brains’,
as something that is one category that part of the population can fit into.
This could not be farther from the truth. Everyone can be blessed by music and
everyone can bless others by music. Maybe not in the same way as others, but
everyone can. The notes I sing might be simple and unimpressive, but paired
with an exquisite melody and lovely instruments I can help to create a product
that is beautiful beyond compare. Don’t ever be afraid of music or stay away
from it simply because you have not been labeled ‘musical.’ Sing your song and
dance your dance, and give the gift that God has given you to the rest of the
world. Give children the gift and the responsibility of music. This is what
Summer Show-Offs has taught me.
So, Mrs. Cecile and Mrs. Robyn and music-givers everywhere, thank
you for the music. Thank you for giving me and every single camper that walks
through your door the tools and the opportunity to give such a powerful gift to
others. Thank you for recognizing every part in a song or a dance or a show as
important, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Thank you for
valuing every person, every note, every grape vine, and every gift. Thank you
from the bottom of my heart for the music and for giving it to me.
