Rehearsal week, continued...

Here's our promo photo! So far this is the best one, with our teacher Bongani on the right. We learned some killer South African songs! We've had multiple attempts at other photo shoots since then, but something's always wrong with the lighting or a violin bow stabbing someone in the face, so we keep having to redo it. Stay tuned. 

Here's Rihanna, who is a bajillion years old (20). She's bony and squats in a strange way on the floor, but when she sits on your lap, all the years slip away and she's just like a passed out kitten. I've taken to carrying her around on my shoulder, which she seems to enjoy. 

I taught a Svan round dance, and these are the faces of folks listening to and watching Riho ensemble's 1999 video of their performance in Paris. How do they do that crazy tuning? (It was actually really great to demonstrate Svan tuning in a trio, for the group.) 

We swam in this old quarry today. Dark black water (just begging for a spinal cord injury, eek) and steep cliffs. Some folks took big jumps, but I was too chicken. It was delightful to jump in the cool water and lay out on the rocks in the sun. There may or may not have been some naked banjo playing. We sang a Svan song in the water and didn't have to sing very loud at all for it to completely fill up the space. Here's the jump...