The Face is Winning

Christine and Me

Is the smile big enough yet? To sing in a Sweet Adelines chorus is to stretch your smile muscles.

"Eyebrows and cheeks lifted, smile, show your teeth, tell the story of the song, be expressive, look excited, stand like a champion." These are common exhortations from our coaches and our director. Along with the sound, in fact assisting the sound, is the performance. Even in rehearsal we are asked to go all out - we are "always performing." Something about the lift in our faces and bodies helps us to lift the notes and maintain the pitch.

This picture was taken at the banquet following the regional chorus competition this past weekend. Christine and I are the new members of the chorus. Possibly, we contributed to the improvement in the score our chorus received which was 50 odd points more than last year. Anyway, our director was pleased, and we all had a good time singing into the wee hours and listening to quartets that visited us in our hospitality suite.

My face and my body have been well exercised which I know is excellent therapy for PD. And singing from the heart is the icing on the cake.