When the Body Becomes Music - Breath, Listening, and the Art of Being Played

When the Body Becomes Music—Breath, Listening, and the Art of Being Played

The Breathable Body presents: Live Conversations with Robert Litman

Can we listen to music with our whole body?

Cory blake, classical guitarist and Continuum colleague, joined Robert Litman for a conversation about breath, movement, Continuum, gravity, pleasure, and the art of listening.

What happens when we stop trying so hard to make something happen and begin receiving what is already happening?

Perhaps our bodies know more about music and movement than we imagine. And perhaps music has something to teach us about being alive.

We talked about music, but our conversation quickly became an exploration of what it means to inhabit our bodies more fully.

Cory spoke about his beloved guitar teacher, Jesús Silva, who encouraged him not simply to move his fingers, but to allow them to move.What might happen when we stop trying so hard to control what we do and begin listening to what our bodies are telling us?

For Cory, playing music involves much more than fingers touching strings.It involves gravity, breath, fluidity, sensation, pleasure, and what he calls elemental awareness. At one point, Cory said: “I'm not breathing. I'm being breathed. And I'm not playing. I'm being played.”