CLOSE UP Video Interviews

"I’ll play anywhere. I’ll play literally anywhere where there’s people walking around. I’ll just play because people don’t normally hear a flute. you know. They tend to hear anything other than a flute and I tend to think I play differently…” Your correspondent, early for a pickle ball lesson at the Water Tower Recreation center courts heard sweet, jazzy flute sounds from the other side of a tall dividing fence and walked over to find Jordan Quinton at the far end tennis court improvising on the flute -yes, differently. “It’s very important to be able to find your voice.” Quinton  had been working out at the Water Tower and had her flute on her and thought she would just take it out. “If I have my flute on me, I’ll take it out anywhere. I’ll play it on a bus if they let me.”

Quinton, who now works as a line chef baker, studied at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke. She plays flute, all kinds of march and percussion-snare, base drums, tenors, hand drums, bongos, claves, congas, xylophone, marimba and likely more! ”I was born into music so I guess I’m lucky. I sing. I do all the arts. Music is my strong suit.”

“It was very hard going to school but I’m glad I stuck with it as long as I did.” And passers by who may happen upon Quinton jamming on her flute are likely to be glad, also, that she stuck with the music. Watch flutist, a street musician, improvise on tennis court here.

Dancer and dance therapist Morgan Rakay defines dance movement therapy as the psychotherapeutic use of movement or integration of the mind, body and perhaps, spirit. In different contexts, it looks so different she says. When she works with children, her approach is very improvisational and she gets down on their level and responds to what's going on. She engages them in play and makes use of props, colors and music. She indulged your correspondent, a student in one of her adult dance classes through the Mount Airy Learning Tree in making a video. When I prompted her to show some movement, her inner therapist noticed that being put on the spot recalled her discomfort as a child when someone,knowing she took dance lessons, would say "Dance for us!" Watch dance teacher describer dance movement therapy and how she uses it with children.

At the Philadelphia Folk Song Society's Fall Fling at the Green Lane Camp, Linda Catinella worked a shift operating the "taxi" (golf cart) shuttling participants to and from different workshops and events, and cheerily engaged fellow camper on her loops around the camp. Your correspondent attended the camp and in lieu of a direct interview with Catinella, captured her in action.

Photos of camp here

Short video of golf cart drive here

Longer video of golf cart drive here

At the Chestnut Hill Fall Arts Festival, people took up pieces of colored chalk and wrote anonymously on a large community chalk board, revealing their personal hopes and plans and dreams for the future, completing the sentence, “Before I die, I want to…” The Philomusica Chorale mounted this community “bucket list” and director Gayle Wieand will weave them into an original, classic-style choral composition to be premiered May 18 and May 19 at Chestnut Hill Presbyterian Church. Wieand was moved by some of the posts such as someone who wanted to provide energy to the world and serious about it enough to enter a NASA competition. Others held personal appeal for Wieand such as “…have a cottage on the water.” “And I have a desire to get all the people who put skydiving on the list together to skydive!” Watch video of people writing on chalk board what's on their bucket list for new choral piece

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Dying and such with a musical focus was also the subject of another group presenting at the festival.

The Threshold Choir sings soothing acapela non-religious songs for the dying at several hospices in the Philadelphia area. And it performs for people dealing with other situations such as addiction or the premature birth of a child. The songs emphasize loving-kindness, peace and freedom from suffering. The Choir began in San Francisco and now has chapters around the world. “It’s people who want to sing and give their voice at times of change” Member Patty Rogers. The choir will not sing to people who do not want to be sung to. In order of appearance speaking in the accompanying video, were Jim Knight, Kris Olson, and Rogers .

SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE CHESTNUT HILL FALL FOR THE ARTS FESTIVAL HERE

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Ricardo Jimenez always liked to sing along to the radio when he was young. one time in Italy, his grandfather called him over to the television to watch the three tenors sing and he became transfixed. The next day he joined the school choir. At 14 he entered conservatory full time. He has performed in his home state of Florida and in Nicaragua. He also pursued a degree in accounting for economic security. Six months ago he moved to Columbus, Ohio to be with his girlfriend. While he chauffeurs people around as a Lyft driver he has a keyboard in the front passenger seat. When he can, he practices warm-up scales and sings. He aspires to the greatness of Pavarotti and Caruso and other opera stars whose biographies he has read. He has just successfully auditioned for the local production of Madama Butterfly and heard the kind of words from a conductor he has been longing to hear, " You have an incredible instrument." After delivering your correspondent to the Blackwell Inn he was bravo-ed by passersby when he sang “Santa Lucia” outside. Watch Lyft driver sing scales in car in hope of becoming opera star.

Street musicians Tahir Jamal and Carty Brown (above) both grew up in Northwest Philadelphia. On a temperate fall day Jamal was outside Kilian Hardware improvising on his keyboard while Carty Brown, on the guitar, tried out instrumentals he just recently composed outside the Chestnut Hill Coffee shop. Watch music video and interview of Chestnut Hill street performers.

Tahir Jamal (drums) and Eddie Flotte (guitar) entertain passersby on Germantown Avenue. Watch video of street musicians playing What a Wonderful World.

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Your correspondent's classmate got interested in Indian dancing after she Bhangra danced all week at her stepsister's wedding in the Punjab region of India. At the last class of the session the classmate brought along her young daughters who closely followed the moves of the teacher.