Goddard in the World

Will Sellenraad

Will Sellenraad has earned a fast growing reputation of being at the forefront of creative musicians working in New York City.  Known for his brilliant improvisations and his compelling, melodic compositions, this New York City native melds the various styles, phrasings and concepts of the jazz idiom with the raw elements of soul, rock and funk, to create a singular sound that is nothing short of inspiring.

We talked to Will about growing up in downtown New York City in the 1980s, how his journey to and through Goddard started his musical journey towards jazz. “I was really into blues…that’s where all jazz musicians should start anyway.”

Despite enjoying the respite in rural Vermont, he learned that to do what he wanted to do musically, he would have to return to New York. After graduating from the New School, Will talks about entering the jazz scene in the 1990s through a happy hour gig, how the pandemic has affected the scene and what he hopes it looks like when it comes back. Will is dedicated to the craft of music and the discipline of practice, “I have no business calling what I do art, I mean that’s for somebody else to say. All I can do is work on my craft and try to get better.”

Deko Music released his album Star Hustler in February 2021 and will release Balance in April 2021. You can pick up all of Will’s releases at his store: https://www.merchbucket.com/collections/will-sellenraad

You can also check out Will’s recent solo videos on his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/WillSellenraad/featured

Music credits throughout this episode all written by Will Sellenraad:

• “Alter Ego,” from Greene Street, vol. 1
• “Stubbs,” from Balance
• “Star Hustler,” from Star Hustler

For more about Will, please visit his website: https://www.willsellenraad.com/

Recommendations:

Musicians: Jay Clayton, Keith Jarrett, Billy Higgins, Cedar Walton, Tommy Flanagan, Young Lions (Wynton Marsalis), Jeff Watts, John Sears, Reggie Workman, Marcus Belgrave, Kenny Barron, Spike Wilner

Movies: Mo’ Better Blues

Jazz venues: Smalls, Mezzrow, Bar Bayeux

Mary Abrams

Mary Abrams (IMA ’11) is a Registered Somatic Movement Educator and teaches in NYC and internationally. Her work is informed by her MA degree from Goddard College in Consciousness Studies, which was focused on embodied movement, affective neuroscience, and Epistemics (a model for how humans create meaning); dance; and 26 years of Continuum. Mary owns and directs Moving Body Resources in New York City, a space for somatic movement and wellness practitioners from around the globe. She led and taught the MA Dance & Somatic Well-being course from the University of Central Lancashire in the UK and USA; and she currently teaches on the Continuum Training at the Somatische Akademie or Somatic Academy of Berlin, Germany. Mary served on the board of directors of the International Somatic Movement Education & Therapy Association (ISMETA) from 2002-2011.

 

In this episode we talk about Mary’s introduction to somatic movement and continuum specifically through her experience in the NYC downtown dance scene; her connection to Goddard before she ever thought of attending and being “outed” as a consciousness studies person. We talk about how the pandemic has affected her studio, Moving Body Resources, and how she is keeping the community space alive virtually and through your donations. Mary says, “when you’re doing body work or body-oriented practices, you’re also awakening what’s happening for you emotionally, mentally and spiritually as well as physically.”

 

The Save the Space campaign is a crowdfunding campaign to sustain the physical space of Moving Body Resources through the Covid-19 pandemic economic crisis. On the page you will find the GoFundMe link, events and workshops, breathing and movement sessions, and space rentals. Any donation is greatly appreciated! Upcoming events include a March 24 Zoom class taught by Mary and sponsored by the Somatic Academy of Berlin (Germany) and a Moving Body Salon, live on Zoom, featuring 10 performing artists on April 10, 2021.

 

To help save Moving Body Resources, please visit: https://movingbodyresources.com/save-the-space-mbr/

Amanda Faye Lacson

Amanda Faye Lacson (one of Goddard in the World’s co-hosts!) is interviewed by GTW’s other co-host Casey Caronna!

 

Amanda Faye Lacson (IMA ’10) is the founder of FamilyArchive Business, a studio designed to meet the family at any point in their archiving process, from organizing photos in boxes to creating a final product to share with the family. Amanda’s love for preserving family stories came from a young age, when she borrowed her parents’ typewriter to record her mom’s family tree on onionskin paper. With her background in Art History, Humanities and Transformative Language Arts, Amanda brings her skills in writing, facilitation and visual storytelling to each family’s unique project.

 

In this interview we talk about Amanda’s love for New York, her creation of the Soul Mate Project which she made as to process grief and love; Goddard as her backup grad school; and her work at Goddard which culminated in her thesis Unveiling Aphroditing: Examining the Mythology of Romantic Love. We also talked about her more recent work as the founder of FamilyArchive Business, created to help families preserve their photos and stories and the rumblings of her new project Embodied History.

 

Recommendations: The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi.

 

Find more about Amanda:

 

FamilyArchive Business: http://familyarchivebusiness.com/

 

Biographers Guild of Greater New York (BGGNY): https://biographersguild.com/

 

Amanda Faye Lacson: https://www.amandafayelacson.com/

 

Coming soon: embodiedhistory.com

Dr. Mike Alvarez

Dr. Alvarez (IMA '10, MFAW-VT'13) is a Filipino writer and scholar who studies narratives of health and illness, communication about suicide and end of life, and stigmatized individuals' use of digital platforms to co-create meaning and community. Dr. Alvarez is currently Postdoctoral Diversity and Innovation Scholar at the University of New Hampshire, where he teaches end of life communication.

A common thread through Mike’s work is honoring the perspectives of stigmatized individuals on their own subjective terms. We discuss Mike's book The Paradox of Suicide and Creativity which includes psychobiographies of creative people who committed suicide including Yukio Mishima, Iris Chang, Kurt Cobain and others, as well as essays on whether creativity is intrinsically healing and the medicalization of life and death. We also talk about Mike's upcoming memoir, The Color of Dusk, which details his past struggle with mental health and suicide. Finally we discuss Mike's latest writing project as the lead author of a book-in-progress, "A Plague for Our Time: Dying and Death in the Age of Covid-19." Despite the seriousness of the topics, we laugh about our personal experiences through the pandemic; life pivots through and from Goddard; and Amanda and Mike’s shared love for Korean barbecue!

Find The Paradox of Suicide and Creativity in print or as an e-book at Rowman & Littlefield or wherever books are sold online. You can also request the book from your library.

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781498523820/The-Paradox-of-Suicide-and-Creativity-Authentications-of-Human-Existence

 

Recommendations: This Boy's Life by Tobias Wolfe; Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen; The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison; Why Did I Ever by Mary Robeson.

 

For more about Mike please visit his website: https://www.mfalvarez.net/

Follow Mike on Twitter: @mfalvarez121

 

Goddard in the World podcast is an independent project of Goddard Alumni Council. If you are an alumnus of Goddard College (whether you successfully completed one semester or your entire degree) please join us at: https://goddardalumni.com/