Song Circle with ahlay blakely
ABOUT:
ahlay (of Scandinavian, Ashkenazi, and British Isles ancestry, living on Coast Salish Lands) carries a repertoire of collective, participatory songs taught in the oral tradition. In this process, ahlay sings a line, and the group responds, echoing it back until the song lives in our bodies and we can sing it together, over and over. These songs are designed for connection, for ease, for being in it together. More often than not, it's an a cappella experience, touched by drumming and, occasionally, other instruments.
For many of us, singing is tied to religious or spiritual spaces—places we've been pushed out of, or run from, or lost. Some of us are living through or have lived through changes in our voices, unsure of spaces where we can reconnect with our singing voices as they evolve. Many of us carry shame around our voices, burdened by a culture that tells us only a select few, like Ariana Grande, are “allowed” to truly sing. But what if singing was never meant to be reserved for the chosen few? What if it was always meant to be ours?
This way of singing isn’t about perfection, performance or how we sound as individuals. It’s about the way it feels in our bodies—the way our voices lift together and our hearts have the potential to open in the shared rhythm of song. It is an act of reclaiming the human birthright to sing, to feel our voices as a natural and powerful technology of connection. We sing to remember what was meant to be forgotten—the power of collective presence. Not explicitly, but inherently: When we sing—especially when we sing together—we are invited to release and transform emotions that long to move.
The songs ahlay carries hold space for the emotions and experiences that often remain unspoken—songs for grief, praise, collapse, death, shame, joy, and the healing of ancestral wounds.
This space is open to all. While the modern community singing movement has often been predominantly attended by those of European descent, we are committed to growing a more diverse, authentic, and inclusive community through authentic relationship and allyship. This container aims to hold awareness of both our shared and divergent histories, along with the social realities we navigate today. No matter your race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, or abilities—you are welcome and wanted here.
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