The Muse Was Present... even when the music was gone By Collette Caprara
After a year's hiatus, the eagerlyawaited Summer Concerts of the CRRL's Music on the Steps and FAM's Sounds of Summer are back in full swing at Market Square-to the delight of both the
audiences and musicians. Yet, even during the months when the concerts were missing, the Market Place Muse was very much present at the site. On one afternoon during the "down time," when I was passing through Market Square, I saw a number of girls sitting on the steps and benches in groups of twos and threes, talking and laughing. I was thinking that they may have just come out of a meeting or an event, when one of them emerged and stepped on to the site's "stage" behind the museum where she performed a few ballet steps and a pirouette. At that, all the others mounted the stage in formation behind her and joined in the synchronized ballet routine that they knew well. It was only later that I discovered this had been a rehearsal for a
Come See What We Have On the Walls for You!
subsequent free performance by dancers of the Avery Ballet. The muse of creativity was alive and well. On that same day, I heard a voice repeatedly calling out instructions of "run, stop, turn, point! Cut!" My curiosity got
One artist who has consistently responded to the call of the muse is a guitarist who appears weekly at the site to generously provide a personal concert for any and all who are present. This gifted and gregarious musician is Bruce
Urban Sketchers the best of me and I couldn't help but ask what that was all about. It turned out that the crew was filming a music video for the new release of a musician in California. Place-M Muse provided the The Market-P inspiration to get the job done. On another weekend, Paula Raudenbush and the Fredericksburg Urban Sketchers had selected Market Place as the subject for their monthly drawing sessions, and the muse "called" each artist to highlight a different feature of the site in their sketches-from architectural features to an alley and its cast-away items. In addition, periodically, I have seen that the call of the Muse had attracted a visit from a dancer who came with boombox in tow to perform a series of "Robot" dances.
Callander, a retired technician for the US Army Corps of Engineers, who had diligently commuted to Fort Belvoir in Northern Virginia for 40 years. Callander's repertoire ranges John Denver's "Marvelous Toy" to Dan Fogelberg's "Leader of the Band." It also includes a ballad for commuters that he wrote one winter day when, trapped in a traffic jam on I 95 and succumbing to multiple airings of "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas, he composed his own classic, "I'm Dreaming of a Fast Highway." Thanks to those who responded to the call of the Muse and shared their creativity, talent, and humor during those many long months of down-time! Collette Caprara is a local writer and artist.
Give a Child Something to Think About
Books, Games, Amusing Novelties “Summer Favorite” Beverley Coates
“Shelter From The Storm” Lynn Abbott
“A Widewater Shore”, Penny A Parrish
M-Sat. 10am-6pm; Sun. 1pm-4pm
810 Caroline Street (540) 371-5684
front porch fredericksburg
August 2021
25
