When you stick a bunch of young musicians in a room together, you're bound to experience a lot of creativity. When you stick a bunch of young handbell musicians in a room together, you're granted a glimpse into the future. We often hear "Young people are the future of our art!" I experienced something completely different during College Ring-In. Young handbell musicians are the now of handbells and we are paving the way INTO the future!

Imagine sitting in a folding chair behind a row of shiny bells getting to know the persons to your right and left. You can't stop fidgeting with your nametag and exploring all the freebies in your welcome bag. Finally, someone walks up to the microphone to make a few welcome announcements and your heartbeat quickens! Michael Joy is introduced and takes his place at the podium. Everyone stands up expecting to ring and instead of ringing, Mike wants to do a little bit of Qigong...

I'm sure you're all with me when I say, "All I want to do is ring!" Mike takes it a step further by expressing, "All I want you to do is ring and here is a way to enhance your ringing."

Not very often in our art do we encounter a tool or technique that can be widely used to cultivate a higher level of musicianship, yet Mike Joy taught us two techniques which made tremendous impacts on the way we rang...Qigong and Laban Movement Theory.

Qigong is a holistic system of coordinated body postures, movements and breathing. Through Qigong, Mike showed correlations between how we ring and how those who practice Qigong use "flows" to disperse energy throughout the body. As handbell musicians, we talk about "following through" as we ring the bell to make a complete ringing motion. That same principle applies to Qigong. We want to keep the energy flowing. Qigong is a wonderful way to sustain healthy ringing while exploring one of life's more elusive art forms.

Laban is a method for interpreting and describing human movement. Through these movements and gestures we are able to manipulate the sound of a rung bell, which then allows the musician to direct the energy of a passage of music. Laban elevates our art form and produces undeniable musical artistry. It's true. I am a witness! Jason Krug's "Te Recuerdo" depicts a wonderful story of old love finding its counterpart later again in life. Add a little Laban and suddenly you are a bystander in a crowded room watching these two old friends remember what it felt like to once be in love. Laban is a tool that will illuminate the world of handbells forever.

Being a part of a group of eager college musicians all using Qigong and Laban was a wonderful learning experience. Hearing, watching and feeling it transform the music was a completely different experience altogether and a musically defining moment for me.