Dancing to the music

Singing produces joy. It’s chemical and it’s indisputable. We’ve had lots of Rachel Hore’s singing groups at Daku, and they are always happy occasions. The wind may blow (it did this week, but not too hard), the rain may fall (which it did intermittently) but the sunshine produced by the choir is always breaking through (and the real thing did too). So, mixed weather outside but glorious choral magic inside.

Rachel ran daily morning workshops, and brought in Seke from Vivili village

Rachel leads a workshop

to some of them. Seke is a young Fijian singer and teacher; he travels around Fiji teaching groups and playing his guitar. His voice has become strained and gravelly with too many years of belting it out – Fijian villages don’t have the luxury of microphones for their teachers. But his verve and elation are electric. With Seke on his guitar and Rachel on her drum, and her beautiful voice soaring alongside the choir, there were sessions of pulsating song and even dance as both choir and the staff at the resort joined hands to move to the music.

Anneke conducts a farewell song

The week produced a new star: Anneke, the 10-year old daughter of one of the choristers, not only took part fully in all the singing but also taught the group a new song – and conducted it at the final performance.

At the final concert Seke’s own choir from Vivili village came to Daku to sing and perform a meke (the traditional Fijian dance accompanied by the acappella chanting and singing of the other villagers), and Rachel’s choir sang the songs they had learned during the week. Outside was blowing a gale and pouring with rain; everyone crushed into the shelter of the big bure and the result was one of the best concerts we’ve ever had – bursting with an urgent joy, embracing everyone in the magic  of music, transcending weather and uniting singers and audience alike.

Kids from Vivili at the final concert

Rachel's choir getting off the bus at the village

In June, Rachel Hore – who has taught many singing weeks at Daku – brought out her own choir. This is a choir she teaches regularly in the Blue Mountains, so they all knew each other already. That, and her own close ties with the community around Daku, made for a very special week and I received some truly heart warming comments from the people who came.

Hi Delia,
I had such a wonderful time in Fiji and I just wanted to let you know about the highlights for my sisters and I.
We caught a taxi out to Ba to see where our Dad was born and lived and worked. The taxi driver took our pilgrimage very seriously and went out of his way to help us find the places we wanted to see.
Arriving at Daku was wonderful. We loved staying in the Villa and enjoyed the beautiful views from the verandah. The staff are absolutely wonderful – Raj, Kenni, Mereoni and their beautiful children and Temu, Demari and Carlos ( excuse my spelling!) and the others we didn’t see so much of but who made our rooms so beautiful each day. The food was fantastic.
The absolute highlight was going out to Kenni and Mereoni’s village. The bus trip gave us an opportunity to see so much more of the island and we felt so welcome and singing with the community there was very special.
I feel so lucky to be in Rachel’s choir – the relationships she has developed with the choirs there gave us opportunities we would never have had as ‘ordinary’ tourists.
Thanks for your part in organising the week. I hope we are able to go back to your beautiful resort.
Warm regards,
Jeanette

Trip was fantastic, Staff at Daku are extraordinary, Singing was Divine and Rachel Rocs
Peter and Caroline

It was the most amazing trip I have ever had. Fabulous! Daku is delightful, and Keni, Merioni, Raj and all the staff are extraordinarily gracious, extremely though discreetly hard-working, faultlessly hospitable and very competent. The setting is exquisite, the accommodation is both charming and comfortable, and the meals are delicious.

Rachel’s respectful and lovingly nurtured relationships with both the Daku family and the village choirs facilitated a cultural and emotional experience that went far deeper than I could have imagined.
Sheridan

It was one of the best weeks of my life! Keni, his family and the staff welcomed us and treated us like we were family – not just tourists. The trip to Keni’s village was a unique and always to be remembered experience – including the enjoyment of the bus ride!
Dianne

Relaxing by the pool

A recent guest at Daku Resort writes to tempt you to a Singing Workshop in Paradise…

Are you thinking about attending a Singing Workshop as one of the Paradise Courses at Daku Resort? This brief note could help you to decide “Yes, this is my sort of thing.”

I am Eric Conley and, with my wife Rose, attended the Singing in Paradise with Rachel Hore workshop in May 2009. It  was our second visit to Daku, only six months after the first workshop with Tony Backhouse in late 2008. So you can see we were impressed. We knew what to expect in terms of hospitality, friendliness and accommodation. And we looked forward to Rachel’s approach to the music.

Let me focus on the musical aspects. You know the questions you ask yourself when you are trying to decide: “Is it for me? Is it my sort of singing?  I’m not a good singer, will I fit in?”

Well, in brief, the answers for a wide range of people will be “yes, yes and yes.”

The singing experiences of the two groups we joined ranged from several who claimed “I can’t sing” (but they can now) upwards. Most were experienced to some degree in church choirs or local choral groups. They included all ages and were the sort of people who can work together in fun and harmony.

What style of singing? Well ,mostly gospel or cultural songs in relatively simple four part harmony. At that point you may have guessed the next challenge. There were at least twice as many women as men. Well, we all know that real men neither sing nor eat quiche!

So, we had ladies sing the soprano, alto and tenor parts with most men in bass. Works well (one lone male tenor seemed to enjoy it eh, Andrew?)   And Rachel takes care to set the keys and song ranges to suit. No high soprano stuff and no lower than the soles of your boots for the basses. If you are not sure – don’t worry – you will reach the notes.

The musical structure of the week is broadly workshop sessions each morning leading up to a concert performance on the final evening. That concert held informally in the dining area with a couple of dozen invited guests, friends, locals as the audience.

Highlights through the week included visits to local village communities. Vivili village has a long association with Daku and members of that community entertained us at Daku early in the week. Yaroi church choir also acted as hosts and gave us a presentation of songs.

The format of the week is well described if you follow this link to Rachel Hore’s page at Paradise Courses. And I see I am past my 200 words budget so I will leave it to readers to check out all the accommodation, hospitality and “logistic” aspects.

Eric Conley

Paradise Courses 2009

We’re more than half way through the schedule for this year – but there are some wonderful courses still to come.

Art:

Kerrie Lester teaches Figures in the Landscape from September 12 – 19; as a 16 times Archibald finalist, her exuberant paintings are very well known.

The following week – September 19 – 26 – Leonie Norton teaches Botanical Art and Holiday Sketching – always a popular week.

Singing and Music:

Rachel Hore leads her sixth week from September 26 – October 4 – a choral workshop drawing on her world music songs.

Mike Smith of Radio 2MBS leads a week of Classical Music Appreciation from October 11 – 18.

Tony Backhouse is coming back for a week of Gospel Singing from November 22 – 29.

You can find full details of all the courses at www.paradisecourses.com. If you have any specific questions or are not clear about anything, please get in touch, either by email to paradisecourses@iinet.net.au or by calling us on +61 (02) 9969-4753. We look forward to welcoming you to Daku Resort.

Yoga

This has been a new and very successful introduction this year, and we still have 4 weeks on offer – have a look at www.yogainfiji.com for more details.

Aug 23 – 30   –   Pam Badman:  Yoga with awareness – Hatha and Kundalini

Nov 6 – 13   -   Amanda Ahern:  Yoga and creativity: Svaroopa Yoga

Nov 14 – 21 –   Tara Er:  Iyengar Yoga

Dec 7 – 13   –   Mark Whitwell:  Heart of Yoga