Don’t underestimate the power of your regular space.
There are always a couple of weeks in December when I have to forgo my usual rehearsal space because it is being used as a staging space for elementary concerts. Instead I use a nearby room and wheel in a piano.
Same singers, same music, same director. And yet, without fail, the rehearsals are less focused and productive, and I routinely leave frustrated. It’s only when I remember how much the space matters that I can breathe again.
The culinary tradition of terroir – the idea that specific places imbue the foods produced there with specific flavors – is a natural comparison. Over time, together, we ascribe certain characteristics to the space we’re in, and we build up associations between the space we’re in and how we behave. When we move, all of those associations are lost – even if it’s just down the hall!
I think I’m back in my own space next week, and I can’t wait. I can’t wait to take advantage of all the terroir we’ve built over months and years of rehearsing there. It makes a difference, and my group just isn’t my group without that terroir – just as certain wines aren’t the same if the grapes are grown anywhere else, or certain cheeses are only themselves with cows from the right region.