Feist, who had already sung instructions to an usher not to bother a cellphone photographer, didn't seem to mind; she'd already gotten what she wanted.
Morning Rhythms has gotten off to a slow start today (it is the Monday after Thanksgiving, after all), but by the time the 45 minutes draw to a close, over 20 residents of the Greater Harlem Nursing Home and Rehabilitation Center are lifting their knees up and leaning over to touch their toes, following Swiney's stream of sung instructions.
What keeps it fresh is her aptitude for improvisation: you have to listen closely to her vocals because at any minute she could be singing an instruction to join in or a comment on proceedings.
That meant leading crowds at campaign rallies in spelling aloud her name, singing voter instructions — "fill in the oval, write it on the line" — as she once did in Fairbanks, and investing time courting Alaska Natives, whose support proved crucial on Election Day.
Way in the back of the gym, behind the ragged ring sitting low on the ground, a shriveled old man with cauliflower ears and a flattened nose sang out instructions to a toddler in Spanish.
Edward Perretti, the tenor singing Otello, followed the instruction exactly.
Patricia Spencer, the group's flutist, set the tone with a sharply etched account of "For the Starling," the athletic opening movement of Richard Rodney Bennett's "Songs for the Instruction of Singing Birds" (1981), from a perch in the hall's balcony.
On most mornings they have group classes and activities that include the singing of popular songs, instruction in hygiene and explanations of Taiwanese immigration law, and three days a week they are offered Christian, Buddhist and other religious services.
