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kenjariAfter work today I headed down to the Weeks footbridge across the Charles river for RiverSing, a gathering/ritual/celebration for the autumnal equinox. It was quite a lot of fun - the event started out with various musical groups performing on both sides of the Charles. There were small choirs and a cappella groups, drumming circles, and morris dancers. I really love morris dancers, and these were great. They started off the festivities with a procession across the bridge that turned into a meandering sort of dance. They did this while carrying carved wooden stag's heads with large antlers and they were wearing beautiful jerkins of buff colored leather with trailing white gauze sleeves and leather hats. The dancers and their dance really looked like something out of Robert Holdstock's Mythago Wood books. It was almost magical. Later the morris dancers reappeared in the more usual costumes and did the more traditional dances.
The main event was the singing, which was done with the participation of everyone present - performers and spectators alike. There was a large group on each bank of the river, and several songs were sung antiphonally. We started with a few traditional songs and then went into the RiverMusic written especially for the occasion. We were accompanied by alphorns placed on the bridge and each bank, and presided over by a giant puppet representing Oshun, an east African river goddess. The puppet was really cool - it was indeed huge, requiring at least three puppeteers. The RiverMusic was simple and again done antiphonally. It was in fact very ritualistic, with a lot of repetition, a chant-like feel, and gradually building harmonies. The music was easy to sing while still being attractive and having a deeper resonance, both musically and psychologically. Although not overtly religious, there were definite pagan overtones and a feeling of both the ancient and the new being combined. It felt good to sing it.
RiverSing was put together by Revels. I thoroughly grasped what they are trying to do, and I most heartily approve of and support it. They are trying to provide a kind of community experience that has become rare in our modern urban culture and society: a shared celebratory experience of both performance and ritual built around nature and the seasons. It worked, at least for me. Standing there singing in the dusk, then hearing the voices from the other side floating across the river, I felt a sense of connection and togetherness, and belonging, even though I was among strangers (with the exception of Other Kenjari standing next to me and my boss Suzanne ahead of me in the crowd). It's a feeling that is extremely rare for me, and almost always requires music to achieve.
The main event was the singing, which was done with the participation of everyone present - performers and spectators alike. There was a large group on each bank of the river, and several songs were sung antiphonally. We started with a few traditional songs and then went into the RiverMusic written especially for the occasion. We were accompanied by alphorns placed on the bridge and each bank, and presided over by a giant puppet representing Oshun, an east African river goddess. The puppet was really cool - it was indeed huge, requiring at least three puppeteers. The RiverMusic was simple and again done antiphonally. It was in fact very ritualistic, with a lot of repetition, a chant-like feel, and gradually building harmonies. The music was easy to sing while still being attractive and having a deeper resonance, both musically and psychologically. Although not overtly religious, there were definite pagan overtones and a feeling of both the ancient and the new being combined. It felt good to sing it.
RiverSing was put together by Revels. I thoroughly grasped what they are trying to do, and I most heartily approve of and support it. They are trying to provide a kind of community experience that has become rare in our modern urban culture and society: a shared celebratory experience of both performance and ritual built around nature and the seasons. It worked, at least for me. Standing there singing in the dusk, then hearing the voices from the other side floating across the river, I felt a sense of connection and togetherness, and belonging, even though I was among strangers (with the exception of Other Kenjari standing next to me and my boss Suzanne ahead of me in the crowd). It's a feeling that is extremely rare for me, and almost always requires music to achieve.
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Re: Ah, the Revels!
Date: 2004-09-23 09:31 am (UTC)