Solent Waves
November 2009 Issue 323
Editorial Material

FASH Chat –

Folk on the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square

I'm sure most of you will have heard about sculptor Antony Gormley's project, called One & Other, for the empty Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square. For 100 days, a different person has been lifted up onto the plinth every hour on the hour, 24 hours a day without a break, to spend their one hour doing whatever they chose. Many thousands of people put their names forward, of whom 2,400 were randomly selected to represent every part of the UK. One of them was folk singer and dancer Rebecca Brown, who was given a 'slot' at 8pm on Saturday, 26th September. She wanted to use her hour to show everyone the warmth, fun and community spirit of the folk world.

As soon as Beci knew she had a place on the plinth, she sent emails buzzing around to gather support. One of them reached Claire Coxwell from Nonsuch Folk Club, who then passed on the news to her friends in Hampshire, which is why I found myself standing in Trafalgar Square two weeks ago with a group of about 50 people, watching as Beci was raised slowly onto the empty plinth. It was already growing dark, but the evening was beautifully warm and the sky was clear with an almost full moon as she set up her music and took possession of the microphone.

We all joined in with the choruses as she sang old favourites such as 'Landlord fill the Flowing Bowl', 'Blooming Heather' and 'Alabama John Cherokee'. The more ambitious added harmonies and it all sounded fantastic in the clear air with the hum of London's traffic in the background. Passers-by stopped to smile and then joined in too. Beci then switched from singing to calling and we lined up to do Galopede. Our musician gallantly played his violin for many repetitions, right beside the sign warning that musical instruments must not be played in Trafalgar Square!

Two policemen driving round the Square waved their support and gave a friendly blast on their car's siren. As usual when people get together and dance, everyone was smiling and laughing by the time we finally stopped.

Back to singing and Beci gave a heartfelt interpretation of 'A Place Called England'. We all joined in with 'Hard Times of Old England' and a rollicking rendition of 'Rolling Home' completed a warm and wonderful Folk Hour on the Plinth. It felt like a privilege to have been part of a rather special event that can never be repeated. I hope you can now imagine that you were there and feel in some way that you were a part of it too.

If anyone would like to know more about 'One & Other', or to see pictures and videos of the many and varied performances of the 'plinthers', see www.oneandother.co.uk The project itself finished on 14th October, but I expect they will keep the information there for a while so people can see what it was all about.

Daphne Hall

Dance club survey

During the summer, John Turner on behalf of FASH conducted a small survey of the dance clubs in our area. We weren't sure what to expect or how useful it would be, but we felt that it would be interesting to have a snapshot as to how the dance clubs were doing and see if there were things FASH could do better to assist. Most clubs sent back some answers and if there are any clubs or individuals who care to send in further comments, we would be delighted to receive them. Just drop a note to the editor.

All the clubs seem to have a group of regular attendees and vary in size from 10-40. All welcome visitors which is nice to hear. The majority use recorded music and while this is nice, many if not most people prefer dancing to good quality live music when possible. We suggest that it might be good to see some people at the FASH workshops where we have good quality live music as the norm.

There were some specific suggestions which we will follow up on, but several around the subject of how to encourage new attendees and promote folk activities. Frankly no one has a magic answer to how to get more people involved. From the feedback we have received we suggest that if you do get any newcomers, you go out of your way to make them very welcome and included in your group, especially learn and use their names. Beware of cliquey groups. Beware of club callers vying with each other to present the most challenging dances. Ensure your callers have done their homework well and are not just trying out a dance without any preparation.

Nudged by the survey, we will be putting up a poster about the clubs in our area (with their contact details) at future FASH events.

One thing we have noticed is how few dance clubs, as against folk singing clubs and display sides, have internet links. There are few who have websites or email contact details. While it may be true that most of the people who go to the dance clubs don't care to use the internet and maybe anyway don't need to know about their club, it is becoming more and more the case that the way in which new members find out about clubs and get attracted to clubs is by the internet. So maybe it would be worth looking at this area.

Our thanks to all who replied, and don't forget if you wish to comment further we are all ears!