1/6/2018 0 Comments The Beat Of Our DrumsTHE BEAT OF OUR DRUMS
May 12, 2018 at the Normal? Festival of the Brain How and where do you feel the beat of drums? Ask people to give a word to describe their experience and the most common one is ‘visceral’. The response starts in the head, the heart, the hips, the toes…a different place for each person. Many will say the rhythm touches their souls and wakes their spirit. Watch those who have let themselves go with the drumbeat. They can seem to be in a dream, on drugs or disconnected from the world beyond the rhythm. The music of band leader Benny Goodman was banned for some time because the drum playing of Gene Krupa was thought to be encouraging sexual responses. There are few people who can remain still when they hear drums. A very few reject it, maybe because they recognise that it is reaching inside to a part which they do not want exposed. In the ‘Beat of Our Drums’ Kevin Richards, who has been running djembe drumming sessions throughout Kent for twenty years, took a roomful of adults and children through the basics of playing the djembe, a chalice-shaped drum from West Africa. Rather than just giving out instructions, Kevin used images and analogies to teach us, making the learning easier and more interesting. Instead of “Hit the drum.” he would say “Lift the sound out of the drum.” Instead of “Get quieter” he said “Fade as if you are walking out of the door.” We learned the different hand actions and how to make the three tones. Then we practised as a group, following Kevin. He explained that the drums were often used to send messages so we played to simple phrases using just the bass (B) and the tom tom (T) tones. For example:- ‘To the pulse, to the pulse. Won’t you take me to the pulse.’ (TTB TTB TTBT TTB) We practised these phrases for several minutes and then Kevin told us to listen to his playing and add our own rhythms. Initially there was a cacophony but gradually we synchronised and we varied volume and pace along with him. We could feel that our quieter playing was soothing, while our louder playing created urgency. We became confident and everybody seemed to be lost in the rhythms. This combined drumming continued for many minutes and, as many of us closed our eyes to let the rhythm take over, it was mesmerising. Each participant responded differently…some moved nothing except for their hands; some moved their heads; others almost bounced. It was interesting to see some of the passers-by adapting their pace to the sound of our drums; some even started dancing. Eventually Kevin led us deliberately faster and louder until we finished with a liberating ‘boom’. Learning a new musical instrument can be frustrating when you are unable to make the sounds, the notes, the tune. But with the djembe, we were clearly playing it to a level with which even a beginner can be satisfied. One participant came out and said she had found it satisfying, inclusive, democratic and a session which had created a sense of community. Not bad for just 60 minutes! Joy Pascoe May 2018 Edited version is available at http://thesickofthefringe.com/diagnoses/beatdrum - brucedrums.co.uk - richrhythms.co.uk - Youtube- Mamapama live at Folkestone Harbour Arm
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25/5/2018 0 Comments SWEARING IS GOOD FOR YOU!SWEARING IS GOOD FOR YOU
May 11, 2018 at the Normal? Festival of the Brain, Folkestone Dr Emma Byrne works as a robotics scientist whilst extending her fascination with profanity. Today she posed and answered questions, giving descriptions of research. Does swearing help us? It can reduce stress, encourage teamwork and better friendships, and deal with pain. It can also deflect rather than act as a proxy for physical violence. Why do we swear when in pain? Emma invited a volunteer to leave his hand in ice water for as long as possible, firstly saying only ‘straight’. He later repeated the exercise but was allowed to say ‘shit’. ‘Straight’ resulted 19 seconds whereas ‘shit’ gave 45 seconds. So, had the swearing eased his pain or given him the courage to withstand it? Why is swearing good for us? Apart from anything else, we gain information. For example, in sport we can assess which team is winning by listening. Football fans tend to use ‘shit’ when things are going badly and ‘fuck’ while they are going well. What are swear words? Swearing has been used as a diagnostic tool for over 150 years, yet there is still no definition. There are recognised topics but most gradually lose their potency. Blasphemy has little impact now; sexual terms are becoming less shocking as they are incorporated into more normal language and used as a kind of verbal seasoning. Words used against the individual as in sexism, racism and homophobia are the most taboo now. Why do we resist it? We all have the right to swear but some people are offended and assume others will be too. When we hear swearing we consider our feelings rather than think what it is doing for the speaker or what s/he is trying to do. Do men swear more than women? Some suggest that swearing by women is odious to God and women are too innocent to even understand the words. Huh! It is true that, in public, women are milder in swearing than men, but when together, we say whatever the fuck we want. Emily Bronte wrote swear words when they were appropriate for her characters and that word ‘appropriate’ is crucial in any consideration of swearing. We could have spent longer exploring questions about appropriacy; different languages; animals and swearing; judging or accepting those who swear; physiological effects; etcetera, but we had no time. Did we expect Emma to swear her way through the presentation? Probably. But her use was entirely appropriate and showed how much swearing can enrich what is being said. Joy Pascoe May, 2018. The unedited version is available on http://thesickofthefringe.com/diagnoses/swearing SWEAR!NG IS GO*D F*R YOU! THE AMAZ!NG SC!ENCE OF BAD LANGUAGE by Emma Byrne Profile books 2017 May 2013 – ‘BBC Four Thought’ on the benefits of swearing. The benefits of swearing. RSA Journal (Issue 1, 2017) https://emmabyrnenet.files.wordpress.com 24/5/2018 0 Comments Dementia Friends DEMENTIA FRIENDS
May 12, 2018 at the Normal? Festival of The Brain, Folkestone Before the Session: Me : Nah! I really don’t think I should go to any of the dementia sessions. Brave Me : Why not? Me : I have my issues and I’m afraid I’ll freak out. Brave Me : Wimp! Given everything you’ve been through, you should be able to deal with anything these days. Go! Keep quiet when you’re there and then find a corner afterwards to blub in! The session was led by Dementia Friends, and they began by asking for words which come to mind when we hear the word ‘Dementia’. Failed memory, confusion, paranoia, losing things, personality changes came out. I thought it strange that nobody mentioned loss and fear. The leaders gave us the five main messages which Dementia Friends want to get across:- 1. Dementia is not a natural part of old age. One in fourteen of over 65s have dementia but some are much younger. 2. Dementia is a disease of the brain. It affects everyone differently. There are over 100 different types of dementia. 3. Dementia is not just about losing memory. It also affects motor skills, sequencing, loss of inhibition, judging distance, perception. 4. It is possible to live well with it. 5. There is more to the person than the dementia. As a description of dementia, we were given the analogy of a person as a bookcase holding books from every memory of her life, with the most recent memories on the top shelf and her childhood ones at the bottom. As the bookcase begins to rock and topple, the books begin to fall off, those from the top shelf (recent events) dropping first. Imagine that most of the books have disappeared while the person could be living on the shelf containing the 50s. What would she not know about? Not just microwaves, smart phones and videos. Would she know what a teabag is, or what it’s for? How would she make a cup of tea? Should you make it for her, or does this possibly undermine her sense of independence! Perhaps the real way to help her is to buy tea rather than teabags. Then five volunteers were stood against a wall, given a slip of paper with details about their particular character and asked about ten tasks: “Could your character do this? If yes, stay still. If not, take one step forward.” Tasks included dressing themselves; making cheese on toast; voting etc. By the end of the tasks, one woman had stepped across half the room; some were in the middle; one had hardly left the wall. We all expected them to have had different characters but we were surprised to learn that they had all had the same. This illustrated how perceptions of dementia vary as widely as the people who have these perceptions. Then in groups of three we had to give exact instructions for making a cup of tea. Some had about 10 stages while one group had 30 showing that just the simplest task can seem difficult: add a physical problem and it becomes a nightmare. So, if you want to help, just plan ahead, create order, use visual clues but don’t actually do it for them. It is beneficial for them to have a sense of accomplishment. One of the most heartening pieces of information for me, a great believer in the power of language, was that it is no longer acceptable to refer to ‘dementia sufferers’. They are ‘people with dementia’. This reflects the way in which changing the term ‘rape victims’ to ‘rape survivors’ has gradually been enlightening the public and given strength to those who have been raped. It is entirely positive, as was this session. After the session Other people: Are you ok? Me: (sniff) Sure. Other people: No, you’re not. What happened? Was it bad? Me: No, it was bloody good. But I should have listened to myself. There were too many connections. Too many contacts. Too many familiar moments. I shouldn’t have gone. I was right. It was scary. I’ll get some wine and forget about it. Other people: Not a good idea! Me: Tough! Joy Pascoe 12.5.2018 Links: Dementia Friends (http://www.dementiafriends.org.uk) Edited version on (http://thesickofthefringe.com/diagnoses/2018/dementiafriends) Because of electrical problems, this event had been relocated from Guildhall Street to the Urban Room (UR) on the Harbour Arm. This is a long room with exposed bricks, wooden rafters and dimmed lighting, brightened by flashing coloured lights. The small bar was at one end while DJ Rev was set up at the other end. Although exposed to the November wind and light rain, this was a space more conducive to a disco and performance than the Guildhall Street room might have been.
Initially there were very few people inside but many were drawn in as DJ Rev pumped up the acid and hip house music. More and more people got into it...heads started to nod to the rhythm, then feet tapped, people began to sway, drinks were put down, coats taken off and we were really dancing as the music got into us...and yes, I gave up supporting the brickwork and started to dance! We were totally hooked into the music but then it stopped as we were called outside to watch the performance. Shades of Bray is a group of five female dancers, working with Jacob Bray, and they were coming to celebrate (or commiserate with) the ending of the successful Folkestone Triennial Fringe. We formed a large, semi-circle around the spotlighted space and there, poised ready to dance, were the Shades of Bray dancers. I had already noticed them inside, not just because their dancing there was notable but because of their striking images and combinations of simple red and black clothes - shorts, culottes, shirts, vests. The wind was howling across The Arm but the rain had stopped. I had no jacket so identified the tallest people wearing the thickest-looking coats and I wriggled my way into the middle of four of them so that I was warm. The music started, pulling us in. The dancers had seemed distant, all locked in their own worlds, not connecting with us, but they picked up the rhythm and, in unison, moved through the space. How is it that movement in unison, whether it is dancing, marching, gymnastics or coordinated sporting actions can pierce the body and raise the heartbeat? And that is just what happened there. They danced as individuals and as a group, each showing flexibility, rhythms, shapes, poses, connections, always relating to each other through touch, acrobatic support, position and the music. It particularly showed the integral trust, especially as one was thrown into the air and caught by the others. I forgot about the cold and just envied their youth and ability to dance so freely. There were several sections, many of which were just dance and some involving amusing, political comments. A few people complained about the fact that it was outside in the cold, and others felt the timing was inappropriate. I heard one person ask why they had chosen to break up the disco...missing the point of the evening! Maybe timing was an issue but the dancing itself was exciting and the humour infectious. When it finished we all scampered back into the UR, pleased that we could dance and warm up again. By now, the music was really hot with tech, deep and Afrobeat house music. So, not only did we rid ourselves of the chill, but we got into the rhythm. There was not a free inch of space. Some of the music DJ Rev was playing had a major drum element. This is the quickest route to my soul so I closed my eyes and just felt it. Some people need alcohol or drugs to get them to this state but, for me it's just good drumming. Fortunately, there were people to talk to or I would have just slipped into a semi-conscious state. Eventually, my elderly legs betrayed the young woman inside, so I had the sense to remove myself from the UR and the excellent music. But it had been a very good way to say farewell to a very good Fringe. JP Nov 2017 15/9/2017 0 Comments Wake Festival 20178 – 10 September, 2017 ]performance space[ It was early summer when ]performance space[ in Folkestone came into my life. I knew Ben and Bean and was interested in the work they were doing, seeing it as something which I might want to learn about. I attended a few events and my responses varied from ‘I’m in love with this!’ to ‘That left me totally cold.’ And then there was the evening when I shed thirty years and bounced about like a demented adolescent to a female punk band from L.A.. So what was next?
Last weekend I was drawn again to what was going on there. This time it was the Wake Festival. I’d received a personal invitation, so assumed that Ben and Bean must think I’m making some sense in the reviews I write for them, and they are suggesting that my interpretations are acceptable, not wrong, simply alternative. Such freedom that gives! 30/8/2017 2 Comments Rooftop DiscoWhat a wonderful way to spend Sundays! Tiled on the rooftop of Folkestone’s Leas Cliff Hall (LCH) is a large chessboard, and over the summer of 1933 the 5th World Chess Olympiad was held here. Playing for the French team was conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp but he and his teammates would not have been pleased to have shared the space with us. For them it was the click of chess pieces, the ping of the timers and the occasional ‘Shh!’ Not the same for us! Visitors to the same roof on the four Sundays through August 2017 were more used to the pounding of disco music, chattering people, shrieking children and peals of laughter in a scene to be found nowhere else. And there was never a single ‘Shh!’ None of us wanted to be quiet and we were certainly enjoying ourselves. It was easy to be happy when surrounded by so many heart-lifting stimuli. It seemed that everyone knew everyone or at least a few someones. As they came up the steps onto the roof, arms and smiles would spread. Someone would rush happily towards someone else and everywhere were hugs, kisses and cuddles…definitely my sort of place!
29/7/2017 0 Comments The Book of Blood: Human W(rites)An Alternative Review |
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