Such activities allow us to dabble and explore amidst the power of a group and maximize the joy of artful endeavors, which many prefer to the cost of individual lessons.
One of the most accessible commu- nity arts is choral music, as it requires no special equipment. Singing in a group can also become a community tradi- tion that gathers people of all ages and lifestyles in fellowship and celebration. Since 1882, singing Handel’s
Messiah has become an annual high- light for a Swedish wheat-farming community in South-Central Kansas. For three months before Palm Sunday, 200 farmers, homemakers, college students and business owners from the Lindsborg area gather twice weekly to rehearse the three-hour piece (
Bethanylb.edu/Oratorio_History.html). Becky Anderson, the owner of Lindsborg’s Swedish Country Inn, who has sung for 41 years, points to a par- ticularly thrilling moment during each performance. “There is just this exhilara- tion as the audience jumps to their feet yelling, ‘Brava, Brava.’ Golly, that’s fun.” Chicagoans maintain a similar holiday tradition. For 35 years, free Do-It-Yourself Messiah concerts have provided a community-funded uplift (
imfChicago.org). Thousands of audi- ence members lend their voices to thrill- ing performances of this masterpiece, led by a world-class conductor and soloists and backed by an all-volunteer orchestra of local professionals and amateur musicians.
Storytelling is yet another com- munity performing art that requires no special equipment. The National Storytelling Network (StoryNet. org) advances the art of storytelling through a national conference and local storytelling guilds. The Lehigh Valley Storytelling Guild, in Pennsyl-
vania, meets once a month at a local coffee house (
LVStorytellers.org). Members include professional and amateur storytellers, poets, actors and newcomers that love to practice—or just listen to—this ancient art. Strong community and cultural identity is forged on other stages, as well. The Community Actors Theatre, in San Diego, California’s, Oak Park, performs many plays written by local playwrights exploring themes in black culture (
CommunityActorsTheatre.com). For Calvin Manson, a local poet and playwright who teaches acting workshops, the nonprofit venue feels like a mom-and-pop outfit. “They have the raw talent that could be developed into something wonderful. People don’t just learn to be actors and playwrights. They learn to work together, to com- mit to a common struggle. When they leave, they know how to work with people, to be team players.”
Sometimes, a life change can open the door to a creative outlet. As a newly single 30-something, photographer Doug Plummer says that when he fell in with the Seattle contra dance scene in the mid-1980s, “It became my primary social life.” Derived from New England folk dance, two lines of dancers face each other and move to the rhythms of fiddle music.
“Since 2003, anytime I’m in New England, I try to stay over on a Monday and catch the Nelson [New Hampshire] dance,” says Plummer. Likening it to participating in the slow-food and similar local movements, he says, “I feel like I’m entering into a mode of slow-dancing.” At the weekly Nelson gath- erings, “The dancers will drift in; singles, couples and families with kids,” he relates. “Someone puts out the fiddle case for the
“Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”
~ Pablo Picasso natural awakenings September 2012 35
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