Moments of Collective Joy in Wild Places!
Pop-up Outdoor Performances in Summer 2021
Communitas 2021…
To celebrate the easing of social distancing restrictions, the Communitas project was a series of ‘pop-up’ singing workshops and events across the North of England in Summer 2021 led by Dave Camlin with Angie Power & special guests. Musical picnics, Merry Neets, singing workshops and performances in wild places, with ‘scratch’ choirs bringing moments of collective joy to the great outdoors. Use the interactive map below to see what we got up to:
And click below for a summary of what people said about the project:
Dates
Below is a list of all of the events for the project. Each type of event is explained in more detail below.
W/S = Singing Workshop
Merry = Merry Neet
Picnic - Off the Grid Musical Picnic
nb - on some devices you may need to scroll (vertically and / or horizontally) to see all of the information…
Click on the event location to go to its Facebook Event page
Like and share the Facebook page to keep in touch with the project:
There’s also a song book containing lyrics of loads of songs we sang, some of which are songs you may already know that are easy to join in with. You can download it below:
Singing Workshops
We held a series of all-day workshops in lovely wild locations led by Dave with Angie & special guests, leading to ‘pop-up’ outdoor performances at the end of each workshop (weather permitting). No experience necessary, learning mostly by ear in the ‘natural voice’ tradition. Repertoire was based on songs that people collectively wanted to sing. The Ennerdale workshops were on the same days as a Merry Neet, where we learned songs to also perform at the evening event.
Merry Neets
A celebration of everyday creativity and the turning year, hosted by Dave Camlin and Angie Power, inspired by the traditional Cumbrian Merry Neet. People joined us as performers or audience to share songs, stories, poems, dances, jokes or anything else they fancied around a chosen theme. More information about the Merry Neet events is available on the dedicated web page:
Off the Grid Musical Picnics
These informal gatherings were free opportunities to simply get together somewhere wild with like-minded folk to have a picnic, followed by some communal singing and maybe some impromptu performances.
Managing Risks
There is some debate about whether group singing has more risks of virus spread attached to it than other activities, so risk management is important. When people registered for the project, they were required to complete a safety questionnaire so that we had a mutual understanding of everyone’s circumstances, and our shared responsibilities to help keep everyone safe. There is a summary of those expectations and responsibilities in this document:
More Information
Ways of keeping in touch:
sign up to our mailing list (right) for updates on the Communitas project
Like and share the Communitas Facebook page
Drop Dave & Angie an email at lakes@mouthfulway.co.uk if you have any questions