Flash of inspiration for Durban
Does it have what it takes for a flashmob?
WHAT is the essence of a flashmob? Well, the scene might be a busy shopping mall. Suddenly a solitary girl starts singing a song. If the scene is being recorded, the camera picks out the surprised expressions of passers-by. But, now, some of the passers-by start joining in.
Soon, more and more people join in, apparently because they like singing. In the end, a huge group of so-called “shoppers” have joined in to form a supposedly impromptu choir.
When they have finished, the singers leisurely disperse, and the scene returns to what it was before. The effect is novel and dramatic. This is only one of a series of flashmobs that have made their name across the world.
There is a different flashmob in Chamberlain Square, Birmingham, England. There a British Army band “just happens” to be loitering, and one by one the musicians decide they’ll do their bit to brighten up the lives of the shoppers. In the end, 60 red-uniformed bandsmen are giving a brilliant “impromptu” concert, which ends as casually as it began.
For many people, there is one flashmob that remains a favourite: it takes place in a busy South American city square. A man wanders casually to the centre of the square, and sets up a stand holding a kettle-drum. On this he begins to play a familiar rhythm.
Soon a couple of women join him, take clarinets out of cases, and start to play what we recognise are the opening bars of Ravel’s Bolero. One by one, other musicians wander into the square, until an orchestra is performing. Even a giant gong appears just in time to be struck at the end. The passers-by applaud, and the musicians casually disperse.
Perhaps one of the more memorable flashmobs was after Nelson Mandela’s death. A video filmed of the touching tribute to Mandela reached almost a million views on YouTube within days of being posted.
In it the Grammy Award-winning Soweto Gospel Choir posed as shoppers and staff at a Woolworths store in Johannesburg before surprising shoppers with a heartfelt rendition of Johnny Clegg’s Asimbonanga – a song written in support of Mandela during his time in prison. The performance brought many watching it to tears.
This take-it-or-leave-it type of understated entertainment sounds, if anything, British, or at least, English. But it was first experimented with by an American, Bill Wasik, the editor of Harper’s Magazine in Manhattan in 2003.
Flashmob, Durban? What about it? For anyone who might consider organising Durban’s first real flashmob, it would be wise to establish some rules of the game. Although a flashmob appears impromptu, a minimum of planning would be needed. For a start, it would be courteous and sensible to inform the owners of the mall (or wherever the flashmob is to take place) of one’s intentions and obtain their permission beforehand.
Performers should do it for the love of it. No hat should go around at the end asking for donations. Likewise, no placards or posters should advertise the performance beforehand. A flashmob just “happens”.
What about it, Durban? Is it possible that Durban’s population has the flexibility of culture and the broad-mindedness to welcome the flashmob conception into its midst?
One sincerely hopes so, because, if nothing else, a flashmob will always be an entertaining and fascinating social happening.