Hosier Lane saw some Hero Strutting
If you’ve ever been to Confest, you’ve heard of the Spontaneous Choir. It began there in 1990, and is one of the highlights of people’s experience at the festival.
Haven’t even heard of Confest? That’s okay — you don’t need to drive four hours to a hippie camping festival (which both Ruki and I have been to multiple times) to get a dose of the Spontaneous Choir. Peter Gleeson, the founder, runs events in Melbourne throughout the year.
The laughter flashmob on the train was a hit with tourists
A friend and I went along to the January Spontaneous Choir. It’s less a choir and more a street performance, involving lots of flashmob-style activities.
Peter summed up the day in his Facebook group:
Spontaneous Choir in Melbourne was an enormous success with 16 turning up. We had performances at Darling gardens, on the train to the city, at Flinders st, with the statue angle busker, at Fed square, at BMW Edge Amphitheatre, at fed atrium, at the graffiti ally, with the graffiti busker, 2 street hero procession (where we clapped and cheered people walking along Swanston st) We finished at ‘the golden shower’ street café at about 4.30pm. An excellent day.
Interacting with a street performer (he loved us!)
It can be strange to suddenly burst into laughter on a train, but once the whole car is either laughing along, looking bemused, or taking photos, it’s a lot of fun. Similarly, going around Fed Square on our phones talking about an alien landing, before all falling over, sounds weird unless you’re actually doing it. It kept passersby amused, and added a little color to the city.
Spontaneously going around inside The Edge at Fed Square
Want to see what it looks like in action? Watch Peter’s YouTube videos. Or check this one out from Melbourne in 2011:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMhcQ4oAwvs&w=420&h=315]
He’s planning a day down at the St. Kilda Festival, so check out the Facebook group and get yourself down there. There’s nothing quite like running through a group of people, all clapping and cheering you on, to feel great.
-Theresa
