Thoughts Along the Path . . .
A few weeks ago I read an
article about practices and behaviours that are present in pretty much every human
society and culture as far back as archeologists and historians have been able
to confirm.
Music is perhaps top of the list. Whether mimicking
birdsong or expressing rhythm, all peoples incorporate music into their lives.
This leads naturally to dance as a whole-body experience. I remember traveling
through Kenya and seeing people with friendly smiles, their bodies swaying as
they waved, and even chanting a greeting.
Another universal practice is art in its myriad forms.
Cave drawings, jewelry, decorated household objects, body and face paint, wall
hangings — there really are no limits to how humans express, celebrate, and
commemorate through the arts. Did early humans think of art as optional or was
it essential? In its earliest forms it was a sign of leisure. People had time
to decorate, and at some point it became customary to
see the arts as a worthy human endeavour.
Yet one more practice throughout time and in all cultures
is storytelling. People have always gathered for stories and for many reasons.
Stories inform us, preserve our history, entertain us, and even connect us. A
traveller with news would be welcomed as an honored guest.
But what’s a storyteller without an audience? The
pleasure of hearing stories and watching a performance is yet another part of
storytelling. This brings my thoughts to something here in Ayr. You probably
already know about the recently created Ayr Community Theatre (ACT). Readers of
this newspaper also know about the Unity Café series hosted by the local Baha’i
community. Diana Barber, the president of the ACT, will be the special guest
presenter at the next Unity Café.
On 21 October at 7:30pm at the North Dumfries Community
Complex Diana will tell us about the ACT in Ayr and help us learn more about
the role of theatre in strengthening culture and community life. We invited her
to present at the October Unity Café when the next performance was scheduled
for November. Despite this week’s announcement about the postponement until
2023, the topic and the ideas remain relevant.
You are invited to the Unity Café to learn about
community theatre as well as the challenges and learning from the initiative
itself. You can also relax with others for the evening. Refreshments and social
time are always part of the evening, too.
For more information, please send an email to Events.AyrON@gmail.com .
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Submitted to Ayr News by Jaellayna Palmer, October 2022