Description
The idea of Wales as a land of singers and rugby players has, like all cliches, a kernel of historical fact. Both arose at the same time, at the end of the nineteenth century, as collective expressions of local and national identity, at a time when the ordinary people of Wales were beginning to assert themselves in fields as diverse as the pulpit, the political stage and the eisteddfod platform. Singing and sport really appear to represent two contrasting cultural worlds: the one, sedate, responsible and disciplined, performing oratorios like Handel's 'Samson', while viewing the other (oval-shaped) sphere with suspicion because of its associations with drink, gambling and disorderly behavior by players and spectators alike. When we look closer, however, what strikes us is how the massive popularity of choral singing unleashed passions and loutish behavior virtually indistinguishable from the sports field. In fact there were larger crowds at choir competitions than at football matches, in Seven Sisters and coalfield communities across South Wales, as eisteddfodau became 'choral bullfights' and intense rivalries exploded into mayhem. AT the same time. rugby attained respectability because it was the game of the classes as well as the masses, and was a vehicle for the display of skill, science and the exercise of higher faculties, attributes that could be seen also in the international renown attained by Welsh cyclists and boxers as they competed in Europe and the USA. Just as Welsh sportsmen traveled the world, so did their singers; even to Chicago.| Period | 28 Aug 2008 |
|---|---|
| Event title | The North American Festival of Wales 2008 |
| Event type | Other |
| Location | Chicago, United States, IllinoisShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |