Who

All participants

Source et inspiration

Multiple inspirations, including activist and working-class traditions of revolutionary, feminist, anarchist choirs

Where

A space where all participants can come together (inside or outside)

DURATION

5 – 10 minutes

MATERIALS

Lyrics of a song

EXERCISE DESCRIPTION

Choose a song whose lyrics resonate with the themes explored in the workshop. The song doesn’t need to be familiar to everyone. The purpose of the exercise is to learn a song together, to sing together so as to build group cohesion, to find a shared energy, and to collectively combine our (lack of) expertise in an activity that we don’t fully master. Thus the aim is not to sing “well,” but to sing together, to form a choir, to listen to each other, to have fun together, without judgement but instead with collective care and support.

It’s possible to sing a cappella or karaoke, i.e. with the lyrics projected and the instrumental track in the background. The energy differs depending on the option chosen, but the intentions (collective engagement, embracing non-mastery, attentive group listening) remain the same. If the workshop runs over several days, the exercise can be repeated as a form of ritual.

See the resources provided by La Chorale, (Anarchist Choir of Lausanne)

Gaetano Manfredonia, La Chanson anarchiste dans la France de la belle époque, Éduquer pour révolter, Revue Française des idées politiques, 2007 / 2 n°26, p. 101-121

Cécile Talbot, « Nous qui sommes sans passé, les femmes » : usages et réappropriations de l’Hymne des femmes dans les collectifs féministes de la troisième vague”, Mots, Les langages du politique, Chanter le collectif N°124, 2020.