The Proms and Britishness

[faustus]

"The audiences for many of our greatest cultural events - I'm thinking in particular of the Proms - is still a long way from demonstrating that people from different backgrounds feel at ease in being part of this."

Apparently Margaret Hodge feels the Proms should engender new common values of Britishness. Ungrammaticly.

I'm trying to remember the racial demographic of the late Proms I went to - I don't recall it being any different from any other theatre production or classical concert I've been to. That felt like a range of people but I suppose we were, to borrow a phrase, hideously white. But probably not representative of the racial mix of London.


So?


The Snoop Dogg prom. Wall to wall Samuel Coleridge-Taylor. Beethoven can stay.

Comments

[fjm.livejournal.com]

I look forward to citizenship ceremonies at the Clifford's Tower. Now there's an expression of nice English values.

[drasecretcampus.livejournal.com]

Nowt more English than an open fire... Sheesh... No, look away, I didn't write that.

The Brits come back to Dover
With our tolerance and tact
Our famous sense of humour
And behaviour at the match

We shout about who won the war
And roam around in packs
You'd hardly know it's over
When the Brits come rolling back (http://www.tomrobinson.com/records/albums/liabt.htm#tbcrb)


Do Modern British Values really include castles?

I thought that sort of thigs went out with Henry VIII. Abbeys, at least.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

What are the common values of Britishness? Is there a list somewhere?

[drasecretcampus.livejournal.com]

Careful or you may get deported....

I seem to recall a set of questions that included things like how to address the second cousin of a marquis - yanno, things the average John Smith probably couldn't answer.

Apparently Hodge wrote in her blog last year about how well proms brought people together of different parts of society. Did she really sit in the audience and think, "MY, how diverse the demographics are."?

Someone doesn't get it, and I hope it's her rather than me.