Promenading in the Promenade

When the whole world is split by dissension, and agitators set one community group against another , it is easy to feel despair. On Sunday, while visiting Montpellier to see an opera, my spirits were briefly lifted. Montpellier is a wonderfully diverse city, but I am only too aware that skin colour, different modes of dress and , religious customs all militate against us mixing . Even at the opera, the players and audience are almost exclusively Western European, save for our Musical Director Rodney Cox . Schools and Universities are wonderful institutions for breaking down these barriers, but what about after that? Sadly, most of us seem to go our separate ways, This is something that I felt deeply when I visited Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, in the early seventies, where I saw two distinctly divided communities, and this has concerned me in one way or other ever since. And so, what we saw in Montpellier on Sunday afternoon, definitely brought me cheer.

The opera was due to begin at five. We had arrived early, and it was a fine afternoon, so we decided to take a stroll down the Esplanade Charles de Gaulle. This lovely park, lined with plane trees , runs between The Corum Concert Hall and the Place Comedie, and it is always full of people, strolling, dining , and resting. It is such a happy place to be . Recently it has been under reconstruction , but now it is almost complete. Modern fountains have been installed, new wider walkways constructed, and kiosks built for outside dining and flower sellers. Finally, the famous Victorian bandstand, Kiosque Bosc, so named after a local musician, has been restored . It has always been a focus for playing music , and as we approached it today we heard some pleasant sounds. We drew closer.

We spotted a large crowd milling around the bandstand, and heard someone shouting out instructions from the centre. Many of these people were standing in a circle, and I immediately realised that they were joining together in a dance. They danced in pairs facing each other, and progressed around the circle in opposite directions, constantly changing partner. Old danced with old; young with old; child with grown up; rich with poor; black with white; man with woman; man with man; and woman with woman. Everyone was laughing, and excitedly making new friends before they passed on. What a joyful occasion. If only we could see more events like this. The Kiosque Bosc is a place in which the community can make music, both formally and informally, and an abandoned drum kit indicated that there had recently been some live music played here. I shall be looking out for more.

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