How creative are people?

Last night I did my duty as a doting father and went to see my daughter's school compete in the Regional Rock Challenge - it's an evening of dance when teams stage an eight minute performance on a subject of their choosing.  The idea is to get kids involved in performance rather than sitting around bus shelters spitting or whatever it is they do before they are old enough to get served in the pub.


I'm not normally a big fan of dance - the modern stuff is all rolling around on the floor or else it's Hip Hop and I just want to make the performers pull their trousers up.  Where's the art in showing off your pants eh?

But this stuff was really sensational.  We had a piece about Orpheus and Eurydice (lovers separated), a modern take on Cinderella (there was a fairy Gok Father) and a couple of disturbing pieces about knife crime and domestic violence.  Really powerful stuff.

This morning I was reading about how people are getting shorter attention spans and generally how we're getting more stupid (OK It was the Daily Mail so it doesn't count) but I can't square what I saw last night with what we're constantly being told about the population.

I witnessed large numbers of teenagers coming up with witty and stylish performances which spoke eloquently about their world and their concerns.  I saw people putting in long hours to make it happen and I saw very little cynicism (which is unusual when a large group of brits get together...).

So I've had a bit of sunshine this week..

(and our kids won as well... which always helps).

Liam