I’m still not sure what ‘Smoosh’ means, but whatever it is, it’s awesome. Yesterday I took myself up to Southwark, to check out an event by the Paraorchestra. I had heard it mentioned on the news the evening before and decided to check it out. It had been years since I’d had any contact with the Paraorchestra: Lyn stopped participating in it soon after 2012, and we had fallen out of touch. Yet as a disabled blogger and commentator, the Paraorchestra seems a key part of disability culture, so I thought I’d go see how they were doing.

I got up there a couple of hours early, so I milled about the Southbank Centre for a bit, checking out what was going on and avoiding the heat. Then, at three yesterday afternoon, it all began: it wasn’t so much a performance than a parade: A procession of about thirty musicians with various disabilities, marching along the south bank of the Thames, playing all kinds of funky, modern songs. I was instantly intoxicated. It felt like a carnival; a celebration of human diversity in which the participants cried out ‘this is what we can do!’ There was dancing and whooping and cheering. People were playing all sorts of instruments, including one guy with a huge sousaphone and another with a full drum kit bolted to his wheelchair.

To be honest, at one point I became rather emotional. It reminded me so much of Lyn, and I could almost feel her presence. The Paraorchestra has a lot of new musicians, and I barely saw anyone who was a member in 2012, except one: I recognised Lloyd Coleman, who is (I think) now one of the creative directors. He recognised me too, and we started to talk. It was great to see him: we spoke about Lyn, and had a brief hug.

The event lasted all afternoon, and there were two performances of roughly the same songs. I stayed for both. I really wanted to catch up with Charles Hazlewood, who created the orchestra, but was eventually told that he had had to leave  early. All the same, it was a fantastic afternoon, and I really want to explore ways of somehow getting involved in the Paraorchestra myself as a filmmaker.

I’m still not sure why they called it ‘Smoosh‘ though.