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THE BEST EVENTS, TALKS AND SPORT
* Lothlan Conservation Volunteers: Bawelnch Vegetation Make a difference to your environment by clearing the ragwort from this bird sanctuary. Just one example of the weekly tasks you can get stuck into every Sunday with the LCV. Bawsinch Nature Reserve, Edinburgh, Sun 10 Jul.
3 Exploring Sound Phenomena Malin Starrett guides you through a series of ear-bending experiments on the creative potential of sound and vibrations. Royal Museum, Edinburgh, Tue 12 Jul.
# Mela Glasgow Celebrate the culture of the Indian sub- continent with an annual knees- up with dancing, food, music from Hunterz. Samba Ya Bamba, Kurdish band Newroz, Maritian band Le Coco and others. Kelvingrove Park, Glasgow, Sun 17 Jul.
# Nlcholae and Alexandra, the Tear and Tearlna Talk about seeing how the other half lived. Uncover the story of the Romanov dynasty, Nicholas. Alexandra and their children. Paintings, furniture. court costumes and lots of Faberge nick-hacks all from the collections of the State Hermitage Museum. St Petersburg. Royal Museum, Edinburgh, until Sun 30 Oct.
Penn seweum
Jump around
Do you look at a building just as a building? James Smart meets the people who see a playground bursting with gymnastic adventure.
am tipsily wandering back from an
unsuccessful game of poker when the text
arrives. ‘Sorry if I woke U.‘ it begins. ‘I-lad photo shoot Zday 4 Daily Record. It‘s 3.45am and I‘m still fired up so going 4 a Pk session. Hope 2 see U at the gym later.‘
It‘s a strange text to receive on a Friday night. but then free running induces more than its fair share of fanaticism. The sender. Stuart ‘Speedy‘ Andrews. has been practising the sport for two years. drawing attention to the glamorous end of the activity — leaping from building to building high above the city streets.
But parkour. as it is known to its disciples. is about more than death defying leaps. The sport was developed by a group of Frenchmen. headed by David Belle and Sebastian Foucan. in the Paris suburb of Lisses. The men expanded childhood play —
3 jumping. vaulting and exploring their neighbourhood
— into a loose discipline that emphasises moves that flow into each other. over walls and rails and blocks. ‘You can put a pair of trainers on and jump off a bench. That‘s parkour.‘ explains Andrews. ‘There‘s no set moves. Everybody feels good doing their own stuff. at their own level. I like taking on the big things. but the general public will hurt themselves if they try and do that.‘
Bearing this warning in mind. I put on my trainers and head off to one of Speedy's gym sessions one drizzly Saturday afternoon to learn the basics. In part. it's like everyone‘s school nightmare: countless kids are bounding about. vaulting stands and benches. landing in fluid rolls and talking about ‘cat jumps‘
and ‘tic-tacs‘. Still. despite a total inability to touch my toes. I am soon leaping in the air. landing in a vaguely professional crouch and surprising myself at how high I can actually jump.
The Edinburgh scene is healthy. Many practitioners used to meet at the Wellington monument on Princes Street. but police concerns about safety have shifted meetings to Princes Mall.
This uncertain status is one of parkour's greatest strengths and key problems. Its core idea — treating the urban environment as a series of possibilities rather than a functional shell — is a wonderful one. But the sport‘s informal arrangements and unregulated nature can attract censure from the police and disapproving looks from passers-by.
While many free runners are desperate for their credo to get more money and more attention. others think that. with the sport becoming increasingly zeitgeist and more appealing to advertisers. it also gets increasingly compromised. The advertising blurb for forthcoming console game Free Running is a case in point. ‘The whole ethos of free running is to be free. break boundaries. go where others dare not.‘ it burbles merrily before going for the kill. ‘This philosophy mirrors what the [portable] PSP is all about — gaming on the move. anywhere.‘
Where parkour goes from here remains to be seen. But the sport is emphatically not about being a spectator. just vault over a bin and you‘re part way there.
www.ed-pk.com, Stuart Andrews can be reached at edinburghgravity©hotmai|.com
7—21 Jul 2005 THE LIST 29