"Oh! What a tangled web we weave": Englishness, communicative leisure, identity work and the cultural web of the English folk morris dance scene

In this paper, we consider the relationship between Englishness and the English folk morris dance scene, considering how the latter draws from and reinforces the former. Englishness is considered within the context of the cultural web; a tool more often applied to business management but linked to a sociological viewpoint here. By doing so, we draw the connections between this structured business model and the cultural identity of Englishness. Then, we use the framework of the cultural web and theories of leisure, culture and identity to understand how morris dancers see their role as dancers and ‘communicative leisure’ agents in consciously defending Englishness, English traditions and inventions, the practices and traditions of folk and morris, and the various symbolic communities they inhabit. We argue that most morris dancers in our research become and maintain their leisured identities as dancers because they are attracted to the idea of tradition – even if that tradition is invented and open to change

‘We achieve the impossible’: discourses of freedom and escape at music festivals and free parties

In this article, we explore the notion of freedom as a form of governance within contemporary consumer culture in a sphere where ‘freedom’ appears as a key component: outdoor music-based leisure events, notably music festivals and free parties. ‘Freedom’ is commodified as central to the marketing of many music festivals, which now form a highly commercialised sector of the UK leisure industry, subject to various regulatory restrictions. Free parties, in contrast, are unlicensed, mostly illegal and far less commercialised leisure spaces. We present data from two related studies to investigate how participants at three major British outdoor music festivals and a small rural free party scene draw on discourses of freedom, escape and regulation. We argue that major music festivals operate as temporary bounded spheres of ‘licensed transgression’, in which an apparent lack of regulation operates as a form of governance. In contrast, free parties appear to ‘achieve the impossible’ by creating alternative (and illegal) spaces in which both freedom and regulation are constituted in different ways compared to music festival settings

Exploring dress, identity and performance in contemporary dance music culture

Electronic dance music and its associated cultures have experienced significant growth and diversification in recent decades, evolving from their origins in the warehouse, acid house and rave ‘scenes’. The myriad of interrelated scenes under the umbrella term ‘dance culture’ provides a range of aesthetic and social event experiences, where participants can experiment with and perform multiple identities. This paper explores the significance of dress and identity within dance culture, drawing on an autoethnographic study which included participant observation, field trips, online research, focus groups and interviews. It investigates performance and presentation of identity within these commodified places, in particular how participants negotiate and traverse various credible roles. It suggests that the performance metaphor is useful in conceptualising event spaces and demonstrates the hugely significant role that dress and identity play in the construction and consumption of these events

Lost in Music: Mapping the 21st Century House Music Event Experience

The shift towards the DJ as a mainstream performer challenges the possibilities of the live music eventscape. House music – a specific form of electronic music – represents a current trend in the UK, and this paper explores the nature of its consumption as a live event experience different to other types of music events. It aims to demonstrate the unique reality of an event as a combination of experiences (e.g. Petterson & Getz, 2009. Event Experiences in Time and Space: A Study of Visitors to the 2007 World Alpine Ski Championships in Åre, Sweden. Scandinavian Journal of Hospitality and Tourism, 9(2-3), 308–326.); arguably this can only be truly conceptualised by the individual, and so the ‘Event Experience Mapping Model’ (EEMM) methodology has been designed to conceptualise an individual’s sensory and emotional ‘immersion’ within the eventscape. This is done primarily in the context of recreational habits, emotional responses and social engagement, thus combining multiple facets of event experience within one study in the milieu of twenty-first century house music. The EEMM used a questionnaire to garner broad themes associated with this event type; this produced an ‘Experience Matrix’ which can then be completed by an individual to produce an individual ‘Experience Map’. Key to this principle is that this ‘map’ this will differ from person to person and thus the EEMM allows for this to be expressed in an individual ‘map’. The map demonstrates the intersections of four aspects of experience and thus plots which aspects are more/ less prevalent within that individual’s experience