THE LAST WALTZ AT LEIRIA

The next text is the abstract of my new Book (still not translates into any language). It will be launched and publically edited next 29 November at Leiria, followed by a Dinner where I’ll be distinguished by the non profit organization which I presided for more than 30 years.

«It was intended, essentially in the chapters that follow, to explain some characteristics of a cultural phenomenon, the Choral Society of the Arts Conservatory of Leiria (OLCA), through its activities, an almost septuagenarian institution, limited to the period 1983-2013, although in context, with the methodology case study.

The object of study, which is a local, national and quite frankly international cultural reference, has never been the subject of such studies, which could explain it from the sociological point of view.

The framework for its praxis is feasible in terms of what was considered and should be “cultural paradigms for the country”, when the examples of the cultural policies of Oporto and Cascais, as local authorities, are analyzed by the Observatory of Cultural Activities. This is because the premises of this sort overlap those put in place several years before those of these authorities, carried out successfully, albeit with limited resources, by this institution.

It demonstrates that the action of OLCA during this period contributed significantly to the local/regional cultural development, as a post-modern cultural phenomenon, reflecting the globalization of contemporary society marked by social and cultural movement between the global and local one. The action of OLCA during this period, fostering local / regional culture, with international projection, allowing the democratization of access to and use of  cultural products / artistic education, with scientific evidence of results in terms of the impact on the functioning of the brain, has contributed to the improvement of the intellectual development of its users.

As an example of excellence, organization and results, OLCA’s cultural project has the necessary conditions to be implemented in order to prevail over the degradation of the economic and cultural fabric under the influence of the current neo-liberal economy.

The cultural dynamics developed at the level of decentralized social spaces, gain an increasing sociological emphasis, when forms of mass global culture predominate.

This is a process of education through art and artistic education. It is also therapeutic psycho-pedagogy. It is a cosmopolitan setting and it holds major international events, where thousands of young people and adults have interacted with the wider community in aesthetic, artistic and social ways.

With the case study, the qualitative analytical methodology used allows the validation of the results in a triangulation process, with testimonies and documentation, widely used in such circumstances, and seeks to explain the institutional practice from the sociological point of view».

Henrique Pinto