"FLASHMOB THERAPY"

A typical day in early summer in the city centre: strolling citizens, moms with prams, laughing couples on benches ... youths quietly start to gather, as groups of two or three, as if by chance. And suddenly music starts somewhere, the discordant crowd quickly and skilfully becomes synchronized and begins to dance... - there are surprised faces, smiles, focused lenses of telephones around, and parents raise children higher so they do not miss anything. Even busily hurrying serious people stop for a moment, as if they were detached from all problems, while amazement flickers on their faces. The dance ends, and the guys, as suddenly as they had gathered, quickly and quietly blend in with the crowd, but the pleasure of the little unexpected holiday remains in the air for a long time. Flashmobs have been known in the world for not so long. The first event was held in New York on 17 June 2003. After that, they began their triumphant march across the planet.

So what is a flashmob? It is a planned mass action in which a group of people gather at some point, perform some synchronized actions and just as suddenly disappear. A flashmob, despite its spontaneity in the broadest sense, also has certain principles: mobbers (flashmob participants) should not pursue financial or advertising purposes, have a clear commander, come into the media spotlight and demonstrate that they know each other. Azerbaijani youths are not left out of this fashionable phenomenon, and a club of mobbers, which has conducted about thirty events, has been operating in the country for five years.

Any mass event must obey certain laws, and we have also developed a real code of the flashmobber. For example, a mobber should know his scenario by heart and not be confused, he should be synchronized with the others, avoid crowds (real mobbers come out of "nowhere"), be restrained (he should not express emotions and disseminate information among friends about the upcoming flashmob), comply with the law and be polite. It is these qualities that are the key to a successful flashmob.

"Channel of creativity"

Emil Musayev, the main organizer of the Flashmob Azerbaijan movement, says: "It all started in 2009 as an idea of two friends. We 'issued a call' through social networks, inviting people to our first action - 'Read a book': at a certain time, mobbers marching on Nizami Street had to stop, get a book and start reading." We can say that this event was a huge success among citizens, mostly young. Although in total, there have been few events during the life of the movement in Azerbaijan, they were remembered and left an "aftertaste" not only to its participants, but also to unwilling spectators. According to Emil Musayev, this movement is rather an informal group. "We wanted to do something unusual, interesting and creative and get a new experience," says the organizer. As he notes, a flashmob is a phenomenon of large cities, where there are a lot of people, while their relationships are not as strong and as close as we would like. In addition, participation in a flashmob is some act of creativity.

A flashmob can be called a social phenomenon, and mobbers - a certain subculture, but the organizers and participants try to stick to the classical approach to the flashmob - no propaganda, no politics and no religion. "We do not want to impose anything on society," says Emil Musayev. "We just want to add some colour to life." With all this, the approach "art for art's sake" is not as pointless as it may seem to some conservatives, and in some respects, it may even be beneficial.

"Many people mistakenly believe that a flashmob is a mass phenomenon," says the organizer. "But in fact, it is a phenomenon that goes against many conventional guidelines." Indeed, it is not too common a sight: people drawing on the asphalt or in albums on the street; or an impromptu tea party on the pavement, which, at the same time, is very nice.

"For many people, a flashmob is a certain way, sometimes a way to feel and live something new, overcome some barriers and get rid of complexes," says Musayev. "At the same time, many really change their lives, become more open to the world and more creative." Musayev believes that this social phenomenon has changed something in society, which has really become more creative and more open. Although people rarely participate in all flashmobs, come and go, he says, and no one participates in them all the time, it is just that someone overcomes a difficult stage of their life in a flashmob and goes on.

Anyone can take part in a flashmob. For information on the upcoming events, one needs to subscribe to the Flashmob Azerbaijan page on Facebook. At the same time, there are no restrictions for members yet, though, Musayev said, they have tried from the very beginning to involve all capable people suitable for organizing flashmobs. The same applies to the so-called memorable dance events: "We do not invite any professional dancers. Moreover, if a person wants to participate, but says he does not know how to dance, we insist that he joins in. After all, there are no people who cannot dance, there are those who think that they are not able to," Emil smiles. The group has a choreographer, and preparations for an event can take from a month to several months.

Relationships with official agencies

This question arises naturally when it comes to spontaneous and often crowded events. The organizers have a clear position spelled out in the Code: "If the authorities require us to stop the event, we stop it. In this way, we have had to cancel a couple of events," says the organizer. Although "cancel" is not really a correct word, according to Musayev, mobs were simply transformed or relocated.

Student Saida Aslanova has been involved in flashmobs for more than three years. According to her, it is very interesting and enticing: "It is interesting that there is a crazy atmosphere there, a lot of people, new friends, all are brought together by common interests and the desire to impress others and add some colour to the grey days."

At the same time, the student does not deny that society's attitude to flashmobs is ambiguous: "I'd like the attitude towards flashmobs to change. Most people believe that mobbers have nothing to do," complains Saida. "Every third person pokes us, saying that we'd better do something useful, or read a book, or study. I think our society is not ready for innovation and mass events."

Appeal to the public

The very concept of mobbers encourages them to avoid "secularism" and communication with the media. We do not want to become some kind of stars, we just want to preserve our freedom and do what we like, says the organizer. But at the same time, he appeals to readers: "Most participants are 20-year-olds. Those who are older have a very serious attitude towards life. We would like to change that and appeal to those over 20 - come and take part in the flashmobs!" According to Emil Musayev, if participants come to practices with their parents, the organizers try to persuade the latter to join the mob.

Psychologist's opinion

While analyzing flashmobs as a phenomenon, psychologist Orxan Sultanov relies on a book by the famous neo-Freudian psychologist Erich Fromm. "Fromm has a well-known book entitled 'The Art of Loving', which deals with an interesting theory. All people have two aspirations: to be free and to be united. Today it is clear that with every generation people become freer from each other, which is why their longing for unity becomes stronger. After all, connections between people were deeper before and everyone knew each other by sight.

Fromm put forward this idea: modern people are trying to escape from loneliness in several ways, the most perfect of which is love. But it is difficult to achieve true love quickly and to order. Therefore, usually, there are three options to compensate for this need: the unity of an artist, creator with his creation - a great option, but defective, since an object cannot reciprocate your feelings. Equating everyone. It is not always a successful option - as men and women are of equal worth, but not equal. This leads to massive stress. The most primitive version is orgies. Orgies have long been known, for example, dances with a tambourine around a campfire are also an orgy. Of course, not all orgies are safe.

But if we compare, we can conclude that flashmobs are nothing other than a kind of "dancing around the campfire". Modern people feel so lonely that performing simple movements and dancing in the company of others makes them happy and allows them to feel like part of society. The desire for freedom and unity has always been there, but the further, the stronger it manifests itself. The point is not how it is expressed, but that it is one of the ways of unity."

Whatever it is, flashmobs are at least a harmless pastime for young people, and not only. And given that such an interesting and amusing event is not only able to "shake up" its participants, but also serves as an excellent form of psychotherapy, we can say with full confidence that the benefits of this phenomenon in our era full of stress are enormous.