Feminist Improvising Group

The Feminist Improvising Group FIG Was Founded In 1977 In London By Scottish Vocalist Maggie Nicols From Centipede And English Bassoonist/composer Lindsay Cooper From Henry Cow. The Other Members Of The Five-Piece Ensemble Were Cellist/bassist Georgie Born Also From Henry Cow Vocalist/pianist Cathy Williams From The British Duo Rag Doll And Trumpeter Corinne Liensol. They Had Originally Intended Calling Themselves The "Women's Improvising Group" But At Their First Engagement They Discovered That The Organisers Had Billed Them As The "Feminist Improvising Group". Nicols Said That The "political Statement Of The Band's Name Never Even Came From Us! But We Just Thought 'OK They've Called Us Feminist We'll Work With That' ." FIG's Debut Performance Was At A "Music For Socialism" Festival At The Almost Free Theatre In London. Their Act Was A Combination Of Music And Comedy And Focused On "women's Experience" And "mundane Daily Things". Nicols Described It As "quite Anarchic. It Had Elements Of Theatre We Had Props We Were Chopping Onions I Was Rushing Around With Perfume It Was Completely Improvised." FIG Were The First Women-Only Improvising Group And They Challenged The Established Improvising Community With Performances That Were Theatrical With Politics And Farce Supplementing Their Music. They Staged Parodies Around The Role Of Women In Society And Incorporated Domestic "found Objects" In Their Performances "vacuum Cleaners Brooms Dustpans Pots And Pans And Egg Slicers". Their Performances Often Had Some Of The Women Cleaning The Stage While The Others Huddled In A Group To "explore The Sonic Possibilities Of Household Items." They Also Broke Down The Barriers That Traditionally Existed Between The Performer And The Audience By Engaging In "antiphonal Exchange" With Them And Promoting The Notion That "anyone Can Do It". This Antagonised The Purists Who Valued "technical Virtuosity" And "improvisational Competence". FIG Redefined Free Improvisation By Introducing "social Virtuosity" The Ability To Communicate With The Other Musicians And The Audience. FIG Toured Europe Several Times Where They Played At Festivals In Various Venues Including Paris Berlin Copenhagen Stockholm And Reykjavík. When Cooper And Born Were Performing With Henry Cow In Zurich In January 1978 Cooper Invited Swiss Pianist Irène Schweizer To Join FIG. English Filmmaker Sally Potter Who Played Saxophone And Sang Joined The Group In April 1978. Dutch Trombonist Annemarie Roelofs English Singer Frankie Armstrong Dutch Woodwind Player Angèle Veltmeijer And French Saxophonist And Guitarist Françoise Dupety Also Played Intermittently With The Group. Some Of FIG's Performances Consisted Of Up To Eight Women. Nicols Left FIG In 1980 To Form Another All-Women Group Called Contradictions. In 1983 Under The Helm Of Schweizer FIG Evolved Into The European Women's Improvising Group EWIG Bowing To Pressure That Their Name Was "too Political". EWIG Included Schweizer Cooper Roelofs French Double Bassist Joëlle Léandre And French Singer Annick Nozati. read less