Oxbridge Rivalry: Does It Exist?
Undoubtedly the most famous universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge share both acclaim for producing brilliant minds and a tumultuous historical rivalry. Nestled in a valley between the Thames and Cherwell rivers, Oxford University has been comfortably situated for over 750 years. Established in the thirteenth century, the "city of spires" has earned vast academic boasting rights. As a graduate student reading for a Master's degree in Romantic and Victorian literature, I am pretty much in awe that I attend the same university as once did Lewis Carroll, W. H Auden, Matthew Arnold, and of course the authors made famous to more than a cult following with their Narnia and Lord of the Rings cinematic recreations, C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien. Oxford is indeed awe-in"spire"ing (forgive the pun). You only need travel four hours east on the M5 bus to find Oxford's sister university, Cambridge University similarly situated, tucked away from the hubbub of typical city life. Estab-lished after Oxford students fled from a dispute between the scholars and the townspeople not too long after the former was established, Cambridge claims the great minds of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, and Hugh Laurie, Fox TV's own Dr. Gregory House (it's truly a great show). And though both universities claim their respective Nobel Prize winners (combined, it is something like 140) and continue to produce stellar students and academic excellence, they remain, perhaps inevitably, rivals. In sports, the varsity or "Blues" match is the one that most counts. Indeed, the Oxford/Cambridge boat race in London that took place on the 2nd of April this year attracted over 5,000 spectators. Oxford won.
And while apparently this rivalry between these two great universities exists, I have yet to witness any negativity. Last term, Freefall, the student group for which I am unofficial choreographer and teacher, as well as dancer, was invited to perform in Cambridge's Queen's College's spring concert, "Sprung!". While Oxford students who want to dance in college must take the initiative themselves--the dance society is neither of great quality nor varied--which generally means under the university radar and literally in the nooks and crannies of college lecture theaters, music rooms, and/or racquetball courts, Cambridge students boast a thriving university dance society as well as the Queens' College Dance Society. The latter has its own dance professor who teaches, choreographs and oversees the production of the society's twice-yearly performances. Perhaps "rivalry" is not quite the right term then. "Envy" may be more apt. To be fair, Cambridge's situation is somewhat anomalous of typical non-conservatory universities. And of course, coming from the states and a university with an excellent dance program, I am used to the idea of having several talented dance professors as well as two fully-produced dance performances each year. Regardless, the Oxford students were welcomed with warmth, and we left with an enthusiastic invitation to the same venue next year. This performance, perhaps the first dance exchange in the history of Oxbridge, proved a trailblazing, solidification of positive relations.
These relations were strengthened just this month with Oxford's Magdalen College's Arts Week. As its name implies, colleges at Oxford support the arts by presenting music, theater, visual art and dance events over the course of a week. Magdalen's Arts Week took place the first week of May to coincide with its annual May Day celebration--some 7,000 people gather on Magdalen Bridge to ring in the 1st of May with the boy's choir singing in the bridge tower at 6 o'clock in the morning. The first dance event witnessed takes place on the streets in the early hours of the morning with Morris Dancing. Though I was not fortunate enough to witness their stick-hitting and bell-jangling, these, usually older men, dance their way down the streets of Oxford, celebrating May Day in, albeit old-fashion, nonetheless herald in the day with movement. (My British friends assured me I did not miss a thing in letting the Morris Dancers pass unnoticed.) In any case, not to be outdone, our own Freefall representative at Magdalen presented an hour's worth of dance, boasting the contemporary piece we took to Cambridge, tap, salsa, Egyptian, Indian, jazz and Flamenco. The last two genres were danced by none other than a Cambridge "Sprung!" soloist. The evening itself was a great success.
I do believe the rivalry between Oxford and Cambridge exists, like any college rivalry: Bucknell and Lehigh; Harvard and Yale; Army and Navy. Oxbridge, however, is a special amalgam of great intelligence, sport, culture and history. If not for Oxford, there perhaps would not be Cambridge. Or maybe it is simply my own Oxford experience of Cambridge dance that speaks to me about the embracing quality of dance and dancers no matter where it exists. There are no walls to break down. Only relationships to strengthen.