Adult Bardic, Early Dance, etc.

[LANGJ at mail.syntron.com]

Estrill wrote:

    >Bran writes:

    >>The first is an "Adults Only Bardic" competition.
    ><snip>
    >>It's not that common, but I have concluded that it might be appropriate
    >>to have a bardic "contest" where minors might not be present, and where
    >>material might not have to be criticized for its content (vis a' vis
    >>suitability for children). I'm not talking about a dirty joke contest
    >>here.  What I want is a bardic safe for the Canterbury Tales.

    >And the Decamaron as well?

         I'm an engineer, I can't spell Decamaron (and neither can my spell
         checker).
         Of course much of the period repertoire is rather earthy by our
         standards.  I hate to see Shakespeare, Chaucer, or Boccaccio
         disallowed at our events because they aren't suitable for children
         (funny, the spell checker did have Boccaccio).

    >Sounds like a wonderful idea. I would wish it could be here in the
    >north.

         It's *not* copyrighted!  Run with it (and see if you can think of a
         better name than I did)!

    >This reminds me of when Baron Lucais became Mooneschadowe's Minstrel.
    >Duke Mikael was in his first reign as king then, and one of the judges
    >of the contest. It was late at night, and well, Mikael's been known to
    >enjoy the comforts of his chair. Lucais had chosen to read a piece of
    >poetry as his last entry (I think something from Shakespeare). He was
    >reading from the book, extolling the virtues of something, when all of a
    >sudden Lucais' voice rose and the word "nipple" resounded loud
    >throughout the hall. Mikael sat up & listened very intently to the last
    >of the verse in praise of a lady's breasts.

    >Needless to say, Lucais did become our Minstrel that evening.

         Woulda worked on me too.


     >>Not so with the dancers. <snip>
     >>This is Northwestern Europe, the full weight of the collapse of
     >>civilization is upon us (Middle Eastern "belly-dance" is most certainly
     >>unknown here).  What kind of dance will we see if we hire a
     >>"professional dance troupe?"
    
     >>So, there is the basic question.     I want to host a performance of 
     >>early period performance dance styles. What will I see?  What kind 
     >>of dances?
     >>What kind of costumes? The outcome depends on the response I get 
     >>from the "dance community."
     
     >I believe that I can speak as part of the dance community. :-)
     
     >From what I know and have gleaned from talking & corresponding with
     >other dance instructors, we really don't have any idea of what was
     >actually danced at that point in time. Nothing has been discovered in
     >the written records. And I'm not sure that a "professional dance 
     >troupe" would have existed then.
     
         A few of the dance experts I have discussed this with have some
         ideas.  They remember scraps of information from assorted books.
         One even found a translation of a contract between a family
         planning a wedding and a dance troupe (late Roman, but within
         period).  It was also suggested that this too might be restricted
         to adults.
     
     >I think it might be best to forward your request to the scadance 
     >list.
     >It is simply full of dancemasters who have access to more sources 
     >than I do. If you wish, Bran, I could do that for you as (of course) 
     >I'm already subscribed to it. Replies could then be sent directly to 
     >you, or me, or the Ansteorra list. Shall I?
     
         Please do!  I'd like to see what kind of dance my persona might
         have seen in his own court.  The Renaissance Country dance, Court
         Dance, and even Middle Eastern Ethnic Dance are fine (and much
         better documented).  I'd still like to find out what kinds of
         dance entertained the courts of the High Kings of Ireland, the
         Saxon Kings of England, and the courts of the Franks, Danes, and
         all the other courts of early Europe!
     
     >(I'm not trying to squash your idea! I kind-a like it as an
     >alternative.)
     
         But if you beat me to this one, please invite me!  I'm looking
         forward to this.
     
         Bran
         (retired somebody)
     
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         Jim Langley                   |  yclept:
         Senior Hardware Engineer      |
         Syntron Product Development   |  Bran de Tintreak
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