ANST - A Question for the Performers
Mike C. Baker
kihe at ticnet.com
Tue Feb 16 06:48:00 PST 1999
Her Grace Duchess Willow de Wisp has asked me to pose the following Questions to the list for her.
What can the Laurels do to Help the Performers of this Kingdom?
What kind of help do the performers of our Kingdom want from the Laurels?
(I'll speak more to this the next time I vist with HG Willow in person,
but want to air my request before a more general audience...)
There are several aspects of the performing arts as formerly and now practiced
which have become troublesome to me, in some personal ways and more
generally in increasing despair for the more recently-arrived who seek to
share our common "Dream". (Darn. That Word Again. Deal with my use of
it off-line / as a separate matter from the performance discussion, please.)
As recently seen in comments by others, I am concerned with the runaway
emphasis upon formal competitive performance venues at the seeming
expense of other individual or small-group performing opportunities. Please,
encourage and participate in as many spur of the moment performances as
you can.
Please, don't force performers and potential audience to choose between
the highest level of endeavor in the performing arts and other can't-miss
activities. As much as it may be occassionally useful to do so, my
personal opinion is that combining the Kingdom Eisteddfod with LPT
or other A&S-intensive events does both at least some disservice.
In the Kingdom Eisteddfod format as most recently seen, that of the
"tournament", it is counter-productive to isolate the performance area
from audiences other than the competitors and their immediate friends.
I _know_ that this was not the intent, but it appeared to be the reality
of the particular event. Who among those without some specific personal
interest were really aware that the Eisteddfod was present, was open to
audience as well as performers, AND actually sat in for at least one
exchange of performances? (Regretfully, no, I don't have a better suggestion
that would satisfy any more people than the current format and most recent
physical arrangement -- the LPT site was a good one, and I enjoyed the
event otherwise, and don't think the populace would really support yet another
"pure" A&S event at the present time.)
A fair amount of recent comment has been exchanged considering "firewalking".
Expand / mutate the concepts: more needs to be done to encourage and
recognize the efforts of informal entertainments and alternates to live performance.
What of the storyteller who regales all who visit a given camp with tales, but
does not care to wander for whatever personal reasons? What of the young
weaver bending to their task while singing for personal enjoyment, incidentally
entertaining those who happen nearby? How about a competition for written works
in a particular form or speaking to a given theme? More A&S material in
the _Blackstar_, esp. poems, songs, short tales?
Folllowing the theme of the themed competition, perhaps the experiment with the
judging form and point system will once again encourage the entry of short written
works in competition with other more "physical" objects. (HYPOTHETICAL
Example: Not that my poetry will necessarly compare well with the efforts of a
certain glassworker *directly*, but in a points structure I at least have a chance
that wouldn't be semi-automatically torpedoed by running up against a judging
team where one or another of the judges holds personal grudges against sonnet
forms due to bad experiences with a high school literature teacher...)
What else would I as a performer ask of the Laurels? Their attention when I am
performing, their candid comments afterward, their assistance in educating
new performers, their help in dealing with disruptive audiences and sub-par
performance venues -- and their acceptance and suggestions when the
documentation for a performing style, format, or material is thin or nearly
non-existent...
On that last matter, the occasional reference to oral tradition transmitted
orally instead of through the filter of a post-period recordist should not be
an automatic down-check for the newly-arrived. PLEASE, help them to
relate what they already know to known / acceptable / "better" documents.
Or, and this I would prefer, establish a means of cross-verification to accept
these oral sources insofar as possible, particularly when dealing with cultural
material from sources where there were specific admonitions against written
recording of the material.
As usual, I'm full of it -- and right now, I'm late for work.
Amra
Mike C. Baker
SCA: Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri al-Amra
"Other": Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard)
My opinions are my own -- who else would want them?
e-mail: kihe at ticnet.com OR kihe at rocketmail.com
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