ANST - A Question for the Performers

[Spatsman at aol.com]

In a message dated 2/18/99 10:51:03 PM Central Standard Time,
njones at ix.netcom.com writes:

<<  was recently told by someone "If you come to our camp
 at Gulf War, expect to get thrown out, we don't like 
 bards."  Okiedoke.  I can take a hint.  Thanks for sharing
 and no hard feelings.  I don't feel animosity towards
 them because they don't give me "the respect I deserve".
 Please.  It's their camp, it's their rules.  If I didn't
 respect their rules, what reason do I have to expect them
 to respect me?
 
 I think this attitude of "I'm a bard*** so you must listen
 to me!" is one of the major factors in the decline of
 campside performance that we talked about a couple of weeks
 ago.  People are tired of that attitude and have been 
 burned by it. 
 
 [pant, pant]  Okay, end of rant.
 
 
 HL Giovanni di Cellini.
 Northkeep
 Ansteorra.
 
 
 *  Rule number one, be part of the audience before you
 perform.  Unless you have listened to what everyone else
 is doing, you can not know what would be appropriate for
 you to perform when it is your turn.
 
 **  I know the person means well, but ... it annoys me
 none the less.
 
 *** Yeah, I know, I know...I use the term "bard" here in 
 the SCA-slang context.  Notice I don't call myself one.
 I am a singer.
 ====== >>
Hi.
I am a bard, a storyteller, poet, and historian of Ireland. 
You don't rave here, HL Giovanni, you give some excellent advice.
A couple of observations,...
"...we don't like bards."
To "throw out" a performer is a personal choice, and the right of every camp.
I have been told to take my tongue elsewhere a time or two myself.
Not everyone in the Society is of Irish, Welsh, or Scottish lineage.
Some may look upon performers as mere background noise, less then a serf.
For some, that may be a historically accurate opinion to have.
Yes, boistrous and obnoxious performers probably contributed to this problem,
but what of the newcomer, or the performer acting courteously?
Secondly, to the issue of respect.
I agree totally.
Yet, how many times have we heard that we should never let a few problem
people ruin it for the rest of us?
Is there no returning from the sufferage of one rude performer?
I gladly suffer the cockiness of one performer to hear the talents of all the
others.
I do this because I know the obnoxiousness I myself am capable of.
Hey, I'm Irish. Constant invasion does that to you. Guilty as charged.
It would appear that the problem has already been stated a few weeks ago.
Not only are some camps discourteous to peformers, but some performers are
discourteous to camps they enter.
This problem is not in question, in my opinion.
The question is, what do we do about it?
Do we encourage the performers to wander despite this occasional attitude?
Certainly!
Do we encourage camps to give welcome to those wandering?
Why not?
It's easy enough to state that one wishes to be left to private conversation
without being insulting. Performers are offering a gift, after all.
It's easy enough for a performer to follow your example and respect the wishes
of a camp wishing solitude. As you said, it's they're camp.
Are most performers convinced they are above all, save the King?
No, that's a dangerous attitude to have, and I have yet to meet a performer
who believes that.
Are most performers little better then beggers, and less deserving of courtesy
then others?
No, we are all assumed to be gentry in this game.
My final word? Campers, give the next performer who approaches you a chance,
and a drink if the performance merits it. Turn away those who give insult.
Performers, consider the privacy of a camp, and the different attitudes people
have toward performers. Turn away if a welcome is hesitant.
Surely, it's not rudeness we wish to set as a standard, but courtesy.
That's why we travel, pay, and play in the first place, performers and campers
alike.
~Fionnagan
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