ANST - Kingdom Dance & the Law

[dssweet at okstate.edu]

Mistress Teleri ferch Pawl asks:

>I don't want to start a holy war or stir up old politics, if such are
>attached -- but why isn't dance simply a part of King's College and Kingdom
>A&S?

As far as I'm aware there are no old politics involved & it's not *quite* a holy
war for me (grin), but dance classes were definitely included at this past
June's King's College & probably at most previous King's Colleges, though not
all of them. That would depend upon the venue of the event (outside versus
inside) & whether or not any dance instructor volunteered to teach. I think
partly why a separate event is desired (& happens) on the part of the dancing
community is the simple fact that if someone shows up at Kingdom Dance, you can
be pretty darned sure that the person is interested in doing at least some
dancing. You cannot be sure that dancers will show up at a King's College unless
they know specifically that dance classes will be happening. And really, dancing
is *a*lot* like melee fighting: the more people involved, the more fun it is.

And as for Kingdom A&S, at the last one Mooneschadowe fielded an eight-person
dance team. The only other dance entry was Ld Philip (who was judged on the
ability to teach a dance, not as a performance piece by all involved). It was an
interesting experience for both the dancers (I know) & the judges (I believe).
In my opinion Ansteorra does really great at the static a&s; however,
performance a&s appears to have lagged behind greatly. The influence of the Gulf
Wars A&S competition of static & performance sub-divisions seems to have given a
swift kick to the performance side of things in Ansteorra (meaning performance
does not automatically equal bardic, which I think it used to here in
Ansteorra). I hope this trend continues & helps to develop the performance side
of the A&S (including but not limited to dance, music, plays, juggling, etc.).
The leader of the Mooneschadowe Dance Guild, HL Guillaume, intends to bring a
dance troupe to this years Kingdom A&S, but unfortunately I won't be able to
participate (the baby is due at approximately that time).

Estrill



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