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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Her Grace Duchess Willow de Wisp has asked me
to pose the following Questions to the list for her.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What can the Laurels do to Help the Performers
of this Kingdom?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>What kind of help do the performers of our
Kingdom want from the Laurels?</FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<DIV>(I'll speak more to this the next time I vist with HG Willow in
person,</FONT> </DIV>but want to air my request before a more general
audience...)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>There are several aspects of the performing arts as formerly
and now practiced</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>which have become troublesome to me, in some personal ways and
more </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>generally in increasing despair for the more recently-arrived
who seek to </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>share our common "Dream". (Darn. That
Word Again. Deal with my use of</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>it off-line / as a separate matter from the performance
discussion, please.)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>As recently seen in comments by others, I am concerned with
the runaway </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>emphasis upon formal competitive performance venues at the
seeming </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>expense of other individual or small-group performing
opportunities. Please, </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>encourage and participate in as many spur of the moment
performances as </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>you can. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Please, don't force performers and potential audience to
choose between </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>the highest level of endeavor in the performing arts and other
can't-miss </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>activities. As much as it may be occassionally useful to
do so, my </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>personal opinion is that combining the Kingdom Eisteddfod with
LPT </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>or other A&S-intensive events does both at least some
disservice. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>In the Kingdom Eisteddfod </FONT><FONT size=2>format as most
recently seen, that of the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>"tournament", </FONT><FONT size=2>it is
counter-productive to isolate the performance area </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>from audiences </FONT><FONT size=2>other than the competitors
and their immediate friends. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>I _know_ that </FONT><FONT size=2>this was not the intent, but
it appeared to be the reality </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>of the particular </FONT><FONT size=2>event. Who among
those without some specific personal </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>interest were </FONT><FONT size=2>really aware that the
Eisteddfod was present, was open to </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>audience as </FONT><FONT size=2>well as performers, AND
actually sat in for at least one </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>exchange of </FONT><FONT size=2>performances?
(Regretfully, no, I don't have a better suggestion </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>that </FONT><FONT size=2>would satisfy any more people than
the current format and most recent </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>physical arrangement -- the LPT site was a good one, and I
enjoyed the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>event otherwise, and don't think the populace would really
support yet another</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>"pure" A&S event at the present
time.) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>A fair amount of recent comment has been exchanged considering
"firewalking".</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Expand / mutate the concepts: more needs to be done to
encourage and </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>recognize the efforts of informal entertainments and
alternates to live performance. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>What of the storyteller who </FONT><FONT size=2>regales all
who visit a given camp with tales, but </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>does not care to wander for </FONT><FONT size=2>whatever
personal reasons? What of the young </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>weaver bending to their task </FONT><FONT size=2>while singing
for personal enjoyment, incidentally </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>entertaining those who happen </FONT><FONT
size=2>nearby? How about a competition for written works</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>in a particular form or speaking to a given theme?
</FONT><FONT size=2>More A&S material in </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>the _Blackstar_, esp. poems, songs, short tales?</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Folllowing the theme of the themed competition,
perhaps the experiment with the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>judging form and point system will once again
encourage the entry of short written </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT><FONT size=2>works in competition with
other more "physical" objects. (HYPOTHETICAL</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Example: Not that my poetry </FONT><FONT size=2>will
necessarly compare well with the efforts of a </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>certain glassworker *directly*, but in </FONT><FONT size=2>a
points structure I at least have a chance </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>that wouldn't be semi-automatically </FONT><FONT
size=2>torpedoed by running </FONT><FONT size=2>up against a judging
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>team where one or another of the </FONT><FONT size=2>judges
holds personal </FONT><FONT size=2>grudges against sonnet </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>forms due to bad experiences </FONT><FONT size=2>with a high
school </FONT><FONT size=2>literature teacher...) </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>What else would I as a performer ask of the
Laurels? Their attention when I am </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2></FONT><FONT size=2>performing, their candid
comments afterward, their assistance in educating </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>new performers, their help in dealing with disruptive
audiences and sub-par </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>performance venues -- and their acceptance and suggestions
when the </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>documentation for a performing style, format, or material is
thin or nearly </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>non-existent... </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>On that last matter, the occasional reference to oral
tradition </FONT><FONT size=2>transmitted </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>orally instead of through the filter of a post-period
recordist </FONT><FONT size=2>should not be </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>an automatic down-check for the newly-arrived. PLEASE,
</FONT><FONT size=2>help them to </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>relate what they already know to known / acceptable /
"better" </FONT><FONT size=2>documents. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>Or, and this I would prefer, establish a means of
cross-verification </FONT><FONT size=2>to accept </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>these oral sources insofar as possible, particularly when
dealing </FONT><FONT size=2>with cultural </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>material from sources where there were specific admonitions
</FONT><FONT size=2>against written </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>recording of the material.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>As usual, I'm full of it -- and right now, I'm
late for work.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Amra</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#000000 size=2>Mike C. Baker<BR>SCA: Amr ibn Majid al-Bakri
al-Amra<BR>"Other": Kihe Blackeagle (the Dreamsinger Bard)<BR>My
opinions are my own -- who else would want them?<BR>e-mail: <A
href="mailto:kihe@ticnet.com">kihe@ticnet.com</A> OR <A
href="mailto:kihe@rocketmail.com">kihe@rocketmail.com</A></FONT></DIV>
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