[Bards] Queen's College of Bards

[Gerald Norris]

Re: Darius' post on the college of bards:

I believe, Master Darius, that you've hit on one of the possible dangers of
the college, the bard targets, and what must be must be ....

My original post that started all of this asked if we in the
performance/bardic community felt themselves well used; a question that has,
to my mind, not been answered.  But this is a list, and that's sometimes the
way things go.

If there is a college, and we DO wear sashes, baldrics, or bunting caps, it
is imperative that the focal point of the group be to encourage other
performers.  Wearing the sash/baldric/hubcap shouldn't be a requirement;
it's just an aspect of our performance community.  

So.  To get back to my original post, I'll throw a few bones out.

I play instruments.  I encourage others to do so (Okay, some of you I all
but browbeat, but let's move BEYOND that for now).  I will play for the list
fields, for the cooks, small children.  Lets face it, I'm a music slut.  I
also sing, sometimes at the lists, sometimes at feast, for head table or
populace, with friends or solo.  I perform at bardic competitions and at
bardic circles.  Do I see enough useage?  At the end of the day, have I had
a chance to get the performance bug out of my system for a bit?  The usual
answer is "yes".  I wanted to find out if everyone else gets to "play"
enough or not.

There are venues at events, if we just take the effort to create them; the
bardic college, blue sashes, and classes on different performance skills
(and some etiquette lessons (Yes, I know some of you probably snorfled your
soup when you read me talking about etiquette lessons)) will all help to
create a stronger performance community.

So Gerald just doesn't like the idea of a college?  No.  Gerald just doesn't
want our inherant need to organize to draw effort away from things that will
truly strengthen our community.  If there is anything to build, I want it to
be open and encouraging, so that a new performer is noticed and encouraged
to continue, possibly inspired to press themselves beyond the limit of
having a repertoire of four songs and add another four each quarter.  I want
instrumentalists to be a part of what we do, not JUST because I am one, but
because I'm told, time and again, of the impact the live music, lilting
through the breeze at a site, changes things, and takes people, again and
again, to that time and place where kings rule, knights live, and hearts are
gladdened by good company.  I want singers and poets to be encouraged to put
down their books and memorize their songs, their words, not because it looks
good, but because it frees the performer to engage their audience and take
us to that place they've crafted in word and music.  In essence, I want "us"
to help "them" become "us".  And when that happens, then we can have
performance in the many venues an event provides; music at the lists, either
played or sung.  Stories between rounds in a tourney, music during feast,
singing afterwards, circles and fire-walkers and music that spins through
the air as the skald weaves her words in the glowing embers of torchlight or
campfire.

That was a rather longish paragraph.  Must be time to stop.

In service to the dream with a song in my heart, I am,
HL Gerald of Leesville
A bard of Stargate