[Bards] Performing in court

[muriel at entelesoft.com]

I do apologize for throwing you to the wolves at Axeman, Catrin. Since I
wasn't there to hear what exactly they did to you, I hope it wasn't too
aweful.  I have heard how they entertained themselves.  :)

Many of you who answered Catrin are well known in the Kingdom as bards.  You
have both reputation and an air of, um, something, which aids you in getting
the crowd's attention.  I imagine this crowd saw Catrin as "Swan's lady,
she's one of us" instead of "Skald of Skorragardr, able to hold her own with
present and former Bards of Ansteorra, who made HL Elanor cry at Eisteddfod"
A prophet in his own town, etc.

Do any of you remember when you went from being, "I didn't know he was a
bard" to "oh cool, he's going to perform!"?

-Muriel
Baroness of Namron

-----Original Message-----
From: bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org
[mailto:bards-bounces at lists.ansteorra.org]On Behalf Of Katherine of
Scarborough
Sent: Wednesday, February 21, 2007 9:24 PM
To: bards at lists.ansteorra.org
Subject: [Bards] Performing in court


This is a question--well, a series of
questions--particularly for the veteran bards and
entertainers out there, but open to anyone who has
advice to offer.

Do you have any tips on what one should do when asked
to keep the populace entertained before court?
Entertain, obviously--but how best to go about it?
Let us assume the prerequisite of being prepared and
more or less capable. <grin>

Do you generally remain where you are, or move to
front and center?  Do you announce yourself, or just
launch right into your performance?  If an
interruption occurs, do you bow out or try harder to
hold the audience's attention?  How best do you walk
the thin line between doing what has been asked of
you, and inflicting yourself on a captive audience
that may not be entirely interested?  Is it simply the
job of a good bard to make sure they *are* interested?

I'm not asking for specific answers to that whole
barrage of questions, but it's dawned on me that I
don't even know how much I don't know.  I had my first
experience with court performance last weekend, and
I'd like to be better prepared next time.  Any
thoughts from those wiser and more seasoned than
myself would be very much appreciated.

In service,
Catrin ferch Maelgwn




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