NK - Moonschadowe Guardian, Bardics, et. al.

[Tony And Catherine Lackey]

I had to write to the list and talk about, for the benefit of
whoever was unable to attend, the amazing wonderful things I saw at
Moonschadowe Guardian.
	First and foremost, the bardic activities.  The Minstrel of
Moonschadowe eisteddfod was remarkable enough.  It was my first
opportunity to hear Lady Toinette perform and the good things I had
heard about her talents didn't even begin to touch the reality.  I can't 
say enough about her singing voice (exquisite), her instrumental command
and her poised, confident stage presence.  It was pure pleasure to hear
her and she is without a doubt a deserving winner of the title Minstrel
of Moonschadowe.  Caterina de Bartolo, more popularly known as Kitty, 
competed on the stage as an equal with adults and more than held her
own, was one of only three finalists for the last round and won best
poem.  This for her first event and first competition!  Other first-time
or novices acquitted themselves most admirably but the best was yet to
come.
	One of my main reasons for attending was to support Robert's Novice
Bard competition.  I'll be candid (going into cranky curmudgeon
mode now): In this type of thing, usually the best you can hope for is
that most of the performers won't be TOO dreadful, and one or two might
have the potential to be fairly decent...eventually.  Before leaving the
house, I grabbed up some rings for largesse, in case anybody did
something reasonably good.
	Well, people, let me tell you.  I was totally blown away.  I got
a hint, during the Minstrel of Moonschadowe competition, in which
several newcomers to the bardic arts performed superbly, that MAYBE this
novice bard show might not be so hard to take; might even be
entertaining at least part of the time.  I think there were 13
competitors, a couple who only joined in for a lark.  NO ONE WAS BAD.
ALL WERE ENTERTAINING AND FUN TO LISTEN TO.  If you think that's hard to
believe, think how amazed I was.  The level of performance overall
exceeded what I had heard in many Ansteorran Premier Bard Eisteddfodi.
Kitty was amazing.  She was, if possible, even more poised and charming
than during the Minstrel comp.  Her projection and original material
showed it was no coincidence she had been a finalist.  Derschelin
(spelling just guessed at, please correct me) had been hiding a
beautiful voice and performance talents while letting us think her
children were the ones with the bardic gifts.  Well, the apple doesn't 
fall far from the tree.  Maidenhair, you didn't need notes at all.  You 
looked great and sounded great and I want more.  Perry made us laugh
with "A Frayed Knot".  It's been too long since I've heard Eleanor's
voice in performance.  Don't be a stranger, ok?  Wilhelm, you rat,
you've been holding out on us.  Speaking of holding out, Talana, you've
been dissing your own voice and bardic talents for 18 years.  You lie.
You are up there with the best and your side-splitting account of the
Drape & Pillage (amazingly memorialized in story & poem) had me falling 
off the bench.  A young lady named Lillian sang, played the harp and
told stories at her first competition and if she's a novice we'd all
better be shaking in our shoes.  A beautiful young woman had us crying
for lost love and a charming baby was rescued by its devoted mother from
the Realm of Faerie, acted out with aplomb by a lovely lady whose
singing voice would have pleased even without a pretty baby in tow!
And Anawyn.  She said she was planning to compete and I wondered how
she'd do since I've never heard her perform.  Well let me tell you this
lady is bardically a force of nature.  In a field full of quality
performers, she sang a song that gave me the shivering goosebumps.  It
was long and involved, performed entirely without notes and we were all
on the edge of our seats.  Let me tell you what this means.  Anawyn's
song did that rare thing that I think the SCA is all about: it lifted us
out of our regular lives, made us forget our regular worries of jobs,
cars, bills, etc. and took us to another place where the only thing that
existed for a space of time was the characters in her song and how it
would come out for them.  It was true, real magic.  It's what we all
strive for as performers and sometimes brush up against but so rarely
utterly achieve.  And she did it the FIRST TIME.  And in a field of
artists whose epitomizing of these concepts surpassed many of the
highest level artists and competitions this Kingdom has ever had.  THESE 
ARE NOVICES, AND THEY HAVE RAISED THE BAR FOREVER.  I salute them with
all my heart.  Whoever missed this missed something wonderful.  I have
to say, not only did this magic work on an emotional level, it also
worked on a physical one.  I was so uplifted and energized by these
performances and the rarefied experience they gave me, I felt no pain
all day and needed no medication.  To someone to whom chronic pain is a
daily reality, this is saying something rather amazing.  
	They're making them younger and younger nowadays.  I'm used to
Anthony being fantastic, and I knew Kitty was going to be good (though
how good I wasn't expecting), but at the end of the Minstrel
competition, a tiny boy who appeared to be about four came up to Robert
and said in commanding tones, "I want to talk to you."  He wanted to
perform and proceeded to get up there and tell us a story.  Since he
was speaking toddler and we old ones have forgotten it, we couldn't
understand a word of it.  But such was his presence, his gestures and
intonation, it was like any other performance in a foreign language by a
gifted artist and we knew what was happening and enjoyed it immensely.
He is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.
	This was a wonderful event and the wonderful people of Northkeep
along with our friends in Moonschadowe made it so.  The great thing
about the SCA, in my opinion, is that we are not merely consumers of
canned entertainment, a passive audience.  We are doing it ourselves,
for ourselves, giving and taking and making it happen.  And we can do
magic.
	And no.  I didn't bring nearly enough largesse.  I hope these
words will in some way make up a little of the quantity and quality my
largesse lacked to reward all of you for this wonder you made happen. 

					Catrin
					With heartfelt admiration