KA&S recap, upcoming events
This year's Meridian KA&S was small, but relaxing and fun. I wasn't planning on entering, just teaching one class and running the ball after feast. I got scooped up (literally) and taken to the hall to dance Friday evening. I felt a bit bad since I had not brought anything to wear Friday night, so I was dancing in jeans, a tank top, and sandals. peteyfrogboy and I taught a couple of fellow dancers a new dance we had reconstructed just last week - Gratiosa (15th century Italian). Since I hadn't planned on being carried off, I left my dance bag in the cabin. Luckily we remembered most of the steps and only flubbed a couple of times. We also ran through Gracca Amoroso (16th century Italian) again. Lorenzo and I know it very well, and we've been trying to teach it as often as possible. We do so little 16th century Italian that I've been trying to more when there is a chance.
Saturday was a nice laid back day. Performing arts was supposed to begin at 10, but with so few entries they decided to push it back till 1. I had to borrow a tunic to go to breakfast because I didn't want to eat wearing my Elizabethan (note to self: always pack an extra tunic to wear Friday night and early Saturday morning). I wore the Elizabethan from just after breakfast till just after court. I even taught a dance class outside while wearing it. Didn't have any problems until after court when the world tilted sideways for just a moment. Probably a combination of the stuffy hall and need for food. The only time the dress got uncomfortable was after court. I had been sitting for so long that I think the skirt shifted a bit. The weight of the hoops felt like they were digging into my hips. Considering that at that point I had worn it for 11 hours, if that's the only problem I had I think the dress is definitely a success.
After eating breakfast, I made a quick stop by the A&S registration table to ask how many entries there were. Since I wasn't entering, I was immediately asked to judge Vocal Group. I had a great time judging that piece. The other two judges were alasais and the daughter of one of the singers who had just graduated with a degree in music theory. Between our mundane music degrees and experience and judging a group that we knew would really appreciate in depth and technical critique, it was just a really lovely experience. Yes, it took a long time to judge one piece, but IMO that is not necessarily a bad thing. Usually if the judging takes forever, it is because 1) the piece and/or the documentation are so bad you need to give LOTS of feedback or search for good things to say or 2) the piece and/or documentation are so good you have to give very specific feedback on things for them to improve to make the entry spectacular. Luckily in this case it was the latter, and I refuse to give "nice job" was feedback.
The dance class in the afternoon went very well. I had four experienced dancers to act as ringers, as well as 4-5 new dancers. I taught the three dances on my list that I knew would be unfamiliar, and still had 20 minutes left in the class. From there, I went through the ball list and taught anything that sounded unfamiliar or interesting.
Court started an hour late (Laurel's meeting ran late, court was originally scheduled to start right after the meeting but the Crown wanted time to freshen up) and was very long. There were two new Laurels, two new members of the OVO (Order of the Velvet Owl - arts award), two new apprentices taken, as well as a slew of other awards. alasais received her Meridian Cross (arts award) which was exciting. Luckily the A&S portion of the event did not take very long. They have changed the requirement to be Kingdom A&S champion - have to enter at least three different categories and have to receive a score of 17 or better (out of 20) in at least three entries. At least, that's how I think I remember them explaining it.
The ball in the evening was a resounding success! Because everything started late, two of my performances had to cancel. A bit frustrating, but nothing I could do about it since it wasn't my event. Lady Fiona volunteered to sing at the beginning of the ball when the entire tenor section of Pasttime With Good Companie had to leave. She did a beautiful job. Mistress Fianna who was going to do a poetry piece also had to leave. I moved Alasais up from between sets 3 and 4 to between sets 1 and 2. She also did a beautiful job. We surprised Lorenzo for his birthday by having his wife waiting in the wings and singing happy birthday. She stayed for most of the ball after that to dance with him. Mistress Jadi performed a Persian dance between sets 2 and 3, accompanied by Lord Aylwin on oud and Lord Yul on drum. It was absolutely beautiful. There was no performance between sets 3 and 4, and since everyone seemed to have energy we kept right on dancing. This is probably one of the first times in a long time we have gotten through all 16 dances without having to make substitutions or skipping dances due to not having enough dancers. I taught every dance of the ball, so no one felt like they couldn't dance if they didn't know what to do. The only two dances I did not teach were Chirintana (Lorenzo taught that one, I need to learn it better so I can teach it if he is not there) and Whirligig (we did however run through the S-hey section). The ball ended at 1am, and and by then we were exhausted. There were not even any requests for dances we didn't do.
We retired to the pavilion next to the cabins and watched/listened to the middle eastern dancing. Lord Mikal had his song book and regaled us with bawdy songs of all kinds. I ran to the cabin to get my song book and joined in the fun. We compared verses to the Sheep song and the Moose song, as well as singing a few things that broke people's brains. I read something that everyone sitting around agreed to I need to memorize and perform at feast. Not bawdy, but pretty funny. Ended up not getting to bed that night till 4am. It's been a very long time since I had so much fun at an event that I did not want to go to bed.
I am still working on the regional dance practice. We have checked with 6 different places, and they are either booked the weekend of June 16th or are way out of our price range. The next available date is August 4th, so we are checking our options for that date. I know it is up against Pennsic, but I still think we'll get a pretty good draw. RUM (Royal University of Meridies) is next month. I am teaching Introduction to Period Music, 600-approx 1350 (alasais is teaching 1350-1600) and Introduction to European Dance. This is a new class that has just been added to the course catalog as an alternative to Beginning European Dance for those that physically cannot dance.
Saturday was a nice laid back day. Performing arts was supposed to begin at 10, but with so few entries they decided to push it back till 1. I had to borrow a tunic to go to breakfast because I didn't want to eat wearing my Elizabethan (note to self: always pack an extra tunic to wear Friday night and early Saturday morning). I wore the Elizabethan from just after breakfast till just after court. I even taught a dance class outside while wearing it. Didn't have any problems until after court when the world tilted sideways for just a moment. Probably a combination of the stuffy hall and need for food. The only time the dress got uncomfortable was after court. I had been sitting for so long that I think the skirt shifted a bit. The weight of the hoops felt like they were digging into my hips. Considering that at that point I had worn it for 11 hours, if that's the only problem I had I think the dress is definitely a success.
After eating breakfast, I made a quick stop by the A&S registration table to ask how many entries there were. Since I wasn't entering, I was immediately asked to judge Vocal Group. I had a great time judging that piece. The other two judges were alasais and the daughter of one of the singers who had just graduated with a degree in music theory. Between our mundane music degrees and experience and judging a group that we knew would really appreciate in depth and technical critique, it was just a really lovely experience. Yes, it took a long time to judge one piece, but IMO that is not necessarily a bad thing. Usually if the judging takes forever, it is because 1) the piece and/or the documentation are so bad you need to give LOTS of feedback or search for good things to say or 2) the piece and/or documentation are so good you have to give very specific feedback on things for them to improve to make the entry spectacular. Luckily in this case it was the latter, and I refuse to give "nice job" was feedback.
The dance class in the afternoon went very well. I had four experienced dancers to act as ringers, as well as 4-5 new dancers. I taught the three dances on my list that I knew would be unfamiliar, and still had 20 minutes left in the class. From there, I went through the ball list and taught anything that sounded unfamiliar or interesting.
Court started an hour late (Laurel's meeting ran late, court was originally scheduled to start right after the meeting but the Crown wanted time to freshen up) and was very long. There were two new Laurels, two new members of the OVO (Order of the Velvet Owl - arts award), two new apprentices taken, as well as a slew of other awards. alasais received her Meridian Cross (arts award) which was exciting. Luckily the A&S portion of the event did not take very long. They have changed the requirement to be Kingdom A&S champion - have to enter at least three different categories and have to receive a score of 17 or better (out of 20) in at least three entries. At least, that's how I think I remember them explaining it.
The ball in the evening was a resounding success! Because everything started late, two of my performances had to cancel. A bit frustrating, but nothing I could do about it since it wasn't my event. Lady Fiona volunteered to sing at the beginning of the ball when the entire tenor section of Pasttime With Good Companie had to leave. She did a beautiful job. Mistress Fianna who was going to do a poetry piece also had to leave. I moved Alasais up from between sets 3 and 4 to between sets 1 and 2. She also did a beautiful job. We surprised Lorenzo for his birthday by having his wife waiting in the wings and singing happy birthday. She stayed for most of the ball after that to dance with him. Mistress Jadi performed a Persian dance between sets 2 and 3, accompanied by Lord Aylwin on oud and Lord Yul on drum. It was absolutely beautiful. There was no performance between sets 3 and 4, and since everyone seemed to have energy we kept right on dancing. This is probably one of the first times in a long time we have gotten through all 16 dances without having to make substitutions or skipping dances due to not having enough dancers. I taught every dance of the ball, so no one felt like they couldn't dance if they didn't know what to do. The only two dances I did not teach were Chirintana (Lorenzo taught that one, I need to learn it better so I can teach it if he is not there) and Whirligig (we did however run through the S-hey section). The ball ended at 1am, and and by then we were exhausted. There were not even any requests for dances we didn't do.
We retired to the pavilion next to the cabins and watched/listened to the middle eastern dancing. Lord Mikal had his song book and regaled us with bawdy songs of all kinds. I ran to the cabin to get my song book and joined in the fun. We compared verses to the Sheep song and the Moose song, as well as singing a few things that broke people's brains. I read something that everyone sitting around agreed to I need to memorize and perform at feast. Not bawdy, but pretty funny. Ended up not getting to bed that night till 4am. It's been a very long time since I had so much fun at an event that I did not want to go to bed.
I am still working on the regional dance practice. We have checked with 6 different places, and they are either booked the weekend of June 16th or are way out of our price range. The next available date is August 4th, so we are checking our options for that date. I know it is up against Pennsic, but I still think we'll get a pretty good draw. RUM (Royal University of Meridies) is next month. I am teaching Introduction to Period Music, 600-approx 1350 (alasais is teaching 1350-1600) and Introduction to European Dance. This is a new class that has just been added to the course catalog as an alternative to Beginning European Dance for those that physically cannot dance.