Yay, Terpscihore!
Terpsichore at the Tower, Cynnabar’s local dance, event is always a fantastic time, and this year was no exception. So much goodness!
charles_midair and I hosted 25 people Friday night, including our royalty, and 22 people Saturday night. We also hosted revels before and after the event, with our usual overflowing spread of food. The Friday revel started with a little dancing and continued with great conversation, some games, and magda_vogelsang’s traditional trifle (in addition to all the other food).
Saturday began, as is also traditional, with breakfast at City Limits Diner along with charles_midair, Cassandra, .magda_vogelsang, Gwommy and sionandreas. We were later joined by Alex and Sally. I realized on the way there that I’d forgotten my phone, but I decided I wouldn’t miss it (and was mostly right - missed it most as a timekeeping device). Blueberry pancakes and bacon - yum!
We then headed to site where charles_midair taught his 9am class on calling dances. There were a lot of people in his class and it went very well. I wandered in and out and danced Jenny Pluck Pears so one of his students could practice calling. Calling certainly can be a challenge and it was nice to have a class like this to allow people to practice in a friendly, no pressure, environment!
At 10am, I went to Cecilia’s ECD for 3 couples class. I had great fun dancing with Richard and learning Stingo. Cecilia was a first time Terp teacher and did a nice job. She had 3 sets of dancers in her class, which is pretty amazing for a 10am class.
Next, I went to the Spanish Pavan class. Definitely not your grandma’s pavane, but a rather intense galliard filled choreography, with a volta! I’ve taken the class at Crystal Ball before, but it’s never stuck. This time, I did better, and I even remembered it well enough to do again in the ball - yay! Another well attended class. I was glad I’d invited Alphia to come teach it!
I put my name on the list to talk to Genoveva at her vigil during the lunch break, but had to leave for the laurel meeting before it was my turn. The meeting was in the sanctuary, currently under construction, which made life interesting. Three of us were teaching at 2pm, so I had to keep an eye on the clock - that was where I most missed my phone. Gwommy didn’t have one either, so we kept making Alphia check hers.
My class went well - I think there were around 30 people in it! I taught Giunto M’Ha Amore and Gloria d’Amore. I lost some students between the two dances, but that was okay - 30 is too many for the space. My favorite part of the class was calling Giunto for people from the far end of the room as Alex walked by to check on the classes, and dancing some of it “with him” (just outside the other end of the room, so with all my students in between) as he went by. Twice - first when I first taught it and again at the end of the class when I had them do it again. It was lovely!
It was then time for Cassandra’s class. I was a few minutes late, and she was almost done teaching Petit Vriens. She did a fantastic job - very enthusiastic, confident, and clear in her instructions. She also taught Gathering Peascods (and very cleverly told the story about how everyone at our dance practice tickled her during it only after we had done the dance) and Black Nag. There was still plenty of time left in her class after that, so she taught Burley Mariners too, and we did it twice. One of the couples in her class had been in Cecilia’s class in the morning, and I think they really enjoyed the chance to go through Burley Mariners again. Thanks to Mistress Amelie for providing live music for her class. She didn’t have the music for Burley Mariners, but Cassandra found it for her, and you’d never have guessed that she hadn’t been playing it for years!
Court followed classes. Many wonderful things happened there, but the highlight started things off. Their Majesties processed into court and then thanked Mistress Amelie for providing such lovely musical accompaniment. She told them they were most welcome, but it could have been better. “Really?” they asked. “Yes, “ she replied. “It would have been better if people could have understood the words I was singing!” This was a lead in to talking about Kasha’s amazing translation work, and Amelie then begged the boon to elevate Kasha into the Order of the Laurel. It was wonderful! My favorite part was when they put her on vigil, and Kasha very calmly and graciously replied, “Thank you very much!” It was lovely
After court, we did some pick up dancing while we waited for pizza orders to arrive. Parsons Farewell for 6 was quite fun. We also did Scotch Cap and several other dances that were not in the ball list.
After dinner, it was time for the ball. charles_midair MC’ed as the muse Terpsichore herself. He dressed for the role and everything, including holding a lyre! I started the ball with him, of course, and got several more dances with Terpsichore throughout the night. Other ball highlights included doing Jenny Gioiosa to Jenny Pluck Pears, seeing so many people on the dance floor for Giunto M’Ha Amore (around 50, perhaps - it was a lot!) - especially since most people had likely never seen that dance before my class, continuing to have fun watching the more experienced dancers try and skip the trangi in Guinto, in turn - had to call out “No!” to Felice, who was my partner at least once, doing Spanish Pavan with Maurin - I’ve never done it so well outside the class before - still not perfect by any means, but not at all bad, and Pennsic Dance, despite it falling completely apart. There were two sets. And charles_midair gave a very nice intro, inviting those not dancing to enjoy watching it as it is a very beautiful dance, My set was all ringers, enough so that Martin decided he could shadow one of them while he played recorder. Things started to go very wrong during the second half of the first chorus, where a couple of the sides tried to star left, but at least 3 other people tried to star right. Everyone got back to place and turned their partner at the end, but that was the only resemblance to the actual dance. And things continued in that vein from there. It was hilarious! We did all end where we were supposed to and turned our partner, so it was perfect.
The dessert revel followed the second set, and it was amazing. The centerpiece, of course, was magda_vogelsang’s magnificent subtlety - a cake reproduction of the Pennsic Dance floor, complete with sloped corner and very recognizable floor tile designs. Also including the band shell (decorated by niquerio) and benches with dancetty designs on their legs. So wonderful! We couldn’t resist - we took a picture of several of us in a dance pose and had Gwommy photoshop us onto a picture of the cake. Cassandra’s and my Strawberry Flip cookies were also very well received. There was a nice variety of desserts - plenty for all, without the leftovers (which came to my place for the post revel) being too overwhelming.
We actually finished the ball list early and had time for a couple pick up dances. I think they were Posties Jig (not entirely sure about that one) and Two Fat Ladies. Yay! Then it was back to my place for the post revel. And brunch on Sunday (including my french toast casserole), with additional visiting from out of town folk before everyone hit the road. So much fun!
charles_midair and I hosted 25 people Friday night, including our royalty, and 22 people Saturday night. We also hosted revels before and after the event, with our usual overflowing spread of food. The Friday revel started with a little dancing and continued with great conversation, some games, and magda_vogelsang’s traditional trifle (in addition to all the other food).
Saturday began, as is also traditional, with breakfast at City Limits Diner along with charles_midair, Cassandra, .magda_vogelsang, Gwommy and sionandreas. We were later joined by Alex and Sally. I realized on the way there that I’d forgotten my phone, but I decided I wouldn’t miss it (and was mostly right - missed it most as a timekeeping device). Blueberry pancakes and bacon - yum!
We then headed to site where charles_midair taught his 9am class on calling dances. There were a lot of people in his class and it went very well. I wandered in and out and danced Jenny Pluck Pears so one of his students could practice calling. Calling certainly can be a challenge and it was nice to have a class like this to allow people to practice in a friendly, no pressure, environment!
At 10am, I went to Cecilia’s ECD for 3 couples class. I had great fun dancing with Richard and learning Stingo. Cecilia was a first time Terp teacher and did a nice job. She had 3 sets of dancers in her class, which is pretty amazing for a 10am class.
Next, I went to the Spanish Pavan class. Definitely not your grandma’s pavane, but a rather intense galliard filled choreography, with a volta! I’ve taken the class at Crystal Ball before, but it’s never stuck. This time, I did better, and I even remembered it well enough to do again in the ball - yay! Another well attended class. I was glad I’d invited Alphia to come teach it!
I put my name on the list to talk to Genoveva at her vigil during the lunch break, but had to leave for the laurel meeting before it was my turn. The meeting was in the sanctuary, currently under construction, which made life interesting. Three of us were teaching at 2pm, so I had to keep an eye on the clock - that was where I most missed my phone. Gwommy didn’t have one either, so we kept making Alphia check hers.
My class went well - I think there were around 30 people in it! I taught Giunto M’Ha Amore and Gloria d’Amore. I lost some students between the two dances, but that was okay - 30 is too many for the space. My favorite part of the class was calling Giunto for people from the far end of the room as Alex walked by to check on the classes, and dancing some of it “with him” (just outside the other end of the room, so with all my students in between) as he went by. Twice - first when I first taught it and again at the end of the class when I had them do it again. It was lovely!
It was then time for Cassandra’s class. I was a few minutes late, and she was almost done teaching Petit Vriens. She did a fantastic job - very enthusiastic, confident, and clear in her instructions. She also taught Gathering Peascods (and very cleverly told the story about how everyone at our dance practice tickled her during it only after we had done the dance) and Black Nag. There was still plenty of time left in her class after that, so she taught Burley Mariners too, and we did it twice. One of the couples in her class had been in Cecilia’s class in the morning, and I think they really enjoyed the chance to go through Burley Mariners again. Thanks to Mistress Amelie for providing live music for her class. She didn’t have the music for Burley Mariners, but Cassandra found it for her, and you’d never have guessed that she hadn’t been playing it for years!
Court followed classes. Many wonderful things happened there, but the highlight started things off. Their Majesties processed into court and then thanked Mistress Amelie for providing such lovely musical accompaniment. She told them they were most welcome, but it could have been better. “Really?” they asked. “Yes, “ she replied. “It would have been better if people could have understood the words I was singing!” This was a lead in to talking about Kasha’s amazing translation work, and Amelie then begged the boon to elevate Kasha into the Order of the Laurel. It was wonderful! My favorite part was when they put her on vigil, and Kasha very calmly and graciously replied, “Thank you very much!” It was lovely
After court, we did some pick up dancing while we waited for pizza orders to arrive. Parsons Farewell for 6 was quite fun. We also did Scotch Cap and several other dances that were not in the ball list.
After dinner, it was time for the ball. charles_midair MC’ed as the muse Terpsichore herself. He dressed for the role and everything, including holding a lyre! I started the ball with him, of course, and got several more dances with Terpsichore throughout the night. Other ball highlights included doing Jenny Gioiosa to Jenny Pluck Pears, seeing so many people on the dance floor for Giunto M’Ha Amore (around 50, perhaps - it was a lot!) - especially since most people had likely never seen that dance before my class, continuing to have fun watching the more experienced dancers try and skip the trangi in Guinto, in turn - had to call out “No!” to Felice, who was my partner at least once, doing Spanish Pavan with Maurin - I’ve never done it so well outside the class before - still not perfect by any means, but not at all bad, and Pennsic Dance, despite it falling completely apart. There were two sets. And charles_midair gave a very nice intro, inviting those not dancing to enjoy watching it as it is a very beautiful dance, My set was all ringers, enough so that Martin decided he could shadow one of them while he played recorder. Things started to go very wrong during the second half of the first chorus, where a couple of the sides tried to star left, but at least 3 other people tried to star right. Everyone got back to place and turned their partner at the end, but that was the only resemblance to the actual dance. And things continued in that vein from there. It was hilarious! We did all end where we were supposed to and turned our partner, so it was perfect.
The dessert revel followed the second set, and it was amazing. The centerpiece, of course, was magda_vogelsang’s magnificent subtlety - a cake reproduction of the Pennsic Dance floor, complete with sloped corner and very recognizable floor tile designs. Also including the band shell (decorated by niquerio) and benches with dancetty designs on their legs. So wonderful! We couldn’t resist - we took a picture of several of us in a dance pose and had Gwommy photoshop us onto a picture of the cake. Cassandra’s and my Strawberry Flip cookies were also very well received. There was a nice variety of desserts - plenty for all, without the leftovers (which came to my place for the post revel) being too overwhelming.
We actually finished the ball list early and had time for a couple pick up dances. I think they were Posties Jig (not entirely sure about that one) and Two Fat Ladies. Yay! Then it was back to my place for the post revel. And brunch on Sunday (including my french toast casserole), with additional visiting from out of town folk before everyone hit the road. So much fun!