This past week, I've been working hard on preparing for the Bare Shakespeare workshop. Reesa and I have been flexing our totally awesome 80's pop rock muscles and picking out music that fits both the scenes and the music (harder than you might think when looking for something in 6/4 time). So far, I'm really excited about what we've come up with. I say we but its mostly Reesa - I get sidetracked sometimes when searching for music - I blame Lala for just being so darn accessible and fun.
Anyway, while trolling the depths of classic rock looking for songs in odd time signatures, I have also been working hard on redoing the instruction sheets for several dances that I'll be teaching. One of those was for Petit Riens, a fun little dance I first learned up at Scarborough Faire. Now, for those of you who are not familiar, Scarborough is TRF's neighbor to the north. We've always had a friendly rivalry with them, and because we're on opposite sides of the calender it has always stayed friendly. Lots of performers and shop owners work both shows, and we always make a day of going out and visiting each other. Sometimes we go in costume, sometimes we just go to visit. Either way, we always have fun and look forward to seeing each other at the next show.
Back in 2004, a group of us had decided to go up and make a weekend of visiting everyone. At this time, I was running Evening Dance and Maypole out at TRF, so I of course wanted to go peek in on their shows. Scarborough has always had a LOT of dance shows going on, so it is always a pleasure for me to go and see what they're up to. This year, I was not disappointed: I was able to watch both their country dance and court dance shows. I was dressed in peasant clothes that weekend (because why corset when you don't have to?), so wasn't quite as recognizable as usual.
It probably comes as no shock to anyone that the main way faire people recognize each other is by sight - especially by costumes. It is always a little jarring to see someone running around in street clothes: somehow, they just don't look quite right. I know I feel more comfortable in period clothes than normal ones, and I am positive I am not the only one. On this occasion, I was wearing a costume I hadn't worn for almost ten years, so was, for all intents and purposes, incognito to most other performers.
I was having a great time visiting. Scarborough has an open dance-floor policy, and many of their patrons have, over the years, learned their dance repertoire as well. I slipped in fairly unnoticed and learned all I could. This was easy during the country dance. Court dance however....was a little more obvious.
I got there early, in time to sit in on the "teaching" phase of evening dance. One of the benefits of doing dance for-ev-ah is that learning new ones becomes very easy after a while. That is exactly what was going on today. They were teaching a dance Miz Ellen had written a few years ago, which happened to be a variation of a later Playford Dance called The Indian Queen. Simon Spaulding had taught that to me years ago, so it was a quick review to pick it up again.
It didn't take long for me to be left in charge of several patrons. Dance teachers, it seems, are all fairly noticeable when we get going in our element, despite trying to be low-key. When the actual dancing started, I can only imagine it was more obvious.
At this point, I'm the only patron in peasant clothing holding my own in a set for Poacher's Moon. Next up, a dance I haven't heard of: Petit Riens. Well, I think to myself, I'm a patron. It is totally ok if I mess this up.
Petit Riens, which means literally "little nothings" is a fun little follow-the-leader dance for three people. I adore it - it is such a great way to put character into a dance. When the music started, I was relieved to see that, as the last person in the line, all I had to do was follow and mimic what was going on in front of me. Having been trained be some of the best improvisational actors Houston had to offer, I just smiled and did my best. I had a great time, and merrily skipped along through the dance pretending like I knew what I was doing. Apparently it worked.
After the dance was over, a woman glided over to my side and took me by the arm. "My lady," she said with a smile, "Don't take this the wrong way, but who are you and where did you learn that?" I am pretty sure I blushed and looked at my feet, then explained that I was one of the choreographers from TRF. She laughed and gave me a hug, then told me to get my fanny back into the set.
That is how Susan and I met, and that is how we began the lovely dance exchange between TRF and Scarborough. I loved seeing her and her group on the sidelines at my shows, and she always looked for me at hers. Both of us share a passion for bringing dance to as many people on the site as possible, which has made the sharing that much more fun. It doesn't hurt that our thoughts on the time, place and style of dance at faire are almost identical.
When I was rerunning the dance over and over this week, I couldn't help but think of Susan. Maybe I can find her somewhere on Facebook - I would love to hear what she thinks of what we're doing to our Petit Riens.
About Me
I am so stupid excited right now!
Last week during the snowpocalypse, my friend Reesa and I were both trapped inside for a while. She is living in New York City, and I'm of course here in Ohio. Both being from warmer climates, neither of us is dealing with all the snow in quite a sanguine manner as others are. Meaning: we're cold and cranky. We started chatting on AIM about the cold, the lack of food in the house, and how much we missed the blazing hot Texas summers (ahh....105 degrees and 99% humidity...you never seemed so wonderful...), and eventually ended up talking about what the heck we were doing all the way up here in the cold.
Reesa has been working with a really great company in New York called Bare Shakespeare. As she put it, they are working to strip away all the layers that tends to build up around a production of Shakespeare's plays and instead focus on the actual words he's using. Her thought, and it seems to be very successful, is that if the actors truly understand and feel what Shakespeare wrote, the play becomes more real, more visceral and more approachable by both the actors and the audience. From the reviews I've read, they're doing great!
Anyway, during the conversation, it came up that they were going to be tackling "All's Well that Ends Well" next - and then things got interesting fast. Would I like to come to New York and teach a dance workshop for their performance? Would I ever!
So now I'm knee-deep in the play, doing research and altering some period (and not so period) dances for their stage. As added fun, we're going to be searching out more modern music for them to dance to - keeping the period steps. We do this all the time for fun and for practice, and while it seems silly, it is actually a great way to teach, and has a surprisingly strong visual impact. Dance is dance; the movements tell a story, and it doesn't always matter what voice one uses to tell it if the end product elicits the emotions the director wants.
End of March! New York City! So excited!
Since I spoke about the dance not too long ago, I thought it might be fun to go ahead and post my version of Gathering Peascods. For the most part, this is how it was taught to me all those years ago. Now - mind you that this may not look like how you were taught it. One of the delightful and wonderful things about dance is there's never just ONE way to do them. Dance is a living, breathing art form, and because of that everyone is constantly innovating in one way or another.
I will also readily acknowledge that there are some stylistic differences between this version and one straight from Playford's "The English Dancing Master". There is a very simple reason for such differences: The Play's the Thing. All the changes you see incorporated here were added to make the dance a little more interesting and fun to watch. Besides, who doesn't like spinning around?
Now, if you're new to dance, you might have looked ahead and gone...what? Slip who? What's a worship? Counts? Don't worry! We'll go over the whole thing together. First, I'm going to paste the whole monster in here and then we'll take it piece by piece.
A circle dance for 8 couples, ladies on the men’s right, facing the center of the circle
A Section (24 counts total) - Everyone holding hands in a big circle facing the center
8 counts - Slip 8 counts to the Left in the big circle, then drop hands
4 counts - Turn single Left, then take hands to make the big circle again
8 counts - Slip 8 counts to the Right in the big circle back to your place, then drop hands
4 counts - Turn single Right
Chorus I - Gentlemen First (56 counts total) - Everyone facing the center of the circle
12 counts - Men take 2 steps inward, take hands in a smaller circle, and slip all the way around to the left, ending back in their spot in the big circle.
12 counts - Women take 2 steps inward, take hands in a smaller circle, and slip all the way around to the left, ending back in their spot in the big circle.
16 counts - Men Worship:
- 4 counts - Men double Left into the center and clap
- 4 counts - Women double Left into the center and clap while the Men double Right back
- 4 counts - Men double Left into the center and clap while the Women double Right back
- 4 counts - Men turn over their right shoulder to their places
16 counts - Women Worship:
- 4 counts - Women double Left into the center and clap
- 4 counts - Men double Left into the center and clap while the Women double Right back
- 4 counts - Women double Left into the center and clap while the Men double Right back
- 4 counts - Women turn over their right shoulder to their places
B Section (24 counts total) - Facing your partner
8 counts - Side Right
4 counts - Turn single Left
8 counts - Side Left
4 counts - Turn single Right
Chorus II - Ladies First (56 counts total) - Everyone facing the center of the circle
12 counts - Women take 2 steps inward, take hands in a smaller circle, and slip all the way around to the left, ending back in their spot in the big circle
12 counts - Men take 2 steps inward, take hands in a smaller circle, and slip all the way around to the left, ending back in their spot in the big circle
16 counts - Women Worship
16 counts - Men Worship
C Section (24 counts total) - Facing your partner
8 counts - Arms Right
4 counts - Turn single Left
8 counts - Arms Left
4 counts - Turn single Right
Repeat Chorus I - Gentlemen First (56 counts total)
Reverance at the very end
Seems a bit overwhelming, doesn't it? Here's the thing: its all just patterns. English Country Dance is all about repetition and mirroring. Meaning, if you do one step on the right, you're going to do it again on the left. The English are symmetrical like that. So, then let's get started!
First of all, 8 couples is a good size for this dance. We've done it with 12, but you end up practically running at one point, and no one likes to do that. Besides - why tempt fate by putting your dancers in danger of spraining something? You start out in basic partner formation - man on the left, lady on the right, with both of you facing the center.
A Reverance is a fancy word for a bow or curtsy. Face your partner and give that a try. Almost all dances will start out with a reverance, so if you're working on building a character for interactive theater, here is a great place to showcase some of your character-specific movement.
Now, everyone takes hands, making a big circle and they all slip to the left for 8 counts. What is a slip, you might ask? It is a sashay step to the side - step left, then bring your right toe up next to your left instep, and push off of it a little to skip to the left again. After 8 counts, drop hands with everyone and turn once around to the left. Now, slip back to the right for 8 counts. When you get back to where you started, drop hands with everyone and turn once around to the right. You will end up with everyone facing the center of the circle.
Here is where we start the "Chorus" of the dance - its called so because it will be repeated (in one form or another) between each of the "Verses" (the slipping was the first verse of the dance). Here's the interesting thing - Gathering Peascods has two different choruses - a Gentlemen first and a Ladies first version. This one is the Gentlemen first.
The men are going to step into the center of the circle and form a smaller circle inside by taking hands and slipping all the way around the circle to the left until the get back to where they started, backing into their spots by their partners. Then, the ladies are going to do the same by stepping to the center, taking hands and slipping all the way around as well, ending by backing gracefully into their spots.
Before we get to the worshipping, we need to learn another quick basic step – the double – and its nice and simple. Starting on your left foot, take three steps forward, then touch your right toe next to your left instep: the pattern is ‘left-right-left-touch’ and it takes four counts. To get back to your spot, double backwards – starting with your right foot (the one that’s not even all the way on the ground yet), step backwards, then back with your left, then right again, and bring your left toe next to your right instep. I usually call this ‘back-left-right-touch’. That’s it – a fancy way of walking forwards and backwards.
Now for the worship: While the ladies stay put, the men double in towards the center, clapping on the fourth count (the one where you touch your right toe to the left foot), then as they double back the ladies double in and clap. As the ladies double back to their spots and stay put, the men double in again and clap. This time, however, instead of doubling back to their spots, the men turn over their right shoulders and spin around while they fall back into their spots next to their partners. This is called “Men worship” because they go in first.
Remember that symmetry thing? Since we did all that doubling with the men going first, we’re going to do it again with the ladies going first: ladies double in and clap, ladies double out while the men double in and clap, then the men double out while the ladies double in, clap, then turn over their right shoulders back to their spots.
Believe it or not, that’s the hardest part of the dance. Now on to easier things! The next figure is called siding. You’ll need to face your partner and, using that double step we just learned, do a double with small steps to meet right shoulders with your partner (Side Right), then double back to your spot. Once you get back, turn around once over your left shoulder. Now, do a double with small steps to meet your partner’s left shoulder (Side Left). Once you get back to your spot, turn once over your right shoulder.
Now we’re going to do another chorus (Chorus II), but this time the ladies will do everything first: ladies slip around the inside of the circle, then the men. Then the worship section, with the ladies going in and turning first, then repeating with the men going in and turning first.
Last verse – arming. Facing your partner, grab right forearms and turn each other around in a circle – all the way around – until you make it back to your spot (Arms Right), then turn one time over your left shoulder. Luckily, you’re momentum is already carrying you that way so it is fairly easy to get both parts in. Then, repeat the same with your left forearms: turn each other all the way around (Arms Left), then turn once over your right shoulder.
Last time through the chorus, so we’re going to do it just like we did the first time (Chorus I) with the men going in first to slip around. Once everyone has had a chance to worship and turn, everyone can turn outwards and Reverance to the lovely audience.
That’s not too bad, is it? You learned your first dance!
If you’re still confused, here’s a lovely version of Gathering Peascods danced in Regency clothing. There are a few stylistic differences, but the main portions are the same :) Enjoy!
One of the things that no one tells you about performing at Festivals when you first start out is how much STUFF you're going to end up buying. Costume Stuff, Camping Stuff, Travel Stuff, Storage Stuff, Food Stuff, Unidentifiable Prop Related Stuff, Mint Julep Stuff...the list goes on and on and on.
One category of Stuff that one would HOPE they don't have to buy in very often is the drinking vessel. For those of you who aren't aware, when we are working, we are not permitted to drink out of paper or plastic drinking cups. There's something jarring about seeing someone in a lovely period costume holding a paper cup (or wearing tennis shoes, but that's another rant). So - one of your first purchases is for something to drink out of.
When I first started out at TRF, a friend of mine was kind enough to hand-turn me a wooden drinking goblet. It worked really well - but I worried constantly about losing it, since it was made for me and I was dragging it around the site all the time. My second year, I purchased a relatively boring metal goblet to replace it. Now, metal goblets look lovely and very period, but they do have a few drawbacks - the first being that they get HOT when you put warm drinks in them. This is great to warm up your hands on a cold day. It's less great when you forget and burn your lips on the rim trying to sip coffee. Because the metal heats up so much, the drink inside tends to get cooler faster as well - so it can be a bit of a painful race to finish your coffee without scalding your tongue before it goes ice cold. The other huge problem I have with metal drinkwear is that its heavy. Not atlas-carrying-the-world heavy, but heavy enough I can feel it banging around back there on its mug strap. As an unfortunate side effect, I'm sure several men could tell you tales of woe concerning a metal mug and a codpiece that didn't quite have enough stuffing in it, if you catch my meaning.
Enter Master Ken and Wondrous Works in Wood. If I remember correctly, they opened their first booth across from the Maypole out at TRF in 1994. Master Ken, and his daughter Sherrie, have been like family to the Maypole maidens ever since - they took us in, let us chill behind their shop, and have been nothing but wonderful ever since then. Talking about all the kindness they have extended to not only myself but to everyone at every faire they participate in will be another post altogether...this one is about the awesome mugs they make.
Remember how I was telling you about how metal goblets heat up and try to kill you while you're drinking? Not so with one of their gorgeous mugs. Take a lookie at this one - its pretty close to the one I have:
Isn't it cute? The small ones exactly fit a can of coke in there, in case you were wondering. They don't get blazing hot, nor do they cool down your drink. I LOOOOVE mine - and I know almost everyone on cast eventually gets one.
But Genevieve, you might say, what about the lovely layer of schmutz that gets on everything out on site? The dirt / leaves / who knows what that floats around and ends up in your mug and in your shoes? Never fear, gentle readers. Sherrie and Ken spend time on site too, and they came up with a solution:
It's like a little mug hat! They stay on securely, even when you're running like a crazy person across the inner circle, and keeps out all the bleh that can accumulate inside your mug during the day. That's wonderful, Genevieve, you say again, but I'm a noblewoman, and I don't want to be seen drinking like a unwashed mud beggar. I have all this lipstick to worry about.
Voila! Wooden straws! See why I love these guys? They think of EVERYTHING!
Want some of your own? Visit Sherrie at their online store here or out at Faire!
My first weekend of rehearsals out at TRF was a blur of so many things. I was TERRIFIED, yet somehow really excited about the whole thing. As some have noticed, I have quite an affection for the empty faire site and the rehearsal process, and I am positive that it started that first weekend.
We were taught - in no uncertain terms - not to be late. Anyone who has ever worked with David can tell you he has no patience for lateness. Terrhan and I were almost late one time - and that was fairly terrifying. The first weekend was a whirlwind of "new" for me. I'd never acted before - only been in pit orchestras. I'd never worked with adults as peers before, I'd never had to do improv. I was completely intimidated and completely curious.
After the obligatory opening remarks, we were taken on a tour of the site, and told to look at it with fresh eyes. We were told to look at everything with the new eyes of our characters, to look for things we might have overlooked before. This grew into one of my favorite exercises years later (and revealed to me, when one of my characters had a ... negative ... reaction to nakedness exactly how many paintings and carvings of decolletage are scattered around the faire site). This time though, I had no idea what I was doing. I followed along, trying to look for things a fairy might find interesting. Trees, canopies, flowers, this fantastic bower near the battle mound that was made of intertwined trees....I was starting to see where this was going.
After lunch, we set about to work. This was David's first year out at TRF, and the Performance Company was quite small - around fifty people at that point. It had been decided that we should learn something together we could use to interact with patrons - a dance. Now this was something I could do!
We gathered in the shade of the old Entertainment Building and paired up. I was just a wisp of a thing, still in High School, and hadn't said more than a few words to anyone all day. I must have looked quite lost, and had been hanging back, near the benches.
"Would you care to dance?" a kind voice asked me. A red-haired man was holding out a hand to me, smiling kindly and quite patiently. I think I looked at the ground and took his hand like all the other ladies around me. We took our place in the circle.
This was my first attempt at Renaissance dance. It was a simple dance - Gathering Peascods - and I focused everything I had on trying to not look stupid. The whole time, my partner made sure I understood what was happening, where I should be going. He made me feel completely un-self-conscious and at ease. When the class was over, he kissed my hand and we all moved back to the Globe to work on something else.
I have never forgotten that. Philip Hafer taught me, in just a few minutes, what being a good partner was all about. I have always regretted not having a chance to know him better. When he passed later that season, there was a sadness that passed over everyone, over the whole festival site, that was palpable and deep. I had just met him, barely a passing moment, and his kindness touched me.
Years later, even after a thousand times through and groans from everyone at the sheer mention of the dance, I always think of Philip. Rest in Peace, your majesty.