War of the Wings is a huge event, and with that comes more opportunities for Performing Arts! And there are so many opportunities to get confused… so let me sum up…

Thursday:

Dance Band Practice 2:00 – 4:00pm in the Castle: If you told the dance band leader, Mistress Azza, that you’re coming, great! If you didn’t, show up anyway, and look here for the sheet music (https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kq9aaWUo-i7S3LOrfn7qFCsVPn1rapWMh1iJOyEMHIk/edit?usp=sharing Most of it is from the Pennsic Pile #45 but some is from Eric Praetzel’s Dance Music Database). Print out and bring your own copies if you can, but show up even if you can’t bc Azza has some extra copies!

Friday:

European Dance classes throughout the day – check the site book for details!

Improvisation Skills Class 12:00 – 1:00pm: Improv theater games/training to help anyone live in persona or have better conversations at SCA events.

Bard of the People Competition 1:00 – 3:00pm: Any material welcome. Peoples’ choice for the winner!

Dance Band Practice 2:00 – 4:00pm in the Castle: same as Thursday.

Bardic Madness by the Sea 3:00 – 4:00pm: Bardic Challenges for everyone! You will most likely create the material you perform within this hour of bardic fun!

Who’s Line Doth It Be Anyway SHOW! 4:00 – 5:00pm: Anyone with the daring to do improv games is welcome to perform them, and anyone who wants to watch should come be the audience! Laughs guaranteed!

Childrens’ Ball for European Dance 7:00 – 9:00pm: Dancing focused on kids in the Castle!

Pirate Ball for European Dance 9:00-11:00pm: European dancing with a piratical theme and live dance band in the Castle!

Bardic Smackdown Competition 9:00pm start in the marketplace: This is the war-point competition for bards, and Their Excellencies have asked 8 bards to compete in tourney fashion with the Kingdom MOL keeping order.

Commedia dell’ Arte show by i Firenzi for ADULTS ONLY! We break out some period-but-not-family –friendly material for this annual “Naughty Show” which really starts at 10:00pm in Vingolf Hall regardless of what’s printed in the event book or on the web page. If you are under 18 years of age and want to see the show, bring your parent and have a deeply honest talk with the i Firenzi director, Sophia the Orange, about the adult content in the show. After complete and mature consideration, it’s your parent’s choice to let you watch or not. NO PHOTOGRAPHY OR VIDEOGRAPHY IS ALLOWED!

Saturday:

Intro to Commedia dell’ Arte class 11:00 – 12:00noon: Commedia dell’ Arte basics intended to prepare you for participation in Iron Commedia.

Iron Commedia Rehearsal 12:00 – 3:00pm:  Pull together a commedia scenario and perform it in the hour before court! Anyone is welcome to join the cast regardless of experience level, but you must commit to staying in rehearsal the entire time from 12:00 – 3:00 then the show goes on at 3:15pm!

Iron Commedia SHOW 3:15pm: Iron Commedia cast members put on the show they just invented in the hour before court!  Bring your chairs and set up for court early and be entertained with period comedy!

Musical Instrument Petting Zoo with Lord Gawain de Barri 2:00 – 4:00pm in the Castle!

There’s also a Music Solar in Tent #5 every day from 9:00 – 4:00pm!

The Raven’s Cove camp is sponsoring a Middle Eastern dancing Hofla starting at 8:00pm!

THE BIG CLIMAX of the event is the Spectacular Performance Expo starting at 8:00pm in Vingolf Hall! If you want to perform and have not yet signed up with Master Efenwealt, just show up or find him at his merchant booth – Camelot Treasures – and ask for a time slot!  ELEVEN of the kingdom’s best performers have already signed up to entertain you and bring you the best celebration ending ever!

Check out the War of the Wings web page Performing Arts section here: http://warofthewings.com/performing_arts.html

and the whole schedule here: http://warofthewings.com/schedule.html

But by all means… CHECK AT TROLL FOR CHANGES TO THE SCHEDULE!!!

And bring your comfy chair so you can sit back and be entertained by the most fun opportunities for Performing Arts you’ve ever seen in Atlantia!

Most of what was planned for War of the Wings 2015 did happen and get produced as planned which was posted in the other 4 blog posts laying out the plan for the Performing Arts Program at War of the Wings 2015:

WOW Performing Arts 1 of 4 , WOW Performing Arts 2 of 4, WOW Performing Arts 3 of 4, WOW Performing Arts 4 of 4,  but as we all know…nothing ever goes quite as we planned it…

Friday started with a great kickoff of a new method for creating a European Dance Pick Up Band! We used sheet music from the Pennsic Pile, Milady Reynse Kyferin from Nottinghill Coil led the band, and volunteer musicians from all over the kingdom came to the castle to rehearse at noon on Friday and Saturday. They provided music for the European dancing on both Friday and Saturday nights!  Here is a picture of some of the volunteer musicians:

The pick up band for Middle Eastern dancing led by Mistress Azza that played on Saturday night was also a great success!

On Friday, we did hold a great class in Improvisation Skills followed by a laughter filled “Who’s Line Doth It Be Anyway” show! Here are a few pictures from that show:

After “Who’s Line” we held an Unbelted Bardic Tournament. The “unbelted” part was a challenge to any Peer who wanted to participate… any Peer needed to bring a *partner* to perform with who was not also a Peer. The one taker we had on this challenge was Mistress Dervila who partnered with her husband Tom the Drumbuilder in the telling of stories.  The winner of the tournament was Baroness Morgan Wolfsinger of Black Diamond!

Here’s one pic from that tournament:

Friday evening, many performances occurred.  The Bardic Smackdown War Point Competition happened.  There was no light nor heat nor clear direction provided, but once Mistress Dervila stepped in to instill some guidance on the chaos, ten performers did provide their best performances in contribution to the War effort.  The performers that braved the cold and chaos of war were these brave souls:

North:

• Baroness Morgan Wolfsinger of Black Diamond
• Lord Johann von Solothurn of Black Diamond
• Mistress Dervila of Hawkwood
• milady Fennic du Blayz of Black Diamond
• milady Rosheen from Highland Foorde

South:

• Lady Morgaine of Hidden Mountain
• milady Reynsa Keyferin of Nottinghil Coil
• milady Albree of Nottinghil Coil
• Lady Isabella Arabella Daughter of Hidden Mountain
• THLady Jorunn nic Lochlainn of Hidden Mountain

The South side won the war point.

Also preparing for war on Friday night were the Rabble Rousers and Bawdy Bardic singers warming up the Adults Only crowd for the eventual Naughty Commedia Show of i Firenzi.

Rabble Rousers for Black Diamond were led by our Kingdom Bard, Lord Johann von Solothurn, and Rabble Rousers for Nottinghill Coil were led by the ever-innocent Lady Machteld Cleine.  Milady Ky led the Bawdy bardic singing until i Firenzi was ready with the very silly, adults only, commedia dell’ arte play “The Issues Of One’s Loins” which had special guest star appearances by Master Efenwealt Wystle and also His Majesty Christophe of Atlantia!

Here is the one picture allowed to be published from the i Firenzi play:

Saturday saw a cascade of successful plans come to fruition!  All the classes, rehearsals and performances ran as planned including: a European dance class, meeting of the Atlantia Performing Arts Guild, Intro to Commedia dell’ Arte class, Iron Commedia rehearsal, Bardic Madness class & performance, Bardic 101 & 102 class, Research for Performers class, and the Iron Commedia performance before court!  Here’s a rarely seen before and after set of pictures of the novice commedia student cast before and after the Iron Commedia show:

Before:   After: 

Saturday night, there was a competition held for the Baronial Bardic Champions from all the baronies of Atlantia that was supposed to be followed by a lovely concert with performance slots for both a handful of pre-scheduled experienced performers and also open slots for whoever wanted to come join in the fun.  As it turned out, we did not have use of the Vingulf Hall, so we were out in the open air experiencing the very cold wind that night.  We did bring with us one fire bowl and the camp-lantern footlights we use at Pennsic, so we had a little light and heat. The following brave souls huddled around the fire bowl kept their promises to compete for the honor of their home baronies:

1. Baroness Morgan Wolfsinger – Baronial Bardic Champion of the Barony of Black Diamond (Who won the Unbelted Bardic Tourney on Friday!)
2. Lady Thamira HaSopheret- Baronial Bardic Champion of our hosting Barony of Sacred Stone
3. Lord Jaume de Monçó (Craig B. Daniel) – Baronial Performing Arts Champion of the Barony of Windmasters’ Hill
4. Lady Morgaine Ferguson (Ivy Pandora) – Baronial Bardic Champion of the Barony of Hidden Mountain
5. milady Reynsa Keyferin – Baronial Bardic Co-Champion of the Barony of Notinghil Coil (also Director of the WoW European Pick Up Dance Band!)
6. Lady Deirdre O’Bardon – filling in for the Baronial Bardic Champion of the Barony of Bright Hills
7. Lady Scholastica Joycors (Mylinda Butterworth) – Baronial Bardic Champion of the Barony of Lochmere

Many thanks to those who braved the cold to witness and provide an audience for these dedicated and loyal Baronial Champions! That includes a few performers who had committed to perform in our “Bards and Brewers Concert” which turned out to be a cozy circle of dedicated bards including Master Scott Efenwealt Vaughan and Mistress Aenor (Kirsten Humdinger Vaughan), Lord Johann von Solothurn, Mistress Rosalind (Jonna Bernstein), and my ever supportive baritone husband Manus MacDhai (Scott Dean) , AND Dervila Ni Leanon and Tom Drumbuilder!

Special thanks also to Their Excellencies of Windmasters Hill, Callixtus and Adriana, who did come brave the cold to witness the competition.

The winner of the Inter-Baronial Bardic Champions Competition on Saturday night at War of the Wings was Lord Jaume de Monçó, the Performing Arts Champion of the Barony of Windmasters’ Hill!  He performed an impressively smooth period magic trick of “Cups and Balls” and will share the research documentation of it by request.

Sorry, there are no pictures to share from Saturday night’s performances – it was WAAAAAY too cold and dark!

So watch this space for the next announcement for your opportunities to take part in Performing Arts in the Kingdom of Atlantia!

Here are all the Performing Arts activities in chronological order. Some locations DID change since we lost use of Vingulf Hall, so please watch for announcements, signs, and disturbances in the force to inform you of location changes once you get to site! Friday night Vingulf Hall activities moved to the Picnic Shelter “Madrassa” and Saturday night Vingulf Hall activities moved to the Bardic Center tent. See notes in red below.

FOR ALL PERFORMANCES AND CLASSES – BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR!!!

Bardic Madness Challenges have been posted!  Lady Scholastica challenges the bards and performers of Atlantia to the following Fyts of Madness:

• A Tale a Tale, My Kingdom for a Tale (Pass the Tale)
  • All those who wish to participate get up together and tell a tale from beginning to end. The challenge’s patron will ‘conduct’ by pointing to the person whose turn it is to continue the tale, and deciding when it is time to end the tale.
• Descriptionary
  • Sometimes words have hidden meanings and it will be up to our team to define their given word, one word at a time to the audience until the word is completely defined.
• Wisdom is Often Fleeting
  • Aesop a mere slave, is credited for presenting teaching stories with a touch of wisdom so for this challenge you would be wise to come with a prepared Aesop story to tell. Stories should be five minutes or less.
• Shakespeare on the Fly
  • No preparation, for you will be handed a piece by Shakespeare and must stand and perform on the fly after 60 seconds. Sing it, dramatize it …own it.

Rules of the Challenge:

1. This is a challenge and not a competition. If you are playing then you have already won.
2. Challenges are designed to encourage you to try your hand at something new, to stretch yourself, to enjoy, and to celebrate the creative spirit.
3. Follow as closely as you can to the instructions as possible.
4. In order to allow the largest number of people to participate, prepared entries should be limited to five minutes or less (that includes the introduction).

If you are a Baronial Champion for your Barony in the Performing Arts, and if you wish to compete in Saturday night’s Inter-baronial Bardic Champions Competition, please be sure to sign up with the MC, Lady Sophia the Orange NO LATER THAN 12:00noon on Saturday!  Please send email ahead of time to  dmoas-performance AT atlantia.sca.org OR leave an UNMISTAKABLE message at Windmasters Hill Camp.

DO NOT HESITATE TO ASK QUESTIONS!  Numerous folks are well versed in this whole program and ready to answer your questions! Please contact any or all of the following people to ask questions or advice on the best way to get the best bang for your buck per minute of fun at War of the Wings!

Lady Sophia the Orange, Whole Program and Commedia: dmoas-performance AT atlantia.sca.org

Lord Johann von Solothurn, Bardic Classes and Competitions: RoyalBard AT atlantia.sca.org

Vrouwe Machteld Cleine, Rabble Rousing: faerieeva AT hotmail.com

Lady Scholastica Joycors, Bardic Madness: totallystories AT gmail DOT com

Reynsa Kyferin, European dance band: meganfair.clarinet AT gmail DOT com

Lady Elizabeth de Northumberland, European Dance: mills_se AT yahoo.com

Mistress Azza: Middle Eastern Dance Hofla and Dance Band

Baroness Alianor of Sacred Stone, Bardic Smackdown War Point Competition:  https://sites.google.com/site/sscoronets/contact

The rule of the day at this event is to be as flexible, forgiving, and polite as possible to your fellow SCA volunteers. This event has had some rocky changes to juggle at the last minute, so please keep lines of communication open as we juggle and squeeze as much fun into these few days as possible!

Thanks for playing!

Lady Sophia the Orange

War of the Wings, Deputy Village Steward for Performing Arts

Kingdom of Atlantia, Minister of Arts and Sciences, Deputy for Performing Arts

Capocomico, i Firenzi

Fan of Anything That Comes To Life On Stage!

Have you ever seen performers having fun on stage and craved joining in? Well, now you can! And not just “throw them in and hope they float” Nononono….. We will actually *teach* you something before making you face the terrifying stares of an expectant audience! (WARNING: All shows at War of the Wings are BYOChair!  There will NOT be enough chairs for everyone, so BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR PLEASE!)  And don’t worry about the deadline to register for classes… just show up if you haven’t registered and we’ll make room for you! No class size limits on Performing Arts Classes!

Friday:

1) Who’s Line Doth It Be?   Improvisation Skills class and Show 1:00 – 3:00pm

Have you ever seen the TV show “Who’s Line Is It Anyway?” either the American version hosted by Drew Cary or the original on BBC? We’re going to run a mini-version of that show ourselves at WoW based on the version die hard performing arts geeks at Pennsic have been doing for many years.

But before that, a class will be taught in Improvisation Skills. You must take the class if you want to be in the show, but you can take the class and not perform in the show.  The class will run through six basic rules of improvisation that can help you in everyday conversation, living in persona at SCA events, better performance during SCA court schtick, and also performing improvised commedia dell’ arte. We will also learn the short form improv theater games that will serve as the structure of our Who’s Line Doth It Be Show.

Improvisation Skills Class runs from 1:00 – 2:00pm. Who’s Line Doth It Be show runs from 2:00 – 3:00pm.

2) European Dance Pick Up Band:  Rehearsal 12:00 – 3:00pm;  Performance 7:00 – 10:00pm (both Friday and Saturday)

Any and all musicians are welcome to join in a new kind of pick up band! To sign up, click here!

A lovely new professional music teacher and band director has joined the Barony of Nottinghill Coil a couple years ago and brings with her a passion for period music! Our new best friend,  milady Reynsa, will lead volunteer musicians through a rehearsal with Pennsic Pile sheet music from 12:00 noon to 3:00pm on Friday and Saturday to prep for playing for the balls on both Friday and Saturday nights starting at 7:00pm.  Click here for details including links to the sheet music, dance list, and recordings:   http://warofthewings.com/details/pick_up_band.html

3) Middle Eastern Dance:  Band Rehearsals Thursday – Saturday

Middle Eastern Dance Band will Rehearse on Thursday 2-3:00, Friday 3-4:00, and Saturday 2-3:00, then play for a Hofla dance party starting at 8:30pm Saturday night!

Three classes are also offered for learning middle eastern dance.

See the Dance page for details: http://warofthewings.com/details/dancing.html

Saturday:

1) European Dance: 10:00 – 11:00am

The ball on Friday night is a practice ball, so all the dances will be taught then, but more dances will be taught Saturday morning in this class (New Yere, Bel Fiore, Petite Vriens, and some bransles). The ball Saturday night will also have some teaching time.  For more details about learning and performing European dance, click here: http://warofthewings.com/details/dancing.html

2) Commedia dell’ Arte: Intro class and Iron Commedia show 12:00 noon – 5:00pm

Learn the basics of Commedia dell’ Arte, the Italian improvised comedy play style that was very popular throughout Europe in the 16^th century.  Intro to commedia class runs from 12:00 – 1:00pm.

Then whoever is ready for an intense creative thrill… we will run an Iron Commedia session from 1:00 to 4:00pm where we will write a commedia scenario based on who shows up and what characters people want to play. We will rehearse until 4:00, then we will put on our short play in the half hour before court as pre-court entertainment!  (Court starts at 5:00pm) Anyone who wants a part in the play gets one, but you have to have taken the Intro to Commedia class either that day or some other day to join in. Once we start writing the scenario at 1:00pm, the process takes off like a rocket!

3) Bardic Madness: Challenges and Performances  12:00 – 2:00pm

The Challenges put forth by Lady Scholastica Joycors, Kingdom Bard of 2014, are set forth as “Fyts of Madness” which will challenge bards to create material either ahead of time or in the moment.  Bards will then also have the opportunity to perform their material right there in the midst of madness!  Depending on how many participants show up, bards can exchange critique and improve on their works, discuss, challenge each other more, and let the madness lead them.

4) Bardic 101 & 102:  A class in all things Bardic 2:00 – 3:00pm

Lord Johann von Solothurn, the current Kingdom Bard, will help you get started in becoming a bard and/or help you take your bardic lifestyle to the next level based on who shows up to the class and what questions they bring.

5) Research for Performers:  A multi-purpose performers class 3:00 – 4:00pm

Lord Johann von Solothurn continues to spread the wisdom by offering resources for research for all kinds of performers.

6) Bards and Brewers Concert at the White Phoenix Inn – Starting at 9:00pm in Vingulf Hall

On Saturday evening, after you’ve had all this great instruction on performing all day Friday and Saturday, you can put it to good use if you signed up ahead of time to claim a 10 minute performing slot during the Saturday night concert!  Now, the Saturday night performances will begin with the Inter-Baronial Bardic Champions Competition starting at 9:00pm where those performers who have earned the honor of serving as their barony’s Champion in a performing art will compete for glory, honor, and spiffy prizes.  AFTER, the Champions have competed, the regular concert will commence with a lineup of performers who only had to sign up ahead of time.  Did you sign up ahead of time on the Google Form here?  If you miss signing up, you just move to the end of the line and a sign up sheet will be posted in Vingulf Hall so the organized concert can devolve into an all-night jam if performers show up who wish to share the space.

To sign up for a 10 minute performance slot in the Bards and Brewers Concert on Saturday night, click here!

The Kingdom’s Royal Brewer is leading his fellow brewers in gathering in the same space as the concert in Vingulf Hall on Saturday night starting at 9:00pm to share the fruits of their labor. So, no need to sign up, just bring your brewed creations to share!  Rumor has it that a special friend from the Barony of Windmasters’ Hill is also bringing a supply of Savory Toasted Cheese, so the evening will be full of brews, cheese, and song!

Stay tuned for two more blog posts covering the rest of the extensive Performing Arts Program at War of the Wings!  http://warofthewings.com/performing_arts.html 

Sincerely Yours,

Lady Sophia the Orange

War of the Wings, Deputy Village Steward for Performing Arts

Kingdom of Atlantia, Minister of Arts and Sciences, Deputy for Performing Arts

Capocomico, i Firenzi

Fan of Anything That Comes To Life On Stage!