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!

Vingulf Hall is Adults Only after 8:00pm on Friday Night!

Research has shown that some material from the sixteenth century and earlier is not appropriate for modern day children and teenagers. Specifically, the material in the research is not appropriate. Many woodcuts, paintings, and sketches of commedia dell’ arte from SCA period depict scenes that would be rated R or worse in modern movies. This does not mean that as adults we should not attempt to recreate this part of history.  Most of it is perfectly harmless with an adult’s perspective (enema syringes, uncovered body parts, bodily fluids, etc.).  It does mean that we need to create a safe space with walls and clear boundaries and communicate clearly regarding when and where we will engage in art forms that are not completely 100% guaranteed family friendly so those who wish to not engage can be not bothered.

War of the Wings is an event with enough space that some has been set aside, with clear boundaries, for an adults only area.  Here we can allow for some of the material from commedia dell’ arte that is not appropriate for children to be brought out from the books and used in real life plays.  I Firenzi has brought such a play to War of the Wings for the second year and will perform it in Vingulf Hall at 10:00pm on Friday night.  Bouncers will be stationed at the doors to Vingulf Hall for everyone’s sanity.  If you or a companion of yours is under 18 years of age, you are not allowed in Vingulf Hall after 8:00pm.  If you wish to break this rule, you must ask for special permission from Lady Sophia the Orange so that you and your adult guardian can make an informed decision based on full disclosure of the adult content expected to be presented in the play. Last year, two exceptions were made after careful conversations with parents, and the teenagers were not scarred. They both lived on to perform commedia themselves. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions ahead of time or get clarification from Sophia by emailing “capo AT ifirenzi DOT com”  or you can also use dmoas-performance AT atlantia.sca.org.

Commedia dell Arte by i Firenzi is improvised, so some risk is implied. No guarantee is made regarding exactly what will happen, what the audience will see, or what will be exposed during the play. All attendees enjoy the play at their own risk.

Photography, videography, and recording of any kind at all will not be allowed under any circumstances.

This year, i Firenzi is not the only performance for adults only in Vingulf Hall!  Remember, Vingulf Hall turns into an Adults Only zone after 8:00pm on Friday night, which is when the Bawdy Bardic by Ky begins!  As with all performances at War of the Wings… BRING YOUR OWN CHAIR!!!!

Friday night at War of the Wings… here is your lineup in Vingulf Hall!

I.

Bawdy Bardic by Ky 8:00 ~ 9:15pm

A beautiful, creative, and vivacious young lady named Ky will sing some of her own bawdy songs and lead a bardic circle in Vingulf Hall for those adults 18 years old and older who want to sing with her!

And if that weren’t enough… the ancient tradition of taunts and insults lives on!

II.

Rabble Rousing skits by Opposing Sides of the War starts around 9:15 ~ 9:30 ish…

The opposing sides of the War of the Wings will have the opportunity to engage in millennia old tradition of taunting and insulting the other side.  Each side will have no more than 15 minutes to crush the souls of the other side taking turns politely.

Then… what you’ve been waiting for since Pantalone stripped to his skivvies last year!

III.

Commedia dell’ arte performance of “The Issues of One’s Loins” by i Firenzi

The infamous annual “Naughty Show” of i Firenzi appears again at War of the Wings as a rare demonstration of some very real and documentable material of period commedia dell’ arte that is not family friendly nor appropriate for children at a regular SCA event. I Firenzi is grateful for this opportunity to stretch their creative muscles and perform some of their art form that is not safe for regular SCA events but appears regularly in commedia documentation.  Beautiful women will parade around Vingulf Hall with this documentation for anyone interested in the educational portion of our program. The family friendly version of commedia dell arte will be presented on Saturday in the Iron Commedia production before royal court.

The scenario, “The Issues of One’s Loins”, was written by Luceta di Cosimo, currently living in Pittsburgh, PA and regularly writing scenarios for i Genisii (often seen performing at Pennsic) in the style of Flamino Scala of Florence in the late 16th century.

Photography, videography, and recording of any kind at all will not be allowed under any circumstances.

For more information about commedia or i Firenzi, visit www.ifirenzi.com  and watch the videos!

Visit http://warofthewings.com/performing_arts.html  for all your War of the Wings Performing Arts info!

And if you’re looking for something lower key or guaranteed to be Family Friendly… there’s a lovely Castle next door to Vingulf Hall with European Dancing and a live Pick Up Band!  http://warofthewings.com/details/dancing.html  The music and dancing starts at 7:00 with the first half hour focused on kids.

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!