http://californiarevels.org/ Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:00:39 -0800 FeedCreator 1.7.2-ppt DokuWiki http://californiarevels.org/wiki/lib/images/favicon.ico http://californiarevels.org/ http://californiarevels.org/lore/april_2009 Far removed as it is from the jollity and warmth of the Christmas reveling season, April has nonetheless become a very active time in Revels circles. From this vantage point we can look ahead to see both May Day and the Summer Solstice on the horizon, as well as auditions for the coming winter show. Already, we’re dusting off props and instruments, the Morris Dancers are polishing their bells, and the Solstice Ensemble is working up new repertory. website:lore Thu, 30 Apr 2009 08:58:31 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/archives website:lore Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:09:35 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/december_2008 One of the defining moments in every Christmas Revels occurs the end of the first act when all present are invited to sing and dance to the inspiring “Lord Of The Dance”. For many Revelers, this song is an eloquent and powerful metaphor for the sense of community and celebration at the core of the Revels experience. website:lore Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:24:05 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/december_2009 (In researching the Sankt Nikolaus character for our 2009 Christmas Revels, I came across a very informative and well-presented website on German traditions. I hope you will visit it. Here is some of the basic research that informed our show, used with the generous permission of Hyde Flippo, the author of the pages. - David Parr, Artistic Director) website:lore Thu, 10 Dec 2009 14:19:23 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/february_2008 “Nova, Nova!” – there is news and new content coming your way. First of all, I am eager to announce the theme of the 2008 Winter Solstice show, and also in this month’s newsletter, we are pleased to inaugurate what we plan to make an ongoing feature – a glimpse into the central elements of a Revels performance. website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:53:06 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/february_2009 It is mid-February, and as we move on from Valentine's Day and affairs of the heart, we turn next to affairs of the stomach, more specifically - pancakes. That's right. Call them batter cakes, crepes, flapjacks, griddle cakes, hotcakes, festy cocks, johnnycakes, or even tire patches, but pancakes hold a deep and ancient claim to the month of February. website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:44:06 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/february_2010 February is quickly slipping away, and so of course it's time to start thinking about the Christmas Revels. That’s right, we’ve already begun the work of planning our December 2010 Silver Anniversary performance. Everything from script development to hiring performers, budgeting and publicity planning starts now. And of course we have to choose the music, dances, and stories that will enliven the evening. Entwined as Revels is with folk traditions, you’d think we’d have a pretty good handle o… website:lore Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:58:34 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/january_2009 I am writing this in the immediate wake of the Presidential inauguration, and I struggled a bit to find the connection between the many vivid images of the day that fill my head and the kind of Revels elements that I usually write about in this column. Then it struck me that the connection had been hiding in plain sight. website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:05:32 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/january_2010 There’s something about January. Observing the start of the new year from the dark depths of winter seems to stir up a sense of resolve in the human soul. We’re inclined to take stock of our situation and ourselves, and see if we can’t do better on both counts. Our attention is fixed equally on sifting through the achievements and setbacks of the past year as well as plotting a future endowed with hope and optimism. But why January? website:lore Wed, 20 Jan 2010 19:39:11 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/july-august_2008 This is a column about July and August and I’ll get to that in just a moment. But first: one thing that can surely be said of Revels celebrations is that they are linked to the calendar. Well actually they are linked to cosmic events (solstices and such) which are the products of astrophysical events (axis inclination and such) which are described by the calendar (months and such) – in an approximate way. The New Year, for example, is said to begin on January 1st. That is just over a week fro… website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:38:31 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/july_-_august_2009 “Never appear onstage with animals or small children” is an old show business axiom. In Revels performances we ignore this dictum with great regularity, After all, Revels just wouldn’t be Revels without the inclusion of kids. We love to see them perform - all ages from rug rats through adolescents. Animals however, regardless of age, are a different matter. website:lore Fri, 04 Sep 2009 12:46:44 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/june_2008 You might see him peeking through the leaves of your neighbor’s garden; he is present in the odd corners of church architecture throughout Europe and especially in rural England; he lends his name to pubs and music festivals; his identity is deeply embedded in folklore and ballads; he is even prominently featured on this year’s California Revels lapel button. Who is he? This pervasive and enigmatic figure goes by the deceptively plain name: The Green Man. website:lore Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:20:31 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/june_2009 Last month we considered the Solstice from the point of view of some of the mythic traditions associated with it, but now its time we examined these pivotal celestial events in the cold hard light of science. So, pocket protectors on, protractors in hand, let us set out to explode some of the more common Solstice misconceptions. website:lore Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:59:25 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/march_2008 California Revels is growing. In recent months, the Board has signed both Robert Jackson Paton and Fred Goff to full year contracts. This means that including Executive Director Dirk Burns and myself, we now have an ongoing staff of four. Robert will be extending his work as Production Manager to cover a growing list of production activities including the May Day shows, the Solstice Gala and our street fair and festival performances. As staff Music Director, Fred will be sharing his talent a… website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:33:48 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/march_2009 I'd like you to meet a quartet of gentlemen, two of whom have long been involved with California Revels, and two of whom soon will be. Their names are Patrick, Wendell, Jacob and Wilhelm. Patrick and Wendell are Patrick Toebe and Wendell Brooks, both of whom have been invited to join the elite ranks of the California Revels Artistic Associates. This is a small group of creative artists (now 9 in number) whose contributions to the Revels community over the years have had a major impact on defini… website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:53:24 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/may_2008 In the world of academia, where I spend much of my non-Revels time, there are numerous standards for establishing the reliability of facts. The phrase quoted above is not usually one of them. Academic rigor requires verification from a variety of sources, such as publications, found artifacts and scientific analysis. Most of the traditions we celebrate in Revels suffer from a notable lack of this kind of documentation and instead are defined by traditional recollection. website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:15:32 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/may_2009 The legend was one that I first encountered in my student days back in the Midwest. It was circulated with great conviction among my peers and was embodied in a monumental sculpture: The Sun Singer. Here’s how the story went. The Illini were a tribe that inhabited the Sangamon River valley. It seems that each summer the tribal shamans would select a young man to ritually enact the solstice by making the sun rise. This was accomplished by everyone trouping out to a sacred clearing in the predaw… website:lore Fri, 22 May 2009 13:35:18 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/november_2008 Most revelers, when they tell friends about the Christmas Revels, include the moment when the stage goes almost dark, and men carrying deer antlers prance about the main floor. Of course they’re describing the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, a ritual moment that has become closely identified with our celebration of the Winter Solstice. The dance consists of a line of dancers in walking gait, weaving into repeated serpentine and facing figures, punctuated by light clashes of the hand-held antlers. … website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:46:04 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/november_2009 November is a good time to talk about food. It is a month in which our culture celebrates Thanksgiving - a day that despite some politically uncomfortable historical reference points, has become pretty much all about getting together for a good meal. As columnist Jon Carroll points out in his annual Thanksgiving piece, most holidays carry baggage of one sort or another that makes them problematic either culturally, morally or politically. It’s hard not to feel conflicted about the jingoism of t… website:lore Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:58:13 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/october_2008 [ ] Halloween is a celebration filled with ritual and custom, but I’m guessing that the legions of pumpkin carvers and costumed ghouls who populate the October 31st darkness have scant awareness of where it all comes from or what it all means. For instance the word “Halloween” is a contraction of “All Hallows’ Eve” - but the eve of what? And then of course, there’s the Irish connection to your pumpkin. Let’s take a quick look at some of the fascinating background to this festive day.… website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:47:39 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/october_2009 Think about a second - a tiny but familiar unit of time. You can arrive at the length of a second a couple of ways. One is reductive. Start with a big, pretty uniform and regular cosmic action, say the circling of the Earth around the Sun, and then start breaking it down. First by 365, then by 24, then by 60, and again by 60, and you have a piece of existence that is roughly 1/31557600 of a year. Modern science, with its ability to measure tiny things with a high degree of precision can do t… website:lore Wed, 28 Oct 2009 11:28:02 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/september_2008 [ ] This Mother Goose rhyme evokes an image of a youngster hopping along astride a simple stick with a horse’s head affixed to one end. Propelled by young legs in a galloping gait, and amended by youthful imagination, the traditional plaything, called a “cock horse” or “hobbyhorse”, is even today a common feature of childhood play. website:lore Wed, 29 Apr 2009 20:05:39 -0800 http://californiarevels.org/lore/september_2009 Tradition is an essential element of Revels. It certainly informs our performances and defines the very character of the organization. You’ll find it among our core values. An important way we connect with traditions is by bringing into our fold groups or individuals we refer to as “tradition bearers”. website:lore Wed, 23 Sep 2009 15:09:20 -0800