Persona again

Falcon's Gate was kind enough to invite me back for "Meeting your persona" on October 1. I didn't hear any snoring from the old-timers who heard most of the material last year. That was a good sign. Even better was a chance to chat with some new folks about using their college experience to begin forming a persona.
Think about an art history major who's thinking of an Italian persona turning herself into an apprentice or relative of Sofonisba Anguissola or Lavinia Fontana.
As usual, I suggested the A&S 50 Challenge as a resource.

Autumn Rose XV

The feast steward for Autumn Rose (Rokeclif's fall event) wanted to do a middle eastern feast, so we made the theme of the event "Pilgrimage to Jerusalem".

I put signs on 15 places at the fairgrounds that served as the site, indicating the medieval city where a shrine might be found for a particular saint. At each location there was a poster offering more elaboration about the saintly person or persons and a pilgrim "badge" -- actually a piece of paper with instructions for finding the next location.

People had a tough time with St Martin's cloak, which I hung on a rack with other garments in the merchants' hall. St Anthony's shrine was at the (empty) swine barns. Cologne Cathedral was represented by the place we usually have A&S displays. (The clue made reference to works of art in the treasury and the scientific work of Albertus Magnus.) The big 4-H sign on the building where St Patrick's shrine was located was ascribed to a math-impaired painter. The big green pole-barn that we used as a feasthall was described as the magnificent green wall of Jerusalem.

People who were new to the event found the hunt a good wat to see the whole site. Those who knew the site learned a lot about the heroes of the medieval period.

Aristotle again

I recycled the class that used Aristotle's Poetics as a foundation for persona development, and hence for improving the drama of SCA (see the April 13, 2009 post). I presented it to a couple dozen people at Warriors and Warlords, Northshield's "big event". I added some visuals using a flip chart. Projectors don't work as well as I'd like in a pavilion on a beautiful sunny afternoon.
Of course I plugged the Challenge -- especially the persona development track.

Now I know my A B G...

Have you ever wondered why our alphabet begins A B C, when almost everybody else begins theirs with A B G? (That includes Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, and others.) That was the question that inspired a class on the history of the alphabet for Bardic Madness in Border Downs (Sioux Falls SD) on June 20. The theme of this year's Bardic Madness was "Letters" so the class fit right in.

I presented a history of alphabets from way before period (Egyptian hieroglyphics and Sumerian cuneiform) to well past period, when I and J became separate letters. Period inventions included punctuation, printing, and the use of small and capital letters.

I'd been working on this class since November, doing little else. It was so interesting, and I learned a LOT. I'll tag some of the books I used "letters" in LibraryThing, so you can have a look if you want to know more. (I also hope to do this class again.)

Aristotle at Darkstone

I was asked to teach a class on persona at an event created to introduce and encourage the bardic arts in the Shire of Darkstone. I should mention that Northshield interprets the word "bardic" very loosely, including all performance arts, but particularly those that recall and bring to life "the Dream".
I used Aristotle's Poetics to structure the class. I thought this fitting, since our word "persona" was lifted directly from ancient Greek/Roman theatre. Aristotle lists six elements of present in any tragedy: plot, characters, diction, thought, spectacle, and melody. I suggested ways in which each of these elements could be used to enhance the drama that we create as we enact the drama of our modern middle ages.
Spectacle is the only part of the drama. Participants are required to wear garb, though we use other visual means to "dress the set" such as banners, tools, and the hiding of modernity. Diction includes the words we speak, both the subjects and the words themselves. (I warned of the dangers of immersing oneself in Norse poetics and then going to work.) Under the melody rubric I encouraged the use of medieval music, but allowed that even in period drama the time barrier was crossed. Plot is crucual for Aristotle. For us, plot might come up in a war scenario or a coronation, but our "action" tends to be the creation of A&S projects, and perhaps our learning a skill. Character is the soul of persona. I encouraged immersion in a particular time/place as similar to an academic major; as an opportunity to specialize. I also encouraged backstory as a way to round out a persona. Unfortunately, I ended up making my real-life persona, who actually does the work of sewing, spading and cooking, into the servant of my period persona, who has People to do that. That was a scary thought. Digging into character more deeply reveals thought, Aristotle's last category. I challenged folks to think as their persona; to interpret the world in medieval categories.
In short, I suggested that persona development was a way to enter into our medieval drama more fully, and to bring the drama alive for others.

Archery

Teaching opportunities come up in the most interesting places. My cousin has a couple sons who are in love with the Victorian notion of the middle ages. They want to take up archery, so my cousin invited me over for lunch and a fast tutorial on archery. I strung a couple bows and introduced her to the equipment. I learned that Siamese kittens are fascinated by bowstrings.
I suppose some might question why I would include marital arts in an A&S Challenge. I'd answer that I'm exploring the art of teaching. The subject of the teaching is less important than its means of presentation. At least that's my story and I'm stickin' with it.
After seeing my canvas quiver (made of scraps 10 years ago) she was inspired to make similar quivers for her kids -- with embroidery! Hmmm. I might have to think about that idea.

Teaching ballads

I didn't teach a class at Midrealm Bardic Madness, since I didn't want to commit to driving in Chicago in bad weather. (What a wimp!) Turns out the weather was great.
I did participate in the "Teaching ballads" challenge by writing a piece describing the signs of the zodiac and the labors of the months to the tune of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star", one of our best-known teaching songs. (It was an acrostic, spelling ASTROLOGICAL!)
I'm not expecting a call from the Pulitzers for it, but it was an interesting challenge.
Can I remember the zodiac in order now? Mmmm... nope. Sigh!
Thanks to Master Cerian and the Barony of Tree-Girt-Sea for a wonderful event.