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| A Short History of the Winter Solabration Traditional American Community Dance |
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A Short History of the Winter Solabration The Winter Solabration is a celebration of the Winter Solstice in music and dance. The dance consists of traditional American community dances -- contras, squares, and a few circle and couple dances -- all carefully taught and walked through so that all can participate. Guests also participate by bringing a potluck snack or dessert to share. At the beginning of the evening there is wassail and community singing for everyone, followed by the Solstice Sword Dancers (doing the English rapper sword dance), and a guest performing group (this year we've invited Canto do Galo for a performance of Brazilian Capoeira). Then there's storytelling, a puppet show, more dancing, a Grand March, and other special performances throughout the evening, which include a mummer's play, the Maroon Bells Morris Dancers, and a special surprise event. This will be our 18th annual solstice revelry. It all started with Karl Dise, 18 years ago. He said: "Let's have a big Christmas feast and party and dance." And that's what we did in 1986. The feast part was difficult. Everyone bought a color-coded ticket with a recipe printed on the back. They made that dish and brought it to the event. If you prepared the mushroom casserole, for instance, a volunteer heated it in a microwave, and then put it in a chaffing dish and served it, along with all the other (presumably identical) mushroom casseroles. The organizers bought enough Cornish game hens for everyone, then got volunteers to thaw, split, and cook them, and they were served with Sauce L'Orange. Yummy!! And a huge amount of work requiring an entire fleet of volunteers. And then the clean-up! Cleaning the chaffing dishes and silverware (you can't have plasticware at a feast!) and packing them all up for a volunteer to return to the rental company. Cleaning all the casserole dishes and getting them returned to the owners (volunteers labeling and washing). Etc, etc, (whew!), etc. Of
course there was entertainment, too. The Maroon Bells Morris Dancers
were in on this from the beginning. We also had a belly dancer, some
madrigal singers, and a mummer's play. And the Abbot's Bromley Horn
Dance and a surprise event. And we did it all again the next year.
It was great fun, but an enormous amount of work. It soon became apparent
that we needed to simplify things a bit. One of the most difficult
parts was simply finding enough volunteers to do all the tasks. So
the organizers (about 8 Things
have evolved and changed since then. We loved the feast, and felt
that it was an important part of the event, but it soon evolved into
a dessert or snack potluck. (Way easier!) The belly dancer and madrigal
singers worked well when everyone was sitting down at the feast, but
not so well when everyone was milling around the dessert-laden tables
snacking and talking. We added a storyteller and a juggler and a piñata
when we realized that we didn't have much for kids, and people wanted
their kids to be a part of the event, Just come Solabrate with us! A
Short History of the Winter Solabration What
is a Mummer's Play, Anyhow? The Rapper Sword
Dance Morris Dancing
"In
comes I, Old Father Christmas.
-- Chris Kermiet Here's a link to an interesting site that includes the texts of many mummer's plays: http://www.folkplay.info
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It Ain't Rap, It's Rapper! -- The Rapper Sword Dance Dat
sword dancer, he sure look dapper, That
flexible steel -- it can't be for stabbin' --
The rapper sword dance first arose in northern England in the towns along the river Tyne, and it was danced exclusively by miners, called pitmen. Why pitmen, and why only in this area? The answer may lie in the history of steel manufacturing in England. Although there is an older sword dance tradition using metal longswords, they are heavy and inflexible with a handle at only one end. The longsword dance is slower and less flashy, but the figures have some similarities to the rapper sword movements. The earliest reliable historical report of a rapper sword team is from Earsdon about 1800. There are also records of dancers at Winlaton from the early 1800's. There are some poorly documented reports of rapper sword dancing before 1800, but they may not be reliable. Most British iron ore contains phosphorus, which makes it unsuitable for manufacturing steel. Early steelmakers in the mid 1700's were importing Swedish iron to produce steel. It was made in small quantities and was too expensive to be easily purchased by the pitmen. Given these factors, and the scarcity of reliable records before 1800, most researchers conclude that the rapper sword dance probably evolved from an earlier longsword tradition in the late 1700's, and was centered around the works of the best and largest steelmaker in Britain: Crowley's on the Tyne river. The
dance itself consists of a series of very fast figures where the dancers,
and the swords, weave in and out of one another, often forming The rapper sword dance was introduced in America before World War I, and is often performed here by Morris dancers, or by other groups who specialize only in sword dancing. Here, as in England, the dances are traditionally performed around Christmas time. This year's Winter Solabration will feature a performance by the Solstice Sword Dancers. This team has been performing the rapper sword dance together for over six years.
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Morris
dancing (sometimes written as Morrice) is a centuries-old tradition
in England, though the roots of the dance form may be even older.
It is a very vigorous, noisy, rowdy style of dance, performed in groups
of 6-8 Because it was a ritual tradition, Morris dances were only taught to those individuals who had been accepted on the team (or side, as they say in England). Once on the team, a dancer might have to spend many years dancing on the "apprentice" side of the set before being allowed to dance on the "master" side. Until World War I, it was almost exclusively a male tradition. During World War I, women took it on themselves to keep the traditions going, and they have been dancing in large numbers ever since, sometimes on all-women teams and sometimes on mixed-gender teams. Morris
dancing as we know it today comes largely from the observations and
records made by folklorists who visited English villages in the Cotswald
region in the early years of the 20th century. In its current form,
it has |
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The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is the oldest surviving ritual dance in the northern hemisphere. The dance dates back at least to the early medieval period. The first written record of its performance is from the Barthelmy fair in 1226. Historians have suggested that it celebrates the purchase of hunting rights in Needwood Forest from the Abbot of Bromley, restoring previous Saxon privileges. It is performed every year on Wakes Monday in the village of Abbots Bromley, in the English Midlands. At 8:00 a.m. the horns are taken from the church, where they are kept during the year, and the dancers make their rounds, stopping at various locations throughout the village and its surrounding farms and pubs, a distance of about ten miles. After dancing all day, the horns are returned to the church in the evening.
Does the dance represent a ritual combat between the forces of light and darkness? Or does it reenact a stylized hunt? In primitive societies, the miming of a successful hunt is often used as 'sympathetic magic' to give power over real quarry. The famous wall paintings at Les Trois Frères, France, known as "The Sorcerer" show a naked man dancing in antlers and a deer mask. A carving found at Pin Hole Cave, Creswell Crags, Derbyshire, (known to have been used by Neolithic hunters) portrays a man in an animal headdress. Both suggest that pre-historic shaman used animal disguises in their rituals. According to the locals, the dance is supposed to bring good fortune to the people and fertility to the crops. In its slow and serpentine windings, is it stirring some ritual magic from a long-forgotten past? There is no way of knowing, and that is part of the enigma of the horn dance. Although traditionally performed on Wakes Monday, the dance was also performed on other special occasions. For over 400 years now, the leadership of the horn dance has remained in the Bentley family. Although generally performed only by the men, in the 2000 dance Robin Hood was played by a young girl. The mysterious tune generally associated with the dance was first written down in 1857. The Abbots Bromley Horn Dance is reenacted for us at the Winter Solabration by the Maroon Bells Morris Dancers. |
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Traditional American Community Dance
Beginning in the early 1950's there was a renewed interest in square dancing which evolved into the modern square dance movement, emphasizing difficult moves, elaborate costumes, dance clubs, etc. During this same time period, many of the traditional dances began to wane. In many communities, they died out, or were replaced by the club dances. Then, in the late 50's and early 60's, there was a huge revival of interest in folk music in America. Many young people especially, were learning to play acoustic instruments guitar, banjo, and fiddle. They were searching out the older musicians and learning from them. Folk Festivals and Bluegrass Festivals were springing up everywhere, along with jam sessions, sing alongs, and open stages. So what does a great fiddle tune make you want to do? Why, move your feet, of course. But the familiar rock'n'roll moves didn't seem just right. Pretty soon, many young people rediscovered the traditional dances. The New England contra dance was the greatest beneficiary of this renewed interest in folk music. In New England there were still many active community dances, and there were many young musicians interested in learning these traditional tunes. Soon young dancers and musicians became regulars at the local dances across New England. When young people who had learned these dances moved to a new community where there wasn't a dance, they started one. If there was a dance, they joined in. Soon the traditional square dances started incorporating more contras into their programs. By the early 1980's, there was a live music dance in just about every large or medium-sized city in America. And in many smaller ones. This represented a great revival for the traditional dances, but these dances were changing, too. In many cases, particularly where a new dance was started from scratch, they danced mostly contras. There were two reasons for this: First was the growing popularity of the New England contras. Secondly was the demand for new callers. When a group of dancers wanted to start a dance in a new community, they first had to find musicians. Then a sufficient number of dancers. And then a caller. Frequently the caller was one of the dancers who had learned to call a dance or two. Or one of the musicians, who wanted to make the dance succeed so that there would be an opportunity to play all these wonderful tunes for an appreciative audience. Since contra dances are much easier to learn to call than squares, these new callers started with contras. Most of the contemporary American community dances now feature more contras than squares. These traditional dances have been tenacious in their need for live music. That's simply part of the excitement of the event! It's homemade, it's traditional, it's low tech, it's interactive the dancers and the musicians together making it happen. In a high tech society, it's refreshingly old-fashioned. I think this is part of the appeal to the current generation of dancers. Chris Kermiet A
Short History of the Winter Solabration What
is a Mummer's Play, Anyhow? The Rapper Sword Dance
Morris Dancing Schedule of Events 5:50 p.m. Doors Open 6:10 p.m. Christmas & Solstice Carols with Cara McMillan 6:45 p.m. Crowning of the Winter Solstice King or Queen 6:55 p.m. Cirque du Awesome Jugglers Lancashire Clog Dance 7:35 p.m. Procession upstairs to the Theater for the Storyteller 7:45 p.m. Upstairs: Storyteller Susan Marie Frontzcak 8:10 p.m. Grand March led by Pipes & Drums, followed by 9:05 p.m. The Solstice Sword Dancers 9:10 p.m. Mummers' Play 9:35 p.m. Traditional American Community Dances for all 10:40 p.m. Maroon Bells Morris Dancers 11:00 p.m. More Community Dances for all 11:50 p.m. Abbots Bromley Horn Dance Please: No flash cameras during the Abbots Bromley ======= A
Short History of the Winter Solabration What
is a Mummer's Play, Anyhow? The Rapper Sword Dance
Morris Dancing
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Who
are these characters? Why are they doing this? What does it all mean?
Mummer's plays originated in England, and were generally performed during
the winter months, often around the time of the Winter Solstice. The
first plays we have any record of were written down in the 1700's, but
they were certainly performed before then. In fact, the lines are usually
in rhyming couplets as a memory aid, and existed in an oral tradition
harkening back to an earlier Celtic pre-history. All mummer's plays
have one theme in common: death and resurrection -- the death of the
old year and the rebirth of the new. The dying and reawakening of the
earth, the triumph of light over darkness, of summer over winter. 
"Rapper"
may be a mutation of the word "rapier", or perhaps it comes
from "scrapper". Although the history of the rapper sword
dance is a little murky, it's clear that the swords were designed especially
for dancing, and served no other purpose. They are constructed of flexible
spring steel, with a fixed handle at one end, and a handle that's free
to rotate in the hand of the dancer on the other. 
"tangles"
of swords, which are then untangled by the dancers, who conclude each
figure by forming a "nut" or lock of swords, as in the illustration.
dancers, who wear bells on their legs and clash sticks or wave hankies.
Many dances include special leaps and jumps called capers. Morris
is considered a ritual dance tradition, rather than a social dance
tradition. As with many rural ritual traditions throughout the world,
the goal of Morris dancing was probably to bring fertility to the
land, the animals, and the people. The dances were done in the springtime
and at other special holidays, and the noise of the bells and sticks
was thought to wake up the Earth. Sweeping movements with the hankies
may have been an effort to chase away evil spirits. High jumps may
have been intended to encourage the crops to grow higher. Even the
costumes bedecked with ribbons and flowers suggest springtime and
fertility.
The
Horn Dance team consists of six Deer-men, a Fool, a Hobby Horse, Maid
Marion (a man dressed as a woman), a Bowman (Robin Hood or Boy Cupid),
and two musicians. The horns are a mystery. They are large reindeer
horns mounted on wooden effigies of stags' heads, with the largest pair
weighing about 25 pounds. Chemical dating places them at around 1000
years old. Since there are no records of reindeer living in Britain
since Neolithic times, there is speculation that these may have been
imported especially for the dance. Three of them are painted black,
and three brown. Once they were red and white, said to represent the
battle between winter and spring, darkness and light. 
Traditional
community dances have been part of our American culture for over two
centuries. Although they've waxed and waned over the years, they have
always been with us. They are the traditional contras, squares, reels,
and circle dances which your grandparents, and their grandparents, enjoyed.
They've been kept alive in Grange halls and church basements, in school
gyms and ballrooms, often just below the cultural radar of our news
media. They were community events, where young and old, couples and
singles, could come and participate. There were no lessons required,
or fancy costumes. All the dances were walked through so that all who
wanted to could join in. There was a band and a caller, and maybe a
potluck ahead of time.