As previously mentioned, Red Dragon is one of my favorite yearly
events. It takes place in the Marche of Tirnewydd in Columbus, Ohio
which is just over two hours south of my home in the Cleftlands. The
event site is gorgeous, the weather is wildly unpredictable, and the
food is amazing. (The people are pretty awesome, too!) This year had the
extra added bonus of being Midrealm coronation for Their Royal
Majesties Cellach and Vukasin.
When these stars aligned, Ginevra and I quickly sent in our early
registration for the event, only later to learn that our four would be
two due to last minute conflicts that prevented our respective Lords
from attending. Undeterred, we planned for a 6:00 AM (!) departure on
Saturday to the event with a brief stop to pick up an item for a field
court, then a stop at Waffle House where bumped into two of our Furies
Keep sisters. What are the odds of that?
We arrived on site with 30 minutes to spare prior to court, so we
quickly dressed and made our way in to watch the coronation, which was
fantastic. Afterwards, we checked in, then caught up with our beloved
Patron and other Sisters. Around noon, we tried to make our way to a
honeycomb pleatwork class taught by Genoveva von Lubeck of
German Renaissance
fame, but the class was already packed. (We will, of course, still DO
said honeycomb pleatwork, but on our own time.) Undeterred by our
failure, we proceeded to look at the A&S displays and then prepare
for the 2:00 dance class.
Ginevra was asked to teach the dance this year, Caroso’s
La Castellana*.
The odds were definitely not in her favor, to borrow the near-reference
from The Hunger Games. The lodge was packed with four other classes, it
was humid and hot, and there were well over twenty students of varying
degrees of expertise in attendance. Master Philip White summarized the
entire class best:
Her circumstances were dire! It was humid. And hot. The
room was crowded. Four other classes were going on and good was being
served. It was loud. I could barely gather the energy to stay in the
same room! But she was cool and calm. Soothing for the 25 or so students
she ended up with who were of varying skill and experience. She was
bright and helpful! Tentative and well paced! And somehow had boundless
energy! Her students clearly had a great time and learned a lovely
dance. Well done!
And all the while wearing our court clothes (see also: layers!
intense heat!) I give Ginevra credit a thousand times over as it is
deserved. I partnered with the lovely Sally of Red Spears at the far end
of the hall and we had a grand time dancing for the hour of the class.
During the half hour break before the competition, I continued to DJ the
music for anyone who wished to practice, and practiced with anyone who
wished to dance. Emine (bint Istani) was a pleasure to partner with,
too!
Around 3:30, His Majesty Cellach, Her Majesty Vukasin, and His
Majesty Trimaris Yoan arrived to proceed over the competition. Sally and
I danced in the first group of performers and did well, then we were up
again in different arrangement for the third run-through. Each group of
five or so couples and performed twice, on the second positions were
switched for faced the presence. The panel of judges conferred, then let
us all know that the winner(s) would be announced during evening court.
Fast forward to evening court (see authors note below) where TRM
called forth all the children, gave praise/thanks, then asked the
parents if they would be allowed to go out and play with Gebhard Rauten,
squire to the King and Deputy Kingdom Youth Minister, because court
would be lengthy. I’m not sure if it was a precedent, but it was
definitely a first for me to see. Classy!
Court ran through the usual paces, and when it was time for the dance
competition winners to be announced, I was surprised to hear that Sally
and I had been chosen. Yay, us! And I’m excited for next year’s
challenge!
After court, we proceeded to the feast hall to have, quite possibly,
one of the most amazing feasts I have ever been privy to, stewarded by
my old friend Malachai and Team Anubis. Course after course of
tantalizing dishes made it near impossible to pace ones self until the
end. We closed out the night with a grand ball and live musicians.
A picture-perfect end to a picture-perfect event.
 |
A family photo: Colette, Luther, Felice, Ginevra, Crespine,
Philip, Genoveva, Gianna, Zsof, and Elizabethe. |
*
La Castellana is one of my/our favorite dances. After a
dance bender, feeling particularly distraught with our lack of Italian
step knowledge, we tasked ourselves with learning not only the dance,
but the terminology. It has become one of our signature demonstration
pieces.
- Renaissance Dance Database: La Castellana
- YouTube: La Castellana [Credit:
Etienne de Clermont and Adele Desfontaines dancing Caroso’s 1581 dance,
La Castellana. Filmed at Musician’s Day, Grey Gargoyles (University of
Chicago), October 2003.]
Authors Note: I wish I had summarized the event within less than
30 days of the event. The epic tale has been slowly fading out of memory
as time progresses. Such is life! (This post is slightly back-dated to
make things flow a little better than my writers block allows for.)
