Festival of the Rose
Aug. 22nd, 2016 12:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
storytimewithjoeI will admit, I have not been to a Festival of the Rose in quite a few years. Why? Because, to be perfectly honest, I just have not enjoyed them. Yes, I love historical dance and other types of historical performance. Yes, I love arts displays. But in the past, this event just hasn’t done it for me. Why? Because truthfully, I just wasn’t seeing quality. Most (and sometimes all) of the performances were not at all based on history, and the arts displays were, to be honest, pretty poor. And when it comes down to travel, time, and money; I really could never justify going.
HOWEVER, this weekend changed my view of this event. And for that, I am grateful not only to the staff who ran the event, but all of the wonderful artists who made it happen!
Arriving with Adelheit mid-morning (which I LOVE being able to do nowadays!), I gotta admit I was immediately swept up in things. Between court activities, scheduling, classes, some on-site to do’s, art displays, and conversations; the event turned into a surprisingly BUSY AS HECK event for me. I enjoyed seeing people, but on more than one occasion, I found myself feeling a sense of unexpected crush. (I was kind of expecting and counting on fading a bit into the background now that I’m no longer a landed noble.) Apparently, that isn’t quite the case. Hmmmm…
The most emotional part of the day was, of course, the dance performance that Caterucia and I performed. Why emotional? Because I choreographed the dance years ago to the wonderful music of Owen Phyfe and the New World Renaissance Band. I had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with the uber-talented lead singer well over 20 years ago, and still feel the sting of his passing a few years back. I haven’t been able to perform that dance in front of an audience since his passing, and the time just finally felt right. As much as I really, really, really tried to hold it together as I gave my background story of the dance, I just couldn’t. I broke down and cried a few times. It’s funny – you run into some people in the SCA only on rare occasions – maybe once or twice a year, if that in some cases, at events far, far away. Yet, in those few moments, sometimes you can attach such a strong bond that you become a kindred spirit. Without thinking about it, I guess that I how I feel… felt… still feel… about Owen. I am not even the least bit musical – but I can dance. And in my mind, the music just flowed so easily from him that it made dance easier for me. He was such an inspiration and a muse. THANK THE GODS that he recorded so much music as a gift to the world! It is a small consolation for his loss, but at least his voice will go on, and will hopefully continue to inspire more and more as time goes on.
Dear Owen, thank you for being such a wonderful muse and for inspiring me to be better. You will always be missed.
HOWEVER, this weekend changed my view of this event. And for that, I am grateful not only to the staff who ran the event, but all of the wonderful artists who made it happen!
Arriving with Adelheit mid-morning (which I LOVE being able to do nowadays!), I gotta admit I was immediately swept up in things. Between court activities, scheduling, classes, some on-site to do’s, art displays, and conversations; the event turned into a surprisingly BUSY AS HECK event for me. I enjoyed seeing people, but on more than one occasion, I found myself feeling a sense of unexpected crush. (I was kind of expecting and counting on fading a bit into the background now that I’m no longer a landed noble.) Apparently, that isn’t quite the case. Hmmmm…
The most emotional part of the day was, of course, the dance performance that Caterucia and I performed. Why emotional? Because I choreographed the dance years ago to the wonderful music of Owen Phyfe and the New World Renaissance Band. I had the pleasure of meeting and becoming friends with the uber-talented lead singer well over 20 years ago, and still feel the sting of his passing a few years back. I haven’t been able to perform that dance in front of an audience since his passing, and the time just finally felt right. As much as I really, really, really tried to hold it together as I gave my background story of the dance, I just couldn’t. I broke down and cried a few times. It’s funny – you run into some people in the SCA only on rare occasions – maybe once or twice a year, if that in some cases, at events far, far away. Yet, in those few moments, sometimes you can attach such a strong bond that you become a kindred spirit. Without thinking about it, I guess that I how I feel… felt… still feel… about Owen. I am not even the least bit musical – but I can dance. And in my mind, the music just flowed so easily from him that it made dance easier for me. He was such an inspiration and a muse. THANK THE GODS that he recorded so much music as a gift to the world! It is a small consolation for his loss, but at least his voice will go on, and will hopefully continue to inspire more and more as time goes on.
Dear Owen, thank you for being such a wonderful muse and for inspiring me to be better. You will always be missed.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2016-08-24 03:44 am (UTC)