medieval dance

 

Crosston Dance Ball


January 29, 2011

St. Mark's Episcopal Church
1957 Pruneridge Ave.
Santa Clara, CA. 


 

  
 
Shire of Crosston (Santa Clara, CA)

Dancing and merriment are the cure for the short, cold days of winter, and you are cordially invited to the Crosston Dance Ball.  If you enjoy period dance to music by live musicians, good food, and fine costumes, then this is the event for you!  In the afternoon, there will be dance instruction led by our fabulous dance instructors, followed by a delicious potluck, finger food buffet of period dishes, coordinated by Gianetta da Bene.  The evening will be completed with several sets of dances to the fine playing of our wonderful live musicians.  Should there be any spiders about, there will be physickers on hand to prescribe dancing a ritual tarantella, if needed, for dancing is the surest cure for spider bites.

Site Information: Join us at

St. Mark's Episcopal Church
1957 Pruneridge Ave.
Santa Clara, CA. 

Site opens at 11:30 AM Dance
classes at noon, and at 5 PM the potluck starts. 

6 PM we will begin the ball, and the event ends at 10 PM. 

The Dance     Tarantella

Ever so often in Medieval and Renaissance Europe, dancing manias would
occur. Examples span back to the 11th century, and were relatively
common in the 14th to 17th centuries. In Italy, when someone was
bitten by a particularly poisonous local spider, dancing a rhythmic,
fast dance was thought to separate the poison from the body. It was
danced by people singly, but large numbers of people could join the
dancing. "Generally, musicians accompanied dancers, to help ward off
the mania, but this tactic sometimes backfired by encouraging more to
join in."[1] Others might start dancing in support of those that had
been bitten, or perhaps feeling that the music renewed the danger
posed by previous spider bites, and would dance to cure the poison.

[1] Dancing_mania
[2] Tarantella

 

Evening Ball:

There will be dancing in the evening with music provided by live
musicians, starting at 6PM.
The dance set list:
Set One Horses Bransel, Grimstock, Alta Regina, Old Mole, Contrapasso
Set Two Sung Pavan (choir), Sung Galliard (choir), Cuckolds all in a
Row, Stingo, Furioso all’Italiana
Intermezzo: Pinwheel to the Lorayne Alman
Set Three, the loud band set Bel Fiore, Amoroso, Petit Riense, Rostiboli Gioiso
Set Four Rufty-Tufty, Black Alman, Bizzaria d’Amore, Gathering
Peascods, Villanella, Jenny Pluck Pears

Dance Classes:

There will be a series of dance classes from noon to 5PM. No prior
dance experience is necessary - just a desire to have fun!
Noon-1pm 15th century Italian
1:15-2:15pm English Country Dance
2:30-3:30pm 16th century Italian
3:45-4:45pm Almans and more

 

The event is free for all, but donations will be gladly accepted at the door.

Autocrat: Isabel D Triana (isabel atsymbol aands period org)

Jocelyn of Rowenwood webminister@crosston.westkingdom.org



  

moose

photo by Jocelyn of Rowenwood

The Food      Pot Luck

For the ball this year, we'd like to have a buffet set up, where
dancers can get snacks that won't slow them down. In order to
alleviate any extra clean-up efforts for the autocrat, please don't
plan on doing any actual cooking at the event. We can use the kitchen
to warm up things, and crock pots are welcome. Make sure to bring your
own platter and serving utensil (spoon, fork, tongs, skewer,
toothpicks) if necessary, and plastic bags to take your dishes home
in. Please strive to provide period food - there are many things you
can pick up at a grocery store that need no or minimal prep. As
always, those with allergies and aversions will appreciate ingredient
lists that we can display near your dish. Note, there are several AA
meetings going on at a different area on the site. If you're bringing
something alcoholic, like beer or wine, please be sensitive and keep
it inside our room.

Please contact me at gianettadb at gmail dot com to let me know what
you're bringing or if you'd like a recipe suggestion so we don't end
up with a table full of bread & water.

Here are some things that you could bring that require little effort -

- Rotisserie chicken (cut into smaller pieces and arrange on plate so
   guests won't have to try to carve it themselves.)
- Small wheel of brie and a sliced baguette.
- Mini carrots - you can soak them in white wine vinegar and water
   for a day for a quick and delicious pickle.
- Apple slices.
- Orange slices
- Cheese tray with any of the following cheeses - appenzeller,
   brie, gouda, munster, parmesan, roquefort, wensleydale, gruyere,
   emmental. There are lots more if you're interested.
- Sliced or cubed meats or sausages
- Meatballs
- Pickles
- Candied fruit
- Almonds

(if you're on a special diet, or just because you want to, bringing your own personal picnic is always acceptable too.)

Directions

Take your best route to 880. Take the Stevens Creek exit
(which is just north of the intersection of 280 and 880). Proceed west
on Stevens Creek (you should pass the Valley Fair Mall on your
right). Turn right onto Winchester Blvd. Turn left onto Pruneridge,
and St. Mark's is about two blocks down.



  
MORE ON FOOD

If your SCA first name begins with
A-E, please bring a pie or pastry or pasty dish.
F- J, please bring a main dish
K-O, please bring a dessert. (see how I stuck desserts in the middle!)
P-T, a vegetarian dish or an appetizer
U-Y, sauces, condiments or beverages, breads
Z - anything you want!
(dispensations granted - email me)
If you need suggestions, I have plenty of recipes to share.
Please, no new world ingredients (chiles, tomatoes or any of those other
poisonous savage plants).
In order to save wear and tear on the autocrats, we will only be using the
kitchen to re-heat items. There are several microwaves and ovens, and
outlets for crockpots.
Please also note that the dancemasters have only allotted one hour for a
dinner break! (they're cruel and relentless!)
If you can, make things that are relatively neat and easy to eat. Food on
toothpicks or in pastry is especially good for this.
The site has several coffeemakers that can be used for hot water, if you
need some for hot beverages.
Weather permitting (but probably not if it's as cold then as it has been
lately) we'll set up some food and beverage stations outside, so people can
socialize without drowning out the dance teachers. (They hate that!)
While this is a "wet" site, please be gracious to our AA neighbors attending
meetings at the church all day. Let's keep the alcoholic drinks low
visibility in our hall or in mugs.
We can certainly share coffee, juice, tea, sekanjabin or water at outside
tables.


If you have any questions, need a suggestion for a dish (Badinjan Muhassa,
anyone?), want a dispensation to bring a different dish than your name
suggests, or would like to make my job easier by letting me know what you're
bringing, email me at gianettadb at gmail dot com. I'd love to hear from
you.
Please cross post this message to any lists or people who need to see it!
--
Gianetta

  
photo used with permission of Jocelyn of Rowenwood “All external links are not part of the Crosston web site. Inclusion of a page
or site here is neither implicit nor explicit endorsement of the site. Further, SCA,
Inc. is not responsible for content outside of Crosston Webpage.”		  
 
 



 

 

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