[Darkwood-SCA] [Fwd: [SCA-Xton] Demo at Stanford: Evening of Renaissance dance Feb. 9]

[John Rossignol]

Hi, guys.  Crosston is putting on an SCA big dance demo at Stanford 
University on February 9 (the second Saturday from now).  Isabel 
d'Triana, who is coordinating this demo, asked me to forward this 
announcement to some other lists where people might be interested.  This 
is an important opportunity to introduce new people -- of actual 
membership age, not just kids -- to the SCA.  We would love to have as 
many dancers, musicians, and just folk in pretty garb as we can get.  No 
fighting at this one, but it's a chance for you male fighters to help me 
impress the outside world with just how great we men can look in 
dresses.  (Come on you guys, I may need help with this one.)  ;-)

I know Darkwood folks love to dance, and I can testify first-hand that 
you are all wonderful advertisements for the SCA.  Please join us if you 
can.  It should be a lot of fun.

The details are below.  Please feel free to post this announcement to 
other lists.

-John


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[SCA-Xton] Demo at Stanford: Evening of Renaissance dance Feb. 9
Date: 	Sat, 19 Jan 2008 12:43:35 -0800
From: 	Carey Cates <isabel at aands.org>
Reply-To: 	SCA-Xton at yahoogroups.com
To: 	SCA-Xton at yahoogroups.com



Hello everyone,
	Several people have been asking me about the details for the
demo Crosston is holding at Stanford that I agreed to organize, so
here they are:
	The idea came up at a Crosston meeting that we would like to
reach out to the Stanford community, but as we don't already have a
student group there, the avenues to us are more limited.  So, we
devised a plan to offer to co-host an event of interest to Stanford
students with a Stanford organization - we offer free entertainment
and education and we get easy access to Stanford facilities for free.
So, we will be co-hosting the evening of dance with Stanford's Bechtel
International Center.
	The event will essentially be a dance ball, not unlike the
kind at Twelfth Night or the Crosston Ball, but with each dance taught
and then danced.  We'll have live music, and several people splitting
up the teaching, so that there's not too much work for anyone and
everyone gets to play too.  I've asked Naja, the lady I've been
working with at the Bechtel Center if it would be okay for us to give
a couple spiels on the SCA during the evening, and she said that'd be
fine.  (She's been extremely helpful and accommodating.  She's even
arranging some on-campus advertising and water and light snacks!)  I
would like to have an introduction to who we are, and that we have
ongoing dance practices, but that we also do lots of other stuff
beyond dance.  This is advertised as an evening of dance, though, so I
do not plan to actively demonstrate other activities (aside from
music, and of course all the costuming...)

Details for the event:
Day:	Saturday, February 9
Time:	Set-up at 6:30pm, start dance at 7:30, end by 10:30
Where:	Bechtel International Center on Stanford's campus, near the Faculty 
Club.  We'll be in their largest room, with wood floors and such.
Directions: http://www.stanford.edu/dept/icenter/festival/directions.html
Attire:	Please wear garb if possible.
Activity:  Lots of dancing, to live music, and sharing the fun with others

What I could use help with:

- Dancers - the more the merrier, and the more people we have, the
more experience people we can have in each set, making it easier for
the new people to pick up the dances and have fun.

- Music - I could use a few more musicians - dances will be from the
list done at Crosston Ball so you likely already will have music for
them all.

- Dance teachers - experienced dance teachers preferred, as we may
have some people with limited verbal English skills, so more than one
teaching mode would be good

- Decorations - the room has a great wood floor, but isn't too
inspiring aesthetically.  I would like to get some banners to hang
over the modern maps on the walls, which will also add color to the
room.  A couple tablecloths and pretty serving plates/bowls would also
be good for the table(s) on which the Bechtel Center will be providing
water, lemonade, and munchies (I suggested nuts and dried fruits,
being simple to find and period-appropriate.)

- Setup / cleanup - I don't expect that we'll need to do much for
this, but as I'm on doctor's orders post-surgery to not lift anything
heavier than 1/2 pound, I can't just go do this myself as I'd
originally planned.  A couple people to help out would be good.

- Fliers - I'd like to get information to people about what the SCA
is, what activities go on locally on a regular basis, how to contact
us, and how to join in.  I would definitely want to include Westermark
activities as well as Crosston, as both groups are nearby to
Stanford. I'd also like to have fliers and/or an email list sign up
sheet for the local dance practices.

- Person(s) to introduce and advertise the SCA to the group - I could
do that, but I know my voice doesn't carry well in large rooms, so
someone louder than me would be good.

- Advertising - I am behind in what I had wanted to accomplish here
due to not being able to do much email post-eye-surgery.  I'd love to
hear ideas on how to reach out to more of the mainstream Stanford
community (the Bechtel International Center will largely reach the
international student community) and to the dance community outside of
Stanford (waltz, ballroom, swing, other historical eras, etc.)

If anyone has ideas of things they think would add to the Evening of
Renaissance Dance to make it more fun or more accessible to people,
please let me know.  I have run a number of demos elsewhere, but I
certainly don't have any monopoly on good ideas!

Mostly, I invite you all to come join us, even if you just want to
come dance.  I think it will be a fun time for everyone, and the more
the merrier!  If anyone has questions, please call me (preferred for
now) or email me (I can't do too much email stuff yet as I recover but
I will check it once a week as I am able.)

Isabel