Advent Calendar, Dec 4. Lord Of The Dance
Did Anybody Ever Attend The Christmas Revels?
I have a lot of trapped grief about my father, and the tears welled up when I watched this short clip below, because we went to the Revels together in NY once. Maybe around 2002. He loved this song so much. I had forgotten how we went leaping about with the revelers, how joyous and fun it was. It was also the night I discovered The Karelian Folk Music Ensemble, which changed my life.
Years ago, Jack and our pigeons, in NYC, they almost seemed to be dancing to the song. I miss Jack.
I miss everybody.
Thank you for these videos. The last one of the musicians playing their music onstage jarred me when the camera panned to the audience: such vital, dynamic, contagious music is obviously meant to be danced to, not watched. I adore theatres and especially beautiful ones like this, but isn't it interesting how we "evolved" from the anarchy and joyous abandon of public festivals in town squares to staid rows and assigned seating where we became well-behaved spectators?
I was in the Washington Christmas Revels in its first years, as a Morris and sword dancer. I had the pleasure of being one of the duo of Morris dancers who did the Lord of the Dance in those years (once with Jack Langstaff), and later as an accordionist, using that tune as the lead-off tune in a powerful medley we used for contra dances.