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Summary:
At the April 14th Ballard Art Walk, we presented a myth about the coming of Summer and the death of the Winter King, from Teutonic mythology. 'Sommerwecken' means 'Summer Awakens'.
Principle:
Jacob Grimm's thirteenth century poetry tells the tale of Winter's death and Summer's rise to glory each year:
Trarira! der Sommer der ist da;
wir wollen hinaus in garten
und wollen des Sommers warten (attend).
wir wollen hinter die hecken (behind the hedges)
und wollen den Sommer wecken (wake).
der Winter hats verloren (has lost),
der Winter liegt gefangen (lies a prisoner);
und wer nicht dazu kommt (who won't agree),
den schlagen wir mit stangen (we'll beat with staves).
According to Teutonic legend, the tribes would enact a battle between Summer and Winter each year, to encourage the coming of warmth and the melting of the winter frost.
Technical:
For this production, a small park in the Ballard neighborhood of Seattle was transformed into a rocky cliff. Ostara, the maiden of spring, stood atop the 8' tower, backlit by a propane sun. The muses of winter sat at her feet, and performed a dance of the melting snows with fire fingers.
The Winter King and Summer King engaged one another in battle with flaming swords, and the piece ended with the Summer King displaying a unique hand-held flame projector.
Aesthetic:
This piece was one of our most eclectic performances to date. With musical accompaniment ranging from african drumming to German operatics, and dance styles ranging from stage combat to tribal fusion bellydance, we provided an interesting spectacle for our audiences that evening.
The Winter King and Summer King were clad in appropriately-colored blue and orange robes, with the winter muses in stark white. The bellydancers of spring entered showering the audience with flower petals, and wore floral prints from head to toe.
Our towering rocky cliff was painted by fine artist Laurel Cain (mailto laurelcain@hotmail.com).
Retrospective:
This production was one of our most fun to date. All the dancers and musicians enjoyed the celebration of the changing season, and our audiences seemed very appreciative.
Images
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