Music from the mists of time
I know nearly everyone mentioned in this article:
Oakland keeps Abbots Bromley Horn Dance alive (Why it is in the business section I have no idea)
I wish I could have been there!
Holding antlers aloft in the midday sun, about 120 dancers and a larger semicircle of onlookers gathered in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park on Monday for an odd hunting ritual that entered historical record in medieval England - and still finds followers today in Northern California, lo these many years later.
It was called the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
Organized by the California Revels, a nonprofit performing arts group in Oakland, Monday's event assembled an eclectic group of dancers, musicians and fans of old English tradition who frolicked in an open meadow while onlookers enjoyed the shade of the surrounding trees.
History records the first rendition of the Horn Dance in 1226 near the town of Abbots Bromley, which still keeps alive a tradition thought to have its roots in pagan hunting rituals.
Pre-Christian aura
Berkeley residents Diane and George Hersh recalled when they first saw the Horn Dance - it was 20 years ago at a folk retreat in the Mendocino Redwoods. Ten men holding antlers performed the ritual to a solo violin.
"It was like they materialized for us and then vanished. It was perfect," George Hersh said.
"It touches something very deep and spiritual," Diane added. "But not Christian," George interjected. "Pre-Christian, his wife agreed.
Revelers with antlers lined up in pairs Monday afternoon to learn or practice the dance as more than a dozen musicians sawed fiddles, beat drums, fingered flutes or pumped accordions.
The basic Horn Dance involves advancing on a partner to click antlers several times, in step with the music.
After some rehearsal, the dancers formed a procession, marching out of the glade and through the woods to reassemble in the clearing and end as they had begun, lining up opposite their original partners to repeat the tapping of the horns.
Monday's dancers included Felicity Stewart, a biochemist from England who hails from Oxfordshire, about 100 miles from Abbots Bromley.
"I grew up in a town where everybody speaks exactly like a hobbit," Stewart said.
'A spiritual marathon'
Carl Zwanzig, a quality assurance professional on the eve of his 50th birthday, said taking part in traditional dances was part of his exercise routine. "We do it because it's fun," he said.
After an hour of cavorting under the hot sun, Lise Dyckman, a folk dancer for more than 30 years, doused her head under a water fountain.
"I feel as if I've been through a spiritual marathon," she said.
Seated in the shade with a four-stringed mountain dulcimer on her lap, D.J. Hamouris said there were quite a few pagans among the celebrants, identifying herself as a believer in a spirit life for objects and creatures in nature.
"We're part of all this," she said, waving one hand, "and we take ourselves away from it for what we call normal life."
With his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, ages 3 and 16 months, Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski roamed the glade on a busman's holiday. A professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, Joslyn-Siemiatkoski teaches and studies the premedieval roots of Christianity.
"Christianity adapted to whatever traditions surrounded it," he said.
E-mail Tom Abate at tabate@sfchronicle.com.
Earlier article about the event.
Oh, deer!
That's likely to be the reaction from hikers and picnickers in the Oakland hills Monday when they stumble across a herd of more than 100 humans trotting through the redwoods in deer antlers.
No, the horned hordes have not become unhinged. They will be participating in the largest performance of the 1,100-year-old Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, an Old English pagan ritual that's rarely seen outside the central England village of Abbots Bromley.
"This is a very ancient, very rich tradition," said Ethan Hay, one of the leaders of Monday's performance. "This dance is a mystery, and in order to keep the mystery alive, we need to get people to don antlers and get out there dancing and hope we don't impale each other."
Ordinarily, the Horn Dance is performed once a year, in early September, by 12 male dancers in Abbots Bromley, a historic town in Staffordshire, England, that got its start in the 10th century. The dancers snake about 10 miles through town performing a simple line dance to a lilting melody played on drums and whistles.
Occasionally they stop to clash antlers, and they have a tendency, when the opportunity presents itself, to stop to rehydrate at local pubs.
Dressing up
In a tradition that predates Robin Hood and King Arthur, some are dressed as deer while others dress as Maid Marian, bowmen, fools and hobbyhorses.
The dancers wear the same antlers worn by their ancestors, 75-pound reindeer racks stored in the town's medieval church, St. Nicholas. The antlers have been carbon-dated to the year 900.
The dance is so old that no one is sure of its origin, although it probably has something to do with hunting deer, Hay said. Several American Indian tribes have similar rituals, such as buffalo dances, all related to the mystique of stalking game.
In Oakland, the ritual is more about having fun than slaying wild animals. It's also a bit more democratic. Everyone is invited to join, regardless of gender, age, Anglo-Saxon lineage or ownership of reindeer antlers.
"I'd love to see a whole bunch of people show up," said Marc Newell of El Cerrito, a dancer with the California Revels performance group, which is organizing the event. "We don't have many traditions anymore, and this is a way of passing tradition along."
The high chiefs of Abbots Bromley reacted charitably to news of the Oakland undertaking.
Sincere flattery
"It won't be the same as ours as it is not linked to Abbots Bromley, but hopefully they have as much fun with their version as we do here," the Rev. Simon Davis, vicar of St. Nicholas Church, told the local newspaper. "Imitation is a very sincere form of flattery."
The California Revels dancers, meanwhile, are thrilled at the chance to bring the ancient, mystical ritual to the people.
"The wonderful thing about this dance is that we only touch when the antlers clash, but you feel this magical connection," said Ric Goldman of Palo Alto. "It's incredibly simple but incredibly powerful."
The dance's simplicity and repetition leaves participants with an almost trancelike serenity, some dancers said.
"I've seen it a hundred times, but to perform it is just magical. I just felt this power," said Nancy Weston of San Francisco. "I feel very lucky to have this opportunity."
Public participation
The California Revels perform the Horn Dance twice a year, at the organization's Christmas show in Oakland and on the winter solstice in Muir Woods. But this will be the first time the public can don antlers and join in.
"We like to honor ancient celebrations and bring them to life," said Revels director David Parr. "This is going to be a gas."
Join the dance
The public can join California Revels dancers in what is believed to be the world's largest performance of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance at 1 p.m. Monday in Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.
Participants should bring their own food and beverages. Picnicking and dance demonstrations will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For information, go to californiarevels.org/bromeliad.
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
Both articles have some nice pictures.
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/193026.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.
Oakland keeps Abbots Bromley Horn Dance alive (Why it is in the business section I have no idea)
I wish I could have been there!
Holding antlers aloft in the midday sun, about 120 dancers and a larger semicircle of onlookers gathered in Oakland's Joaquin Miller Park on Monday for an odd hunting ritual that entered historical record in medieval England - and still finds followers today in Northern California, lo these many years later.
It was called the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance.
Organized by the California Revels, a nonprofit performing arts group in Oakland, Monday's event assembled an eclectic group of dancers, musicians and fans of old English tradition who frolicked in an open meadow while onlookers enjoyed the shade of the surrounding trees.
History records the first rendition of the Horn Dance in 1226 near the town of Abbots Bromley, which still keeps alive a tradition thought to have its roots in pagan hunting rituals.
Pre-Christian aura
Berkeley residents Diane and George Hersh recalled when they first saw the Horn Dance - it was 20 years ago at a folk retreat in the Mendocino Redwoods. Ten men holding antlers performed the ritual to a solo violin.
"It was like they materialized for us and then vanished. It was perfect," George Hersh said.
"It touches something very deep and spiritual," Diane added. "But not Christian," George interjected. "Pre-Christian, his wife agreed.
Revelers with antlers lined up in pairs Monday afternoon to learn or practice the dance as more than a dozen musicians sawed fiddles, beat drums, fingered flutes or pumped accordions.
The basic Horn Dance involves advancing on a partner to click antlers several times, in step with the music.
After some rehearsal, the dancers formed a procession, marching out of the glade and through the woods to reassemble in the clearing and end as they had begun, lining up opposite their original partners to repeat the tapping of the horns.
Monday's dancers included Felicity Stewart, a biochemist from England who hails from Oxfordshire, about 100 miles from Abbots Bromley.
"I grew up in a town where everybody speaks exactly like a hobbit," Stewart said.
'A spiritual marathon'
Carl Zwanzig, a quality assurance professional on the eve of his 50th birthday, said taking part in traditional dances was part of his exercise routine. "We do it because it's fun," he said.
After an hour of cavorting under the hot sun, Lise Dyckman, a folk dancer for more than 30 years, doused her head under a water fountain.
"I feel as if I've been through a spiritual marathon," she said.
Seated in the shade with a four-stringed mountain dulcimer on her lap, D.J. Hamouris said there were quite a few pagans among the celebrants, identifying herself as a believer in a spirit life for objects and creatures in nature.
"We're part of all this," she said, waving one hand, "and we take ourselves away from it for what we call normal life."
With his wife, Jennifer, and their two children, ages 3 and 16 months, Dan Joslyn-Siemiatkoski roamed the glade on a busman's holiday. A professor at the Church Divinity School of the Pacific in Berkeley, Joslyn-Siemiatkoski teaches and studies the premedieval roots of Christianity.
"Christianity adapted to whatever traditions surrounded it," he said.
E-mail Tom Abate at tabate@sfchronicle.com.
Earlier article about the event.
Oh, deer!
That's likely to be the reaction from hikers and picnickers in the Oakland hills Monday when they stumble across a herd of more than 100 humans trotting through the redwoods in deer antlers.
No, the horned hordes have not become unhinged. They will be participating in the largest performance of the 1,100-year-old Abbots Bromley Horn Dance, an Old English pagan ritual that's rarely seen outside the central England village of Abbots Bromley.
"This is a very ancient, very rich tradition," said Ethan Hay, one of the leaders of Monday's performance. "This dance is a mystery, and in order to keep the mystery alive, we need to get people to don antlers and get out there dancing and hope we don't impale each other."
Ordinarily, the Horn Dance is performed once a year, in early September, by 12 male dancers in Abbots Bromley, a historic town in Staffordshire, England, that got its start in the 10th century. The dancers snake about 10 miles through town performing a simple line dance to a lilting melody played on drums and whistles.
Occasionally they stop to clash antlers, and they have a tendency, when the opportunity presents itself, to stop to rehydrate at local pubs.
Dressing up
In a tradition that predates Robin Hood and King Arthur, some are dressed as deer while others dress as Maid Marian, bowmen, fools and hobbyhorses.
The dancers wear the same antlers worn by their ancestors, 75-pound reindeer racks stored in the town's medieval church, St. Nicholas. The antlers have been carbon-dated to the year 900.
The dance is so old that no one is sure of its origin, although it probably has something to do with hunting deer, Hay said. Several American Indian tribes have similar rituals, such as buffalo dances, all related to the mystique of stalking game.
In Oakland, the ritual is more about having fun than slaying wild animals. It's also a bit more democratic. Everyone is invited to join, regardless of gender, age, Anglo-Saxon lineage or ownership of reindeer antlers.
"I'd love to see a whole bunch of people show up," said Marc Newell of El Cerrito, a dancer with the California Revels performance group, which is organizing the event. "We don't have many traditions anymore, and this is a way of passing tradition along."
The high chiefs of Abbots Bromley reacted charitably to news of the Oakland undertaking.
Sincere flattery
"It won't be the same as ours as it is not linked to Abbots Bromley, but hopefully they have as much fun with their version as we do here," the Rev. Simon Davis, vicar of St. Nicholas Church, told the local newspaper. "Imitation is a very sincere form of flattery."
The California Revels dancers, meanwhile, are thrilled at the chance to bring the ancient, mystical ritual to the people.
"The wonderful thing about this dance is that we only touch when the antlers clash, but you feel this magical connection," said Ric Goldman of Palo Alto. "It's incredibly simple but incredibly powerful."
The dance's simplicity and repetition leaves participants with an almost trancelike serenity, some dancers said.
"I've seen it a hundred times, but to perform it is just magical. I just felt this power," said Nancy Weston of San Francisco. "I feel very lucky to have this opportunity."
Public participation
The California Revels perform the Horn Dance twice a year, at the organization's Christmas show in Oakland and on the winter solstice in Muir Woods. But this will be the first time the public can don antlers and join in.
"We like to honor ancient celebrations and bring them to life," said Revels director David Parr. "This is going to be a gas."
Join the dance
The public can join California Revels dancers in what is believed to be the world's largest performance of the Abbots Bromley Horn Dance at 1 p.m. Monday in Joaquin Miller Park in Oakland.
Participants should bring their own food and beverages. Picnicking and dance demonstrations will be from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For information, go to californiarevels.org/bromeliad.
E-mail Carolyn Jones at carolynjones@sfchronicle.com.
Both articles have some nice pictures.
This entry was originally posted at http://lferion.dreamwidth.org/193026.html, where there are currently
comments. Please comment there using OpenID.