Come dance with us!

The DisSonatas are providing entertainment for the following worthwhile event:

RENAISSANCE REVELRY, 7 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 27, USM Glickman Library, 314 Forest Ave., 7th Floor. Hearty appetizers, cash bar, authentic Renaissance dance music with instruction in doing the dances yourself! Tickets $25. All proceeds benefit Habitat for Humanity Interfaith Build in South Portland.

The New Moon Balle went quite well, despite a few glitches, mostly my fault! Lee/Mickel did a beautiful job directing the action and keeping everything going. Mike brought his harp, Tracy/Claire lent much-needed recorder support, Audrey and Mark were fabulous as always, and Andrea went so far as to bring us a drummer, a young man named Sky (or maybe Skye). Also joining us were Ingeborg from Bridge on recorder, Jocelyn from Stonemarche on violin and hurdy-gurdy (wow! never played with a hurdy-gurdy before, and they're loud!), and Grant on guitar.

We had a BIG bunch of dancers, almost too many for the hall! What really impressed me was that everyone seemed to be having a terrific time. The energy in the room was amazing.

If you're an SCA member who loves to dance (or play for dancers), I heartily encourage you to come to next year's Great Northeastern War! And if you're a fan of Renaissance dance who lacks an outlet, see what your local SCA chapter has to offer. If they don't have a music group and/or dance practices, start some!

Come join us!

A small selection of DisSonatas joined members of the SCA and a local young people's recorder group for a demonstration today at the Casco Library. Though rain threatened to cancel the fighting, it held off and the fighters were able to demonstrate their skills to a crowd of respectable size. Also on display were period arts and sciences, a small selection of refreshments (lemonade, wheat bread, honey butter and handmade mustard), and of course, music.

An enthusiastic young lady named Keziah even coerced some friends into doing a little dancing, and we were able to perform the dreaded Maltese Bransle Contest, in which the music gets just a little faster every time through the dance until the dancers or the musicians fall apart.

Andrea AskenDunn did a marvelous job, coordinating the refreshments, co-managing the event and performing with the musicians as well. Mike Mowlesworth brought his beautiful Celtic Harp, and Andrea's mom Beatrice performed beautifully on the viola da gamba. Also assisting us were Keziah, her sister Mariah, and Andrea's daughter Sorrel. The Bridgton News had a reporter/photographer in attendance, and I expect you'll see some of these faces on its pages in the near future.

If you're in the Harrison/Raymond area of Maine (loosely speaking) and want to play early music, I encourage you to get in touch with Andrea, who is trying to get more medieval and Renaissance music going near her hometown. She's at askendunn at gmail dot com.

If you're in the Portland area or York County, you'll probably find it easier to come to our regular practices, which are the second and third Monday of every month at Trinity Episcopal Church in Saco at 7 p.m. The fourth Monday of the month at 7 (and the fifth, if there happen to be five Mondays in a month) is Dance Night, where you can learn to do Renaissance dances -- no partner needed! -- and/or play dance music for dancers. If you play a recorder or other period instrument (or if you own a tambourine or small hand drum and can keep a beat), we'd love to have you! E-mail Lee for more information.