See you in August

Lee says practices are on hold for the rest of July. And after all the work she put into the New Moon Balle, she's certainly entitled to a break!

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!

Gearing Up for Great Northeastern War

The DisSonatas' major gig of the summer is the New Moon Balle, a dance held as part of a major Society for Creative Anachronism gathering in Hebron, Maine.

The gathering is called Great Northeastern War, and is in its twenty-first year. The host group is the Province of Malagentia, which is the SCA's name for southern Maine, where the DisSonatas live and perform.

Normally, there's a declaration of "war" between Malagentia and some other province or barony, usually Stonemarche (New Hampshire). The two have long been in mock contention over a few towns on the border, which are called "Giggleswick." This year it's not quite clear who's fighting whom yet, but I'm sure Malagentia will battle somebody.

Anyway, most of the DisSonatas are fans of other challenging sports, such as Renaissance dance. Our repertoire includes a great deal of dance music and we hold monthly dance practices when anyone can come and learn period dances. At the New Moon Balle, we do not teach the dances, but just play them, as musicians did when these dances were part of the world "everyone" knew -- just as "everyone" today knows who Tony Soprano is, or the words to "Oops! I Did It Again." (No, that's not Britney Spears' version, it's a wonderful recording by Richard Thompson, who called the song almost "medieval" in its structure and went on to prove it.)

We'd love to see you at War -- and if you haven't danced with us before, there's a class before the Balle to get you started! If this is your first SCA event, read the Web site thoroughly and be prepared to make some attempt at pre-17th-century garb. I also suggest not wearing anything too heavy, as Hebron in July can be HOT!

This next part is legend -- if anyone knows of a scholarly source for it, I'll be happy to cite it. Malagentia's name allegedly comes from the French explorer Samuel de Champlain who, writing in Latin, described the natives of what is now Maine as mala gentes ("bad people"). Apparently, they greeted his exploration party by going down to the beaches and mooning him.

In recognition of this semi-historical event, the provincial flag depicts a full moon on a purple background. (Or, to give its proper heraldic description: "Purpure, a moon in her complement within a laurel wreath argent.")

A brief history of the DisSonatas

Once upon a time there were a few recorder players in southern Maine who wanted to play medieval and Renaissance music, but also to have fun. Some of them had tried playing in university and conservatory ensembles, but found the whole scene rather stuffy and anxiety-making and expensive. In 1996, they started playing together once a week, on Monday nights.

I believe it was Carol who came up with the name DisSonatas. Officially, it's a reference to the dissonance that is often present in Renaissance music. Unofficially, it may have had something to do with the fact that we didn't always sound absolutely perfect.

At first they met in people's houses. One of the members, Lee, was involved with the Society for Creative Anachronism, and the local chapter was conveniently lacking a music group to perform in period style. So the DisSonatas and the Musicians' Guild of the Province of Malagentia, while officially unrelated, grew to include many of the same people.

Over the years the DisSonatas have grown and shrunk and grown again, have established regular Renaissance dance teaching nights (last Monday of the month, 7 p.m., Trinity Episcopal Church in Saco), spun off a singing group, and best of all, have kept on going. We've played at weddings and parties, at the Maine Mall, at demonstrations for kids, at nursing homes and church services.

We've amassed a large library of music, some of it arranged by Barry, harp player and Lone Deranger. Lee is our official conductor and dance mistress, Peter is our librarian and I am the slacker webmistress. Here we plan to offer notices of upcoming events, random musings related to period music and dance, and photos of our group in action.

You're invited! If you're in southern Maine and play any period instrument (recorder, harp, doumbek, bodhran, violin, viola da gamba, bassoon, lute, mandolin, and many others), or if you'd like to play, or if you'd like to learn Renaissance dances, or if you'd like to sing with us, e-mail info@dissonatas.com and we'll get you set up!