[Scpg] SB Christmas Revels~An American Celebration of the Winter Solstice

[Margie Bushman, Santa Barbara Permaculture Network]

Hi Everyone, just sharing

I went to something very special yesterday, a new tradition for SB, 
only 5 years old, it's called Christmas Revels, and it explores the 
different music traditions of Christmas and Winter Solstice, 
different focus each year.  This year it is the music traditions of 
Appalachia and the deep South.  It was joyous and interactive, lot's 
of kids in the production, showed America at another time, the 1920's 
with songcatchers visiting those regions to save what was 
vanishing.   Our local Christmas Revels is part of bigger movement.

with the recent tragedy, good to have another energy to offer 
families, while still honoring the grief.  kids get so taken down 
with these perplexing events that get constant news play, fear and 
isolation what gets many in a bad spot in the first place, what can 
be the antidote to that?

Maybe more of what  California Revels non-profit (that SB Revels is a 
local part of) suggests with their tagline " California Revels seeks 
to foster the health of the human spirit through a rich array of 
performing arts programs".  Performing arts that ask the audience to 
participate.  That is powerful.

Unfortunately, only one Christmas Revels performance left, today 
(Sunday) at the Lobero Theater at 2:30pm.  http://www.santabarbararevels.org/

>SB Christmas Revels~An American Celebration of the Winter Solstice:
>
>The Revels' "songcatcher" and his companion interact with a cast of 
>more than 70 actors, singers, dancers, and instrumentalists of all 
>ages who entertain, enchant, and enlighten everyone as they sing the 
>songs, dance the dances, and tell the tales of their rural hamlets 
>and hidden mountain valleys. As always, audiences are invited to 
>join the Revels company in select songs and dances. Find out why the 
>Santa Barbara Independent proclaimed "Revels creates just the kind 
>of holiday spirit that bypasses the commercial and heads straight to 
>the heart of the season."

dancers



>
>About California Revels
>
>
>
>California Revels seeks to foster the health of the human spirit 
>through a rich array of performing arts programs. We promote the 
>celebratory and community-building power of the performing arts by 
>presenting a unique and innovative form of Music Theater that 
>embraces diverse audiences.
>
>Since 1986, California Revels has brought the unique theatrical, 
>participatory arts-form founded by singer, author and music educator 
>John Langstaff in Cambridge, Massachusetts, more than twenty-five 
>years ago to the audiences of the Bay Area. Crossing religious and 
>ethnic boundaries and appealing to young and old alike, Revels 
>blends traditional music, dance, ritual and folk plays, presented by 
>a large volunteer chorus of children and adults drawn from the 
>community, and a number of highly talented professional actors, 
>musicians, artists, directors, and "bearers of tradition" from many 
>cultures. Highlighting a particular culture and period, from a 
>medieval English court to an Appalachian homestead in Kentucky, from 
>a Russian village to the land of the midnight sun, Revels employs 
>traditional materials and seasonal rituals to draw the audience into 
>a magical revelry of song and dance.
>
>Every December, California Revels produces, "The Christmas Revels," 
>a joyous production welcoming the return of the light back from the 
>darkness of winter. Elizabeth Lloyd Mayer, California Revels late 
>Founder, claimed that many people celebrate the Solstice without 
>realizing it. Decorating homes with lights for midwinter, for 
>example, is an ancient ritual for "calling back the light" that 
>predates Christmas by centuries. "The Winter Solstice falls on the 
>shortest day and brings on the longest night of the year. Across the 
>centuries, people have chosen this time to acknowledge and celebrate 
>the cycle of light and darkness, good and evil, life and death, that 
>governs all our lives."
>
>Throughout the year, California Revels holds a series of 
>community-based performances, celebrating the seasons and 
>highlighting our professional actors in musicians in more intimate 
>settings. Our outreach and education programs also continue 
>year-long, providing mentoring in the performing arts for at-risk 
>youth and holding free performances for social service organizations 
>and schools






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(805) 962-2571
P.O. Box 92156, Santa Barbara, CA 93190
margie at sbpermaculture.org
www.sbpermaculture.org

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