Arontius of Bygelswade

.....I was the Minister of Dance for the Barony of Dragon's Laire for a number of years. It was actually a lot of fun. I held practices religiously at my house every month. At every event I hosted at least a practice. My co-workers still drag out on occasion a picture from the Bremerton Sun of a dance demonstration I did for a June Faire. It is a very embarrassing picture to be sure.

.....About three or four years ago I gave up the Guild. I just didn't have the time to support the Guild. My successor is a highly knowledgeable instructor of dance, Friar (or Abbot now) Sion. His specialty is Eastern European dances, especially those of the Adriatic (Serbia, Albania, etc.). He won the Baronial Bardic Championship last year on the strength of that knowledge as a matter of fact.

.....I've found lately though that I miss the dancing I used to do. I especially miss those SCA specific dances that were fast and fun, and very hard to document in period. My favorite dance of all time is the Karabushka. It has moves that are definitely out of period, but I always end up having an incredible amount of fun with a huge smile plastered on my face.

.....So, tonight, Abbot Sion is talking about dances he wants to teach at Yule Feast this year and on an impulse I jump in and ask him if he would mind if I jumped in and sponsored a round of Karabushka. He looked at me for a second or two, blinked, and said 'Sure'.

.....For some reason, I felt a little guilty. Like maybe I was stealing something that didn't really belong to me. Abbot Sion is one of those people who is a super nice person with a heart of gold. Is it wrong of me to tread on his territory? I'll have to make sure and go out of my way to ensure that he doesn't feel left out.

.....But it will be fun to dance some of the old standards again. I'm looking forward to it. :-)

.....Aaron / Arontius.