Myspace

The Myspace profile page for Kumpania Paramicha is now live. Go check it out!

www.myspace.com/kumpaniaparamicha

April 18th Announcement

First, let me start by saying that there's a Myspace group for a reason, just like there's a blog on Blogger/Blogspot for a reason. Please, please, please check it whenever you see that something's been added - I'm begging you. It takes sooooo much more time to go through and e-mail and/or call all the people that don't see the bulletins or check the group or blog.

Now, onto business...

I've recently gotten a lot of questions about meetings during the run of Southern. At the moment, not a lot is going on in the realm of our little Gypsy family, so I'm not sure what topics we would be covering.

Now, we could simply meet for lunch or something and socialize. Or, we could always try something new. Like, pick a topic, something educational or helpful to focus on. FOR EXAMPLE: character creation and motivation, fundraising ideas, event planning (which faires/festivals we would like to participate in, any parties/celebrations we would like to throw), camp set-up, costuming, etc.

If this interests any of you, at all, please let me know, and I can plan accordingly.

~Amanda, aka "Lily"

Event Attempts

I have requested a guild application from Gold Coast Productions, the people that put on the Escondido Renaissance Faires, the Gold Coast Pirate Festival, and the Ojai Renaissance Faire.

If at all possible, I would like for Kumpania Paramicha to attend the fall Escondido faire, October 25th & 26th, and November 1st & 2nd. Keep your fingers crossed, as we still need to get into some events this year.

I will keep you all updated.

2008 Symposium Notes - ACTING

Split Focus:

• Walking on somebody else's line, causing a distraction while the focus should be on another player.
• Multiple people CAN be a part of the same focus/scene as long as they share in the action.

Cheating:

• Face your audience.
• Do not look directly at the person you're scening with (if they're to the side or behind you).
• ...glance or gesture toward the other player from time to time.

Street Gigging:

• Pusher - a person to attract your audience/bring your audience to your show.
• "The gate" - part of your troupe creates a sort of boundry around your audience. The gate is "opened" to let people in, and the troupe then encloses the audience within the circle.
• To bring the audience's focus to the correct person, the troupe members should also focus on that person.
• Be elaborate, grandiose.

Realistic vs. Theatric:

• Actors should aim for a theatrical performance rather than a realistic one.
• For example, if a woman lets out a blood-curling scream, other people (passers-by, security, etc) may believe she is truly in trouble, creating unnecessary distress.
• There is no need to make things graphic.

Never...

• insult a customer's intelligence.
• threaten a customer with a loaded weapon, even as a joke.
• touch another person or their belongings without permission, invitation, or knowledge of how they may react. Put a hand out to them a time or two, offer an arm to link arms, or just ask.
• speak in modern tongue.
• ignore the whole audience to focus on only one person.
• exclude customers.
• drop character in front of customers in a non-emergency.
• ask customers to buy you something.
• criticize/insult a customer's costuming.

The 3-Man Two Man Conversation:

• In the streets, start up a conversation with another troupe member, and turn it into a gig by including passers-by in the conversation.
• Don't face the other player directly; instead, create space between you and the other player and open up to passers-by. Do not cluster up. (If you have enough space, keep far enough apart that you can't touch hands.)
• Look at the passer-by to give them a sort of heads-up.
• There is no limit to the amount of people you can engage in one scene, but don't make it difficult for yourself. (Aim for only one or two customers at a time.)
• Adjust the amount of space you take up to fit the size of the faire/crowd.
• Keep your volume up (raise your voice).

Other Notes:

• Acting is a TEAM sport.
• If interrupted (cannons, guns, the Queen), bring the focus back to the scene by commenting, joking, etc.
• If trying to make something appear or create a surprise, have a troupe member on the opposite side of the stage/scene create a quick distraction (a joke, an overly-dramatic sneeze, etc).
• Children in a gig can create a larger, more energetic crowd. Entertain the kids!
• Let shy customers go, give them a chance to watch, or engage their friends/children.
• Carry interesting weaponry/accessories - they make good conversation pieces.
• If a troupe member is a little shy and doesn't speak/play much, do not be afraid to embarass them into speaking (nicknames, jokes, etc).
• When working with customers, always give them an easy out.

January Meeting

This month's meeting went rather smoothly, I think. We met at Denny's, most of us showing up a little late.

First, we simply sat around and talked while we waited for everybody to show up and figured out our orders. Then, I passed around the Christmas presents (for those of you that didn't make it, don't worry - I'm hanging on to them until we all meet back up again).

Topics Discussed:

• RPFS
• Symposium
• Palm Springs

RPFS:

The packet/media kit has been submitted, both through e-mail and snail mail. I am simply waiting (hoping) to hear back from them. Once I do, I will notify everybody through Myspace.

Symposium:

The 6th annual Renaissance Symposium is being held the last weekend in February in Modesto. It's a weekend-long gathering of rennies that I am VERY interested in attending. From 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, all kinds of workshops are being held - characterization, history, weaponry, costuming... We also have the option of getting a table there for the guild, for the purposes of recruiting and just putting ourselves out there to the people that run these fairs. Registration costs $20-$30, depending on how soon you register.

What I would like to do for this is, get a few of us together and carpool up, then split the cost of the hotel room(s).

More information can be found at http://www.rensymposium.com/.

Palm Springs:

This is a small festival, often used as a sort of dress rehearsal for performers. It runs for one weekend, March 28th through the 30th (yes, you read that right - three days). Let's try to go as a group on Saturday the 29th. It won't be an official event for us, but more like a practice run. This will give us a chance to see how we work together and to smooth out any kinks in our characters, costuming, acts, etc.

*The next meeting is February 9th. At the moment, we have no location picked. If you have any ideas, let me know. Otherwise, it will probably be either Denny's (again) or a potluck dinner at my house.

Looking for a Way to Become a Part of Faire?

We are looking for guild members - jugglers, fortune tellers, dancers, musicians, actors, storytellers, etc - to join us at renaissance faires in and around the L.A. and Orange County areas.

What you need:

• A character with a history. Does not necessarily have to be of Romani blood, seeing as the guildmaster - myself - has one of Irish descent. We are merely travelers.
• Faire garb that works with the guild and your character.
• A good attitude and a sense of humor.
• I DO NOT REQUIRE EXPERIENCE WITH RENAISSANCE FAIRES. We are here to help each other out, and I see this as a "beginner's" guild. If someone wants to be a part of this group, but has never actually worked (or maybe even attended) a faire, that is fine by me. I will show them the ropes (and I hope that other members will, too).

Requirements/Rules:

• We PRETEND to be trouble. I have a 3-strikes rule. If I find out that someone is causing trouble that is worthy of getting us booted from the faire, we will sit down and have a little talk. The second time, you will be pulled from our current faire, regardless of how many days/weeks are left. The third time, you will be pulled from the guild.
• There is also no heavy drinking/drunkeness on the "job".
• Public nudity, violence, and stealing are the three things that will lead to immediate expulsion from the guild.

Again, we are pretending to be trouble - please don't actually cause any.

When the guild starts growing, there may be a small fee ($10/year or so), to set aside for things like supplies for the guild, food and drink for the guild sites, etc. I have not actually decided on this yet, so don't let it hold you back from joining now. When I start thinking it may be necessary, there with be a guild meeting, so everybody can share their opinions and vote on it.

Still Interested? Contact me at:
lavieboheme0587@yahoo.com
www.myspace.com/healxthesexscars
AIM: healxtheseXscars, angelbabyhopeoc