How to make a dream come true .......

Now, many of you will already know about the Hedgespoken project, as Tom and Rima have been doing their utmost to publicise it in order to make their dream come true.  However, for those of you that haven't yet heard, their plan is to turn this Bedford truck: 

into this fabulous travelling home, and stage, bringing their blend of magic and storytelling to far flung places, and quiet corners of this island:

In order to make this happen, they need to raise an awfully large sum of money, and so, on a sunny autumn day, friends and family wandered along to the little woodland, dressed in their best raggle taggle finery, and in between feasting by the fire, they all helped to make an amazing little film for them.

(photo by Annabel Allison from Wax Films)

We rode out there too, taking Will and Captain, dressed in their best circus pony outfits!

The fey daughter and the owl daughter (living up to their names) wore splendid outfits, mostly made by my sister, Angharad, of Atelier Bee.

A particularly owlish owl daughter with William.

And a quite otherwordly fey daughter, with Captain.

Both ponies took it in their stride - they are well used to this sort of behaviour ;)

And were mostly concerned about how they could muscle in on the feast.

(Virginia Lee and Marja Lee)

Masks, moons, and music didn't phase them in the least, outlandish outfits and fire sticks were considered normal,

But this, the dancing deer woman, bothered them deeply. Not person, not animal, the tall swaying two legged stag silhouette, really disturbed them. Even when she came to talk to them, and show them that it was a human underneath, they were not totally convinced.

Both Captain and Will kept one eye on the 'not person' for the proceedings.

 

Everybody made music,

and practised their circus skills (this is the Wolf boy, my son)

and ate lots!

(Terri Windling, Lunar Hine and Rima Staines)

While Tom told stories,

And the amazingly talented Annabel, turned a magical day into an equally magical little film!

So please, if you can spare a penny or two, please help them on their way, by donating HERE and even if you can't, if you have been entranced by their dream, please share it far and wide.

Thankyou :)

And if you would like to come and meet Rima and Tom, and many of the other equally talented people who featured in that film, then come along to our Winter Artisan Fayre, in Chagford, on Saturday the 6th of December, where there will be much Christmassy cheer, and many beautiful goods to purchase, and large quantities of homemade cake!

A Gypsy Spectacle

I first came across Theatre Zingaro about 10 years ago, when I accidentally saw a documentary with a friend, Pip, about the founding of the company and the making of their first show 'Opera Equestre'. I was blown away, stunned, astounded, to put it mildly! It was the most beautifully moving and intense piece of theatre I had ever seen, combining incredible horsemanship with magical storytelling accompanied by the haunting sounds of a company of Berber musicians.

Bartabas, founder of Theatre Zingaro, is an unrivalled horseman, and a showman in the purest gypsy tradition. ( He is also the founder of The Académie du Spectacle Équestre (Academy of Equestrian Arts) in the Grand Ecurie of the Palace of Versailles - see the Youtube video at the end of this post for a sampling of his classical Haute Ecole work)

Pip and I followed their progress, and watched all the DVDs, and dreamed of making a trip to their purpose built amphitheatre at Aubervilliers, Paris, to see them perform. Tragically, Pip died suddenly and unexpectedly a couple of years ago, but last September, her husband Patrick, myself and three other friends made it to Paris for a weekend to see the latest show Battuta, a frenetic, passionate and moving show, which would have touched Pip's bohemian soul.

Battuta is a wild and exhilarating Gypsy spectacle with the musical accompaniment played by Moldavian fiddlers ( This was the icing on the cake for me - one of my favourite bands is Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Moldavian Brass Band - if you feel rather unsure about that, listen to them first - it's like nothing you could imagine!) With geese, and a dancing bear (not a real one, I hasten to add) a gypsy wagon made from a 2CV, and spectacular horsemanship, it is the most inspirational performance I have ever seen. I urge everyone to see it if they can!

In the rougher Parisien suburbs, lies Zingaro's home. Comprising a couple of beautifully crafted wooden buildings, and a collection of painted caravans and wagons to make anyone with a drop of gypsy blood in their veins envious! The first building, the original wooden' big top' is now a canteen serving hot beef stew and warm spiced red wine and houses the costumes from previous performances around the walls. Only the French could make a canteen this cool - trestle tables, and sawdust floor, roll ups and red wine and the smell of horses, and smoke drifting in from the bonfire outside the door ( I can't imagine Health and Safety regulations in the UK allowing anyone to light a huge blaze in the middle of the city, let alone without any barriers so that the general public can stand around occasionally poking the fire!)

The larger building is effectively a huge wooden circus tent, with integral stables. You enter up stairs and then along a gallery over the stables, lit with chandeliers, able to look down and see all the horses ready for their performances. It was truly amazing!

Thanks for putting up with the superlatives - I promise not to go overboard again!