minstrel: Bardic Competitions etc.

[Monica Cellio]

> This seems to be completely different from what Ellisif is describing below,
> where it sounds like Bardic is "lumped" in with other forms of A&S. 

Actually, in what I was describing, it wasn't a bardic competition (or
bardic categories) at all.  I entered music composition -- as composition
-- in general A&S competitions and have won a couple times.  Which
surprised the heck out of me.  I brought it up to provide one
counter-example for the original-compositions-can't-win attitude that the
original poster's husband had encountered.

> I was wondering if everyone could kind of run through what types of competions
> bards compete in your area. 

I've seen several types in AEthelmearc:
- general bardic competition, judged by popular acclaim, authenticity
  ussally irrelevant, documentation unnecessary
- performance categories in pentathlons and other similar A&S
  competitions; documentation and authenticity expected; performances
  judged against other performances but not against other arts.  Sometimes
  there are subcategories so storytelling doesn't compete against music,
  etc.
- bardic competition on a theme (e.g. war songs, songs commemorating
  AEthelmearc, etc); judging standards vary widely

In *general*, around here, outside of "high-brow" competitions like
the Ice Dragon pentathlon, authenticity is not considered all that
important in judging.  There are very few competitions that emphasize
both authenticity *and* entertainment (pleasing the crowd), so many people
seem to have the idea that you have to choose one or the other.

Ellisif



-------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from this list, send email to majordomo at pbm.com containing
the words "unsubscribe minstrel". If you are subscribed to the digest version,
say "unsubscribe minstrel-digest". To contact a human about problems, send
mail to owner-minstrel at pbm.com