Where did the sheath and amulet come from? I decided I'd rather wear the weapon than have it in my hand at the beginning, and putting it in my cloak seems a bit silly. For the second, I decided it would be a useful prop later on. No stage of choreography is ever set in stone-- if you get a better idea later, feel free to use it. More than five of my songs for the Minstrels need their choreography changed or rewritten.
start off kneeling at the back left of the stage
draw the broadsword
leave the broadsword "behind" somewhere on the stage at the very beginning
get my tambourine
stand
play my tambourine soft
begin walking forward and right, approaching stage center
Tonight, when I step from my haven,
My weapon and shield stay behind.
Tonight, when I walk through my forest,
I ache with need but half-defined.
continue walking
play my tambourine fast
If my heart were a hill troll attacking,
I would drop it with razor-thorned spell.
If my heart were a stumbling child,
I would leave it to starve where it fell.
stop walking at the front of stage center
remove crystal amulet
play my tambourine soft
Tonight, every foreign mind whispering
Abrades on hopes shattered and rent.
Tonight, I step out of my forest
Like a nightmare the jackal-lord sent.
throw crystal amulet to the floor
play my tambourine fast
If my heart were a late-blooming rose,
I would cut it to die on the vine.
If my heart were a last beam of sun
I would shade my brown skin from its shine.
play my tambourine soft
move towards the right side of the stage
Tonight, I drift lost through the grasslands
Disturbing no plant’s trailing leaf.
Tonight, I walk into your city
In shadow, like bandit or thief.
descend the stairs on the right side
My own personal assumption when choreographing-- based on my high-school theatre experience-- is that every performance area is a low stage with a set of stairs to the left, a set of stairs to the right, and the audience out front. This is often not true, as in the case of Bardfest, where the performance location has no stage at all. When I arrive in the actual area I'm to perform in, or when I find out where I'll be performing, I take a look at the room description, and change what needs to be changed... but that comes later.
play my tambourine fast
move right to be in the center and in front of the audience
If my heart were a fluttering bird
I would cage it close, no more to fly.
If my heart were a swift-spinning spider,
I would wait: with the frost, it would die.
play my tambourine soft
Tonight, as I shadow your doorway,
My wishes twine, tangle, and lace.
The rain starts to fall from above
And hides the lost tears on my face.
hang head
play my tambourine fast
If my heart were a grovelling servant
I’d dismiss her before end of day.
If my heart were a path in the forest
I’d turn to seek some other way.
sigh, look at the audience
play my tambourine soft
Tonight, knowledge stalks towards perception,
And I see that you’re not coming home.
I turn like a spirit retreating
And leave streets for leaf mold and loam.
walk to the right
play my tambourine fast
And my heart is no troll and no rose-vine,
And my heart is no servant or child.
It grants and steals strength as if dicing
And it manifests passioned and wild.
climb the steps, let tension build, move towards the stage center, look at the audience again
play my tambourine frantic
And there’s naught I can do to stop weeping
Or to pick up my shattered control.
Somewhere you dance in your city,
And, knowing, my heart is not whole.
turn away from the audience, retreat towards the broadsword
play my tambourine soft
come back to the broadsword, pick up the broadsword again
kneel down
Tonight, I sit under wet branches
And whisper an unanswered prayer.
In the morning, unthinking, I reach out--
stop playing soft
reach out, pause, hang head again
of course, you’re not there....