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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1986-05-28, Page 19C mmunit Lipizzan stalli • Entertainment • Features • Religion • Family ® More SECTION ns perform ballet The sell-out crowd of over 1500 at both shows of the Original Her- rmann Royal Lipizzan Stallions, of Austria in Goderich on Sunday, surpassed the organizers' wildest dreams, says Catherine McKnight, president of the Huronia Branch of the Ontario Human Society. "When we were at a meeting and learned we could have the Lipizzan Stallions in Goderich, we couldn't believe it. And, the show was just excellent," she says. "Everybody was so thrilled to see the horses so close-up. In Toronto at the Coliseum, you don't get nearly as close to the horses as we did in Goderich on Sunday." Fifteen per cent of the proceeds from the two shows on Sunday will go towards the building of a shelter for the Huronia Branch. Some of the proceeds also go towards the Ontario Humane Society's Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre. The Lipizzan stallions, known around the world as the "ballet dancers of the horse world," are performing in 23 towns and cities throughout Ontario. Colonel Ottomar Herrmann was the master of ceremonies. During the Second World War, he helped his father save the Lipizzans from the Nazis by disguising them with dark shoe polish and moving them to Czechoslovakia. Soon after, when they . found themselves threatened by, the R,ti.scian army. America's General Patton, helped them escape. The. Lipizzans have been in the Herrmann family for over 300 years. POSTSCRIPT By Susan Hundertmark When Will warriors perform the military ballet When I attended the afternoon perfor- mance of the Royal Lipizzan Stallions at the Goderich arena on Sunday, I looked forward to the show as an appreciative fan of the physical beauty and expressive movement found in dance and gymnastics. I expected the "ballet .dancers of the horse world" to perform graceful and breath -taking feats. And, I wasn't disappointed. But, I was surprised to learn that the magnificent leaps and plunges made by the beautiful white stallions were once terrifying maneuvers made to frighten and trample foot soldiers on the bat- tlefields of the 1600s. As the tremendous white beasts reared back on their hind legs and leapt into the air, I saw artistic beauty. And, I began to see the potential for great pain and destruction to any unprotected human who found himself underneath those powerful legs. In my mind's eye, I could see a fiery gleam in the stallion's eye and blood on his polished hooves. I was amazed that I could find beauty in creatures traditionally trained for war. Of course, that started me thinking. • Wouldn't it be interesting if society had advanced to such a high level that all creatures of war and their trappings were so rare that they could be con- sidered art? War as a dying art The Lipizzq Stallions performed magnificent leaps which were once uWed_in,battle by' mounted nobles to terrify'foot'soldiers. in the top photo, a stallion performs the levade, developed to rise the leading officer above the scene of battle. In'the middle left photo, the haute ecole is performed by Diane Rohlfs, Bruce Lester and Linda Herrmann. In the middle right photo, the capriole, the most deadly 'airs above the ground" leap is -performed by Gabriella Lester. And, in the bottom photo, 10 stallions and their riders present the precision movements of a military quadrille. (photos by Susan Hundertmark) �hII :c r i r>S marcs: , .7. # .r_ dG�s'n(.Y'a �a'��'c 1 Consider if, like the Lipizzan staiiions, only a few of those people trained specifically for war still existed and were forced to earn their living by travelling the world re-enacting the dying .art of warfare accompanied by the appropriate music. I envision it as a sort of "military ballet" performed by a troupe of dancers Qse:.:411c04 ,_,.'eie ,Il!,ghly-trained warriors " in all forms , of destruction (possibly the descendents of CIA or KGB agents like James Bond or even Rambo with a mixture of the artistic abilities of dancer Mikhail Baryshnikov.) In my fantasy, since society has achieved a lasting peace and no longer requires nor even retains much knowledge of these warriors, they have been obsolete for centuries. Only selected bits of the old knowledge of military training and self-defence have endured as art. They are taught to a traditional group of students at an obscure school of dance located in the tiny nation of America, which history tells, was once the home of the most powerful of warriors. Though the dancers' movements are no longer performed to do damage to an enemy, they are valued for their grace, their control and their energy. Individual performers use movements from ancient warfare such as kung -fu fighting, boxing, archery, grenade -throwing and machine gun firing. Larger groups re-enact such military procedures as marching drills, hand-to- hand combat and even the formation of bomber planes flying over enemy ter- ritory with artistic skill and precision. But, all actions are sanitized and romanticized so that only spectators with a great historical knowledge and im- agination could visualize the annihilation of human life caused ,by such actions. Like .the Lipizzan stallions, the dancers would be such beautiful physical specimens with such spectacular and col- orful costumes that physical violence would be only a remote, historical threat. Accomplished story The dancers might be accompanied by an accomplished storyteller who spins the tale of the rise of civilization along with the development of greater and deadlier methods of combat. Gwynne Dyer's now musty and deteriorating book called "War" might be pulled from the archives of the now defunct Ministry of Defence to be used as a reference. At the show's finale, when dramatic lighting, lasers, fireworks and other ex- plosives could be used to illustrate the ancient use of nuclear weapons and Star Wars weaponry, the storyteller explains how mankind vowed never again to use warfare of any kind after suffering un- precedented losses of life in one final, horrifying war. In my fantasy performance, the dancers' art is the'only surviving rem- nant of thousands of years oqf human violence and aggression. Because the werld has no practical need for such knowledge, the "military ballet" is kept alive and appreciated for the skill of the dancers and the dramatic message of how far humanity has progressed from its barbaric roots. But,' it's a slowly dying art since it becomes increasingly more diffictilt for new generations to understand the motivations of war and the primitive ability to kill other human beings. It's a bizarre fantasy but I prefer it to •its alternative. If we don't make warfare obsolete, we could return to dancing around a campfire wearing animal pelts. Or, we may not be around to dance at all.