The Revels

It had been 31 years since I attended a performance of the Revels. This Winter Solstice celebration began in1971 and now exists in 11 cities in the US.

The founder was the late John Langstaff (1920-2005), a musician who believed there was "a need for connectedness, to each other and to the ancient rituals of our ancestors' ancestors that, quite magically, retain their meaning to this day."

When I lived in Boston, I tried to get tickets each year, but they often disappeared faster than I could get to them. One way to get a first crack at them, is to be sponsor, and my daughter in Boston, used this device for us this year. Still she said even at 10 am of the first sales day, they were almost all gone.

The theme of the performances may vary in epoch and nationality, but there are some standards. One is the "Lord of the Dance" at intermission.

Because I live in Europe, I thought that I would never be able to join this soul-binding dance. However the music began, men dressed at Mummers came out of stage and began to sing "Dance dance, wherever you may be..." and the audience wended its way up the aisles, down the stairs into the hall, holding hands. How wonderful to be wrong and to once again celebrate the Winter Solstice in this manner.