ellefolk quarterly newsletter v.8

Ellefolk v.8, the quarterly newsletter from Under The Root, is 
running around the world now.  A fresh discount code, 
little peoples perspective, lemons, and a gigantuan hello.

http://eepurl.com/CB_BL

fairytale friday and icelandic huldufolk

The Fairy Tree by Richard Doyle

Huldufólk
Icelandic hidden people from huldu, pertaining to
secrecy, and folk, people, are one of the 13 types
of elves in Iceland.  Their dwellings are in mounds, 
and they are also called elves.  Official opposition to 
dancing may have begun in Iceland as early as the 
12th century, and the association of dancing with elves 
can be seen as early as the 15th century.  One folktale 
shows the elves siding with the common people and 
taking revenge on a sheriff who banned dance parties. 

"The Huldufólk are... not so much supernatural as
ultranatural, representing not an overcoming of nature 
in the hope of a better deal beyond but a deep reverence 
for the land and the mysterious powers able to cause 
fertility or famine."
Michael Strmiska

John Bauer

Although there is not a common origin on their 
true nature or shape, it is broadly accepted that these 
beings live in the underworld and keep a close relation 
with natural elements.  Many Icelandic sources describe 
them as quite similar to humans... according to the 
descriptions from the ones whom have been able to see them.

"The Nickur, Ninnir, and Hnikur, one of the Eddaic 
names of Odin.  He appears always in the form of a fine 
apple-grey horse on the seashore; 
but he may be distinguished from ordinary horses by the 
circumstance of his hoofs being reversed.  If any one is so 
foolish as to mount him, he gallops off, and plunges into 
the sea with his burden.  He can, however, be caught in a 
particular manner, tamed, and made to work."
Thomas Keightley

Richard Doyle

love from the lemon verbena

Lemon Verbena Love Poem by Wrigley

If you look, at the end of the day
after words are spent,
and memories begin their journey.

And the wisp that was once a
brilliant, iridescent flame,
retires to a loft of curling
lemon verbena smoke...

You'll see that I will, as on the very
first day, search for the never
written words, the one's never learned.

The one's I've yet to invent,
the one's you'll make me see,
to celebrate the 'us' that we've become.

'Till occasion brings language with the
sound of you,
I will continue to amuse every candle
with your shadow...
and begin another memory.

Lemon verbena, sometimes called vervain, 
is one of the most strongly scented and intense 
of the lemon scented plants. The essence,
both crisp and relaxing at the same time.
It is perfect for relieving indigestion,
heartburn, and as a toner for the digestive tract. 
It is also great for soothing anxiety and 
as a sedative it is helpful in insomnia.
It has uses in making perfumes and toilet water,
flavorings in baking, jelly and preserving, tea,
ice cream, or spellcasting. The flavor is similar 
to oregano, licorice, and camphor. 
The plant is native to Chile and Peru.

Lemon Verbena tree and bicycle

margaret morris and the nature winds

Margaret Morris

This body mover was a British dancer, choreographer, and teacher. 
It seems that every moment of this womyn's life was centered
around sharing the arts of dance.  Margaret had been dancing 
from a very young age and by the precocious age of twelve had 
begun to reject the strict nature of classical ballet.  In 1909 she met 
Raymond Duncan, brother of Isadora Duncan, who taught her the 
six Greek positions, adapted from images on ancient Greek vases. 
She elaborated on these to produce her own dance system aiming at 
naturalism and freedom. 
In 1922 is when she started the first educational school in England 
to combine educational subjects with educational training in 
dancing and acting.  John Fergusson Duncan became the 
art director of all her schools.  The students' curriculum included 
acting, dance composition and improvisation, Dance Notation,
design, and painting.
She was the first proponent of the Isadora Duncan technique 
in Great Britain.  She founded the Margaret Morris Movement, 
Celtic Ballet, and two Scottish National Ballets in Glasgow (1947) 
and in Pitlochry (1960).
I am in awe of her curriculum for the educational school.
As of 1925, the syllabus included all of the following:

1. The Margaret Morris method of physical culture and dancing
2. Dance composition
3. Theory of movement : Breathing
4. Theory of practice of teaching
5. Paining, design and sculpture
6. Notation of movement
7. Property and mask making
8. Dressmaking
9. Music training
10. Class singing
11. Musical composition
12. Literature; study of words; writing of plays and poems; essays
13. Diction and acting
14. Lecturing and discussion
15. Stage management, including lighting
16. Production of play and ballets
17. General organisation and business management
18. Swimming
19. Ballroom dancing

claude cahun put pepper in my milk

Claude Cahun 
One of the first female photographers to devote most of her 
image production to the self-portrait.  Her distinctive feature 
was that she used herself as a model to present a number 
of experiments with identity and gender – both as a reflection 
on her own search for an identity and as a comment on the 
social gender perception of the time.
Cahun staged herself beyond the familiar gender roles as an 
androgynous or transexual being in a surreal world.  
André Breton (1896-1966) and others admired her for the 
distinctive way she problematized female identity and the 
female gender.  Her self-portraits are among the most important 
and radical expression of the re-examination of female identity 
in the 1930´s.