When I originally conceived of this show, it was with the idea of doing something that not only tapped into the sparkle of the season and the winter solstice, but also that magical "gateway" moment that the Mayans spoke about as the beginning of a new aeon. That date is December 21, 2012, and now that it is around the corner, many people are now aware of it. Unfortunately many see it as apocalyptic. I do not. Frankly, I don't know what it will mean, exactly, but I prefer to treat it as an opportunity for personal and planetary renewal. And that is the whole idea behind "Awake the White and "Wint'ry Queen"!!!! In keeping with this, I would like to do it until 2012. After that we'll re-evaluate and see if there is continuing interest. Of course, by that time we may be performing this on the deck of the Mothership :-).
This show is not about razzle dazzle. It is not about Frosty the Snowman or Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. It is about finding a point between deepest dark and the awakening of new light. Literally, that is what the winter solstice is all about. The show is intentionally meant to be Ritual Theatre. The Greeks did this thousands of years ago in the enactment of the Mystery Plays at Eluesis. Something magical and transformative is supposed to happen—something unique for each individual experiencer. This is High Magick in the original sense. It is also an infomercial for spiritual ascension disguised as holiday entertainment.
As far as general tone goes, please consider that we will be doing our best to create a sense of "sacred space" within this music. As this is to be ritual theatre, a sense of "presence", of quiet, emotionally rich awareness is what we are shooting for. Here's a couple videos that you can watch that I feel have this quality:
I encourage you to see the other videos in series for both of these concerts. If we can do our best to get close to the sound and intentionailty of the performance in these two videos, I feel we will have achieved something very great.
