Category Archives: Hire

Surprising uses of stilts

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Most people think that stilts are something for circuses and children’s parties but they have been used in a number of strange ways since ancient times, in fact stilts have a long proud history of weirdness that continues today. 

In the 19th century, Landes, France was a brushy wasteland that turned swampy whenever it rained. Locals dealt with this harsh environment by walking on stilts—everyone, from housewives to the mailman, had a pair.

Landes shepherds used these changes, or “big legs,” to direct their flocks. Wearing sleeveless fur jackets and berets, they maneuverer over the landscape with ease, using their walking sticks as a crook. When they rested, they sat on a tripod of the stilts and walking stick so they could watch their sheep from on high. To pass the time, they knitted.

Not surprisingly, Landesians were adept at stilt walking, able to pick up pebbles from the ground and run at fast speeds. 

2. Stilt Marathons

In 1891, a Landes shepherd named Sylvain Dornon stilt walked from Paris to Moscow in 58 days. It was the first of many stilt marathons. Others include 12-year-old Emma Disley scaling Wales’ highest mountain on stilts in 1977, Saimaiti Yiming in China stilt walking 49 miles in one day in 2003, and Neil Sauter crossing Michigan to raise money for cerebral palsy in 2013.

The record for the longest stilt walk goes to Joe Bowen, who walked 3008 miles from LA to Kentucky in 1980. 

3. Stilt Jousting

For 600 years, Namur, Belgium has held a stilt jousting tournament called the Golden Stilt. Teams of jousters in red-and-white costumes try to take each other down by shoving, shoulder butting, poking, kicking, and knocking out their opponent’s stilts. The person still standing at the end wins.

Namur’s stilt jousting is all in fun, but there’s evidence it started out violently. In the middle Ages, locals took to using stilts whenever the rivers flooded. At some point, stilt fighting became so common that the city banned it in 1411. Apparently, the ban didn’t stick and stilt jousting became an event, with stories of thousands of people competing in the town square. It’s a long tradition that Namur continues today.

4. Working on Stilts

Fruit pickers, window washers, and dry-wallers all use stilts to avoid messing with a ladder. And then there are the stilt fishermen of Sri Lanka.

For decades, these fishermen have climbed on stilts sticking up in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Suspended above the coral reef on a thin perch attached to the stilt, they use rods to catch herring and mackerel. This practice started after World War II, when fishermen began hanging on discarded iron pipes from the war to avoid disturbing the fish.

Although stilt fishing is attracting tourists to the region, the fishermen only make pennies per fish. That’s low pay by any standard, and many say stilt fishing is disappearing as the men find more lucrative work in other industries, like, say, tourism.

5. An Extreme Sport

Powerbocking is a sport that has popped up around spring-loaded stilts. Invented by German engineer Alexander Boeck in the 1990s, jumping stilts have fiberglass leaf springs that are attached to a curved aluminium frame that tapers to a footplate called the hoof. They let you jump 3 to 5 feet, take 9-foot kangaroo-like strides, and run 20 miles per hour. It’s like a trampoline is attached to your feet.

What is a mime?

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Mime is a form of acting and drama where the actor uses his body and gestures and also facial expressions rather than words to express his role. Drama started before the Greek times, it was created as a form of entertainment for the local people. In the past, Greeks would hold a festival to celebrate their god Dionysus. She was the god of wine, fertility and celebration. During these festivals, Greeks would entertain the public by holding drama based performances on either comedy or tragedy. Mime artists are called mimics; they exaggerate every move they make so it defines what they are trying to show. A mimic is an actor that acts without words and their entire performance is based on their non-verbal gesture and bodily movements. Mime artists usually act a story through their body; there have been many famous mime artists through the years.

Mime has been around since the ancient Geek and Roman period. It all began when Greek’s started having festivals and carnivals in honour of Dionysus, who is the Greek god of theatre. In the olden days actors would concentrate on their character a lot more than the actual plot of the story this is how mime became an exaggerated form of acting where self-expression is highly important. In Greek times, they had two main genres of drama, one was comedy and one was tragedy, this developed in Athens. During all of these performances in the Greek period, the Catholic Church showed great opposition to mime and drama as a whole, they thought that doing performances about comedies and tragedies shouldn’t be allowed and that performances should be about religion. This is when Mystery and Morality plays started to come in focus which were religious plays. A religious play would be about Jesus Christ and Morality plays would have a good moral and teaching to the story. 

Famous Mime artists.

Charlie Chaplin was a famous English comedian and was also a successful film director. Most of his films had slapstick comedy but were also based on social themes of the time. Charlie Chaplin was inspired by a French silent film comedian called Max Linder. Chaplin was hugely influenced by him and later dedicated one of his films to him. Chaplin was an actor for 75 years and he started acting at a very young age. Charlie Chaplin was known for his acting and his great films; he is one of the best mime artists in the world and is currently a legend. Many people get inspired by his work.

Marcel Marceau was a famous French mime artist who died recently on 22nd September 2007. Marcel Marceau was known for his striped pull over and his battered silk opera hat. This was his costume for one of his characters “Bip”. Marcel Marceau performed all around the world and was known by many people, his mime acts where inspiring and he wanted to spread the “art of silence” all around the world so people could learn to appreciate it. 

Mr Bean is a British television programme, and Rowan Atkinson is the main character. His character is based on a child’s mind in an adults body, this character was developed when Rowan Atkinson was in university. Rowan Atkinson plays his character in a mime with random sounds that complete the character and the atmosphere of the performance. Rowan Atkinson is one of the best mime artists now and he is known for his character all throughout England.

Think again about Graffiti artists

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Graffiti is sometimes classed as vandalism, but if you look at the origin of vandalism you may think again:

Graffiti art originated in the late 1960’s, and it has been developing ever since. However, it is not readily accepted as being art like those works that are found in a gallery or a museum. It is not strictly denied the status of genuine art because of a lack of form or other base aesthetic elements. Most of the opposition to graffiti art is due to its location and bold, unexpected, and unconventional presentation, but its presentation and often illegal location does not necessarily disqualify it as art. 

The origins of graffiti go back to the beginnings of human, societal living. Graffiti has been found on uncovered, ancient, Egyptian monuments, and graffiti even was preserved on walls in Pompeii. Graffiti is the plural form of the Italian word grafficar. In plural, grafficar signifies drawings, markings, patterns, scribbles, or messages that are painted, written, or carved on a wall or surface. Grafficar also signifies “to scratch” in reference to different wall writings ranging from “cave paintings”, bathroom scribbles, or any message that is scratched on walls. In reference to present day graffiti, the definition is qualified by adding that graffiti is also any unsolicited marking on a private or public property that is usually considered to be vandalism. 

Although quite controversial; Banksy is one of the best Graffiti artists known today and his work will sell for millions of pounds.

Banksy, a street artist whose identity remains unknown is believed to have been born in Bristol, England, around 1974. He rose to prominence for his provocative stencilled pieces in the late 1990s. Banksy is the subject of a 2010 documentary, Exit through the Gift Shop, which examines the relationship between commercial and street art.

Banksy began his career as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s, in Bristol’s graffiti gang DryBreadZ Crew. Although his early work was largely freehand, Banksy used stencils on occasion. In the late ’90s, he began using stencils predominantly. His work became more widely recognized around Bristol and in London, as his signature style developed. 

Banksy’s artwork is characterized by striking images, often combined with slogans. His work often engages political themes, satirically critiquing war, capitalism, hypocrisy and greed. Common subjects include rats, apes, policemen, members of the royal family, and children. In addition to his two-dimensional work, Banksy is known for his installation artwork. One of the most celebrated of these pieces, which featured a live elephant painted with a Victorian wallpaper pattern, sparked controversy among animal rights activists.

Other pieces have drawn attention for their edgy themes or the boldness of their execution. Banksy’s work on the West Bank barrier, between Israel and Palestine, received significant media attention in 2005. He is also known for his use of copyrighted material and subversion of classic images. An example of this is Banksy’s version of Monet’s famous series of water lilies paintings, adapted by Banksy to include drifting rubbish and debris.

Professional entertainers are second to none…

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You need to put on a show or want a different kind of ‘wow’ factor to greet your guests, or you want to use as a distraction when you are changing scenery. Well why not hire Acrobats that can put on an amazing choreographed performance jumping over your crowd or through fire.  

Another act to consider is Ariel performers which can be quite beautiful.  Imagine the scene, your guests have sat in their seats a few hoops or ribbons come down over your guest heads and the most dazzling display of performers gracefully move in sync like ballerinas in the sky. 

A tightrope walker could also be considered where they too walk high up over your crowd’s heads taking entertaining to another level 

Do you want to have a circus in your own back garden? Or you may be hiring a piece of land that could have a circus erected, everyone loves the excitement of a circus and if you wanted to hire one then we have the right circus at Red Masque directory for you to hire.

You could be holding an extravagant party for somebody or it could be for a corporate evening.  The choices are endless; it’s good to know that Red Masque only advertise the best of the best.

You may want to hold a children’s party where a clown is needed to entertain the children whilst you sit back and have a well-deserved break.  Our clowns advertised come in many shapes and sizes, some can do magic, balloon modelling or some that do good old fashioned ‘slap stick’ humour. Whatever you would like your clown to do we have the best advertised on our Red Masque entertainment directory.  

Fill out an online booking form so your chosen act is able to contact you to take things further.

Having a Middle Eastern themed night?

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Have you ever wondered about Belly dancing and how it came about?  

According to some, the dance form that today many call ‘belly dance’ is extremely old and traces of it can be found up to 6,000 years ago, in some pagan societies who used to worship a feminine deity, to celebrate women’s fertility as something magic. However, there is little evidence that early pagan rituals are in any way connected to belly dance. This type of dance is supposed to be indeed good for preparing women’s body to give birth, but there does not seem to be proof of any link to ancient fertility rituals. In spite of this, there has been a tendency, in the last 40 years, to associate belly dance with spirituality and the power of the feminine. This may be due to the fact that the feminist movement, in the 1970s and 1980s in the USA, rediscovered belly dance as a form of dance that empowers women.

What we called today ‘belly dance’ seems to be the specific type of dance that comes from Turkey and Egypt. By looking at the specific movements of belly dance, some say that there could have been an influence coming from India. Indeed some movements, such as the head slides, are found both in Indian dance and in belly dance. Hence, it could be that populations migrating over the centuries from India to the Middle East and northern Africa brought their dance traditions with them, influencing the way local dances developed. Also, I think that belly dance owns a lot, in terms of dance vocabulary, to African dances. If we think about hip and chest shimmies and circles and body undulations, these are also present in African dances and in South American dances that derive from African traditions. However, each dance tradition has changed and adapted these movements so that, for example, shimmies in belly dance have a different feeling from African shimmies.

A proper chorological and historical study of dance and movement should be done in order to confirm how and when these influences developed, but it is difficult for such an ephemeral product like dance. Nevertheless, it could be attempted in the same way that linguists have studied the history of languages and traced migrations from ancient India to Europe with regards to the Indo-European languages, although movement did not leave a trace equivalent to written texts for languages.

Belly dancing has been a type of social dance since unmemorable times. It was and is danced when women gather together to socialise. In Egypt, dance has always been part of wedding celebrations, danced socially by people attending parties and professionally by performers who are paid to dance for special occasions. This is the typical baladi dance. Nowadays, the music played most commonly at weddings and social gatherings in Egypt is shaabi. The type of dance associated with shaabi music is very similar to baladi dance with hip articulations and quite grounded, but it does not have the same structure, as the music is different  (shaabi music is composed by individual pop songs, while baladi is mainly instrumental music which is improvised but follows a set pattern, hence a baladi dance performance follows the same pattern translated into movement).

What we call today ‘belly dance’ has always been also a form of public entertainment. Traveller’s tribes, both in Egypt and Turkey, used to perform out in the streets.  So hire one of our Belly dancers from Red Masque entertainment and see this great dance for yourself.

 

Bollywood Entertainment & Indian Wedding Performers

The Entertainment you choose for your wedding day will leave an impression on your guests for years to come! For this reason Bollywood entertainment makes the extra effort to connect with each couple and find the perfect entertainment solution for them. Whether you are looking for a bespoke musical creation, a flash mob to surprise your guests or simply an authentic taste of Bollywood, the Indian Dancers are highly trained professionals who will deliver a performance you & your guests are sure to love. 

Make it a night to remember

Hiring Bollywood dancers can surprise your guests with either the standard Bollywood Entertainment package or even flash mob style, adding a delightfully unexpected element to your evening! Imagine the excitement when colourfully costumed professional Bollywood dancers burst through the door and dazzle guests with their stylish moves!

Starters, main course, dessert, speeches….something’s missing without engaging entertainment. Why not provide the missing piece with our energetic Bollywood dance routines and stunning Bollywood costumes!

Heat up that that dance floor, immediately!

While DJs try their best, all too many weddings experience empty dance floors… don’t let it happen to you! The Bollywood acts work alongside with your DJ to offer a seamless transition from highly watchable entertainment to lively party; getting your guests up and dancing in no time. Bollywood acts can offer interactive workshops to teach your guests a few Bollywood and Bhangra dance moves to familiarise them with Indian Dance and get them moving well into the night! Workshops work particularly well for themed events!

Swing away!!!

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Swing music, or simply swing, is a form of American music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1940. Swing uses a strong rhythm section of double bass and drums as the anchor for a lead section of brass instruments such as trumpets and trombones, woodwinds including saxophones and clarinets, and sometimes stringed instruments such as violin and guitar, medium to fast tempos and a “lilting” swing time rhythm. The name swing came from the phrase ‘swing feel’ where the emphasis is on the off–beat or weaker pulse in the music (unlike classical music). Swing bands usually featured soloists who would improvise on the melody over the arrangement. The danceable swing style of big bands and bandleaders such as Benny Goodman was the dominant form of American popular music from 1935 to 1946, a period known as the Swing Era the verb “to swing” is also used as a term of praise for playing that has a strong rhythmic “groove” or drive.

Swing has roots in the late 1920s use of larger ensembles using written arrangements. The period between 1935 and 1946 is when big band swing music reached its peak and was the most popular music in America. This period is known as the Swing Era. A typical song played in swing style would feature a strong, anchoring rhythm section in support of more loosely tied wind, brass. The most common style consisted of having a soloist take centre stage, and improvise a solo within the framework of his bandmates playing support. Swing music began to decline in popularity during World War II because of several factors. Most importantly it became difficult to staff a “big band” because many musicians were overseas fighting in the war. By the late 1940s, swing had morphed into traditional pop music, or evolved into new jazz styles such as jump blues and bebop. Swing music saw a revival in the late 1950s and 1960s with pop vocalists such as Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland, and Nat King Cole, as well as jazz-oriented vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald.

In comparison with the styles of the 1920s, the 1930s represents a more sophisticated sound, but with an exciting feel of its own. The audience of young white dancers favoured Goodman’s rhythms and daring swing arrangements. “Hot Swing” and Boogie Woogie remained the dominant form of American popular music for the next ten years. Standards like “Moten Swing” by Bennie Moten and the Kansas City Orchestra were important in the development of swing music and the move towards a freer form of orchestral jazz. Audiences raved at the new music, and at the Pearl Theatre in Philadelphia in December 1932, the doors were let open to the public who came crammed into the theatre to hear the new sound, demanding seven encores from Moten’s orchestra.

If this all sounds like your sort of music, take a look on our directory to see which Swing or big band entertainers you could hire for your very own event or party.

A Casino themed event

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You may well want to go all out at your event and have a ‘James Bond’ theme and have a few celebrity lookalike ‘Bonds’ or some ‘Pussy Galore’ lookalikes gracing your event.  

It doesn’t have to be an all adult affair either you could make it family orientated and hire some bouncy castles, children’s entertainers or some fairground stalls.

Just make it your own – we have some great ideas on our website which will fit into whatever you were deciding.  A birthday party or fund raising event which would be very unique and anyone receiving an invitation would be very curious and definitely want to turn up.  Use your imagination and your event could be the most talked about for many months to come.

Going back to a ‘Casino Theme’ you may have the roulette wheel, or the black jack table, but why not indulge in a few arcade games for the younger ones or indeed the older generation who love to have a go on retro ‘Pac man’ or ‘out run’. You may want some ‘slot machines’ where you will find that people will be hogging them for hours.

You could be organising a charity event where all proceeds go to your favourite cause, or you may want somebody to win big!!  The choice is yours and your event will be a very tempting invitation.

Don’t forget to hire some all-important Paparazzi for when your guests arrive, they will be ‘papped’ just like the stars of today, and after they will be able to see their escapades on a souvenir dvd, now that’s what memories are made of!!!

To book some of the ideas that we have listed or to get some more inspiration simply look within our Red Masque party and event entertainment directory to see which would be ideal for you. 

Bring some culture to your event…

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We appreciate that although many people want their wedding to be a loud, all singing and all dancing affair that gets people off their seats and having a great time, the simple truth is that some venues have a sound limiter, so that amplifier will have to be turned right down. But rather turning it down, why not get rid of it completely? Grandma won’t complain about the noise and in some cases, the musicians can mingle with your guests creating a more immersive and enjoyable atmosphere (not that it’s not enjoyable already – it is your wedding after all).

How about you hire entertainment like an experience pop quartet who can deliver the pop classics exactly how you need them? They will work well as both background music and providing a party atmosphere and will have your Auntie screaming ‘Come on Eileen’ at the top of her lungs. Within the sound limits of the venue, obviously

A pop group are exactly the kind of band that makes venues smile. No amplifier needed, a bit more quirky than what they see normally and some brilliant tunes to get everybody dancing at your wedding! From Britney Spears to Muse via Beethoven and Frank Sinatra, they really have it all. If you can find a better band comprising a violin, a guitar and an accordion then we’ll eat our wedding hat.

You could find that an A Capella group would be an idea choice for your entertainment, with their soulful voices in perfect harmony at your very special event.

Make it classy; make it memorable and get bring some ‘culture’ to your event.

40th Birthday Ideas…

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I went to a very well organised 40th Birthday and it was the most enjoyable ‘Birthday bash’ I have been to in a long while. Why not give your loved one a birthday party to remember for years to come and here is a taster of what was on offer at this particular one:

This party was all arranged to ensure that guests never knew quite what was coming next: 

Just sixty minutes from London, Aynhoe Park offers a luxurious private home and embodies pure British eccentricity from top to toe. For Friday night, guests were treated to a sumptuous dinner and comic delights for entertainment.

When you hire Aynhoe Park, it essentially becomes your home. You can do as you please and there are fantastic events staff on hand to cater to your needs. It really is an incredible place. Acts were provided to be immersive, with no obvious staging required. Saturday night was the big party day and guests could move freely from room to room, never knowing what they were about to encounter. With no announcements necessary, the evening flowed beautifully and it was a fantastic idea to enhance the event.

The pop-up nature of the evening began with a superb pianist, who performed on the vintage piano as partygoers took in the experience; drinking their cocktails, sampling the canapés on display and marvelling at the Aynhoe Park experience and quirky nature of the event!

In a different area of Aynhoe Park; A Capella singing combined with a beatboxer more than delivered and really got the party started. Guests were whooping and cheering throughout, even calling out for an encore, which was duly respected!

And for a finale, what better act than the illuminating lights of a fire show. Performing in the orangery with the audience surrounding them, they managed to create a club-inspired atmosphere that was perfect to lead into the DJ who played across two different zones – his first set was commercial pop and dance floor fillers, before moving onto deep house music until 4am!

Time to plan New Year’s Eve 2015

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Plan your New Year’s Eve party this year and make it something truly amazing by booking from Red Masque entertainment directory. You will be able to use a lot more imagination than you thought possible – making 2016 come in with an even bigger bang!!!!

The celebration of New Year is one of the oldest annual rituals, observed globally for thousands of years by all the ancient civilizations from the Egyptians and Mayans to the Chinese and Maoris.

It is possible to take part in a New Year celebration almost every month of the year as our own western observance of New Year’s Day on January 1st only came into practice around 400 years ago.

Most of the older traditions base their new year around important social or astrological activities; the Egyptians celebrated the feast of Opet during the Nile’s inundation, the Mayan New Year varies Chinese New Year changes annually with the year of the Monkey starting on January 22nd 2004 while the Celtic celebration of Samhain is held around Halloween.

Did you know? The first people to make resolutions were the ancient Babylonians over 4000 years ago, in the belief that whatever they did on the first day of the year would affect their entire year.

The ancient Babylonian New Year was dated to the first new moon (visible crescent) after the vernal, or spring, equinox (usually March), so if you need an excuse to party, Red Masque entertainment can offer a whole year of new and unusual opportunities!

Most New Year celebrations incorporate the ideas of fertility and good luck with reviewing the past year whilst hoping for a better year ahead. The customs we follow in the UK stem mainly from old Scottish traditions of Hogmanay, whose roots date back to the pagan mid-winter practice of sun and fire worship which later linked with the Roman winter festival of Saturnalia, a decadent and uninhibited feast of food, wine and fun.

If you stay at home, make sure that the first person over the threshold after midnight is a tall, dark, handsome man, preferably carrying coal, bread and whiskey! This is the Scottish tradition of First Footing and ensures good luck, health and wealth for the coming year.

Blondes and red heads are considered bad luck, stemming from the fear of rape and pillage by the fair haired Viking invaders!

In English and German folk belief, special significance was attached to the sex, stature, appearance, complexion and even the occupation of the first person one encountered in the New Year, and over the years we have taken this one step further and made a tradition of kissing a special person (or whoever’s closest to hand) immediately as the New Year is ushered in. So get stuck in and have a very Happy New Year!