"Bottom's Dream": The Bergomask Dance

For the Shakespeare performance "Bottom's Dream," July of 2018, the script called for a Bergomask dance of the Mechanicals. Thursday morning, the day before the show, I woke up in a panic - the Bergomask dance! I'd completely forgotten! I ran down stairs in my pajamas and googled those two mysterious words. I discovered, thanks to wikkipedia, that a Bergomask was a "clumsy rustic dance" which had originated in Italy. I also learned that Mendelssohn had written some incidental music for it. I found this music and began to choreograph in my kitchen even before I had eaten my cereal.
When my unsuspecting campers arrived, ready for a game of zip-zap-zop and some improv, which is how we usually begin the day, they were in for a surprise. "Come on the stage and learn to pas de chat!" I called. "We have to learn the Bergomask dance! Everyone is learning it, and it will also function as your bows."
Without a word, question or query, they hopped up and learned the dance quickly and with more enthusiasm than I could have hoped for. Below is a clip of this dance from their final dress rehearsal:

It was a challenge, but they pulled it off. After all, the show must go on! 

- Kiley Hatch 

7/14/18