Obit John Langstaff

[Animaterra]

Jack Langstaff was a musician who inspired many of us here, and although not a concertinist, he certainly helped many of us along in our musical ventures. He was my earliest inspiration- when my father took me to see the Revels at age 13 I was entranced by his energy and vowed to make people feel about music the way he made me feel. Any of you who have seen me with my chorus have seen his muse at work in me. He lived a long and full life, and it's just like him to leave at Christmas time.

His obituary in today's Boston Globe: http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituarie..._revels/?page=1

(with a perfect quote by Gayle Rich:''Jack was amazing to work with," said Revels executive director Gayle Rich. ''He was never a person who appeared to have a strong ego, or a sense of 'Do-it-my-way-or-else.' And yet you knew he had a clear idea of how he wanted things to be. I learned so much watching how he worked with people, how he encouraged them, and created community. He knew how to let people blossom.")

 

And a little about the Revels for those who don't know: http://www.revels.org/about_revels/about.htm

 

 

He's singing in glory now, but the world is a little colder and darker today.

Edited December 14, 2005 by Animaterra

[JimLucas]

He's singing in glory now, but the world is a little colder and darker today.

No, it's not... because his spirit lives on in so many of us, and he helped make the world a warmer, brighter place.

[Ken_Coles]

Truly, John Langstaff's work and influence will be felt long after all of us are gone. What a gift to the world (and especially music) he was!

[greenferry]

Jack Langstaff, who founded The Revels, has been a great light in many people's lives. He was a really sweet man. One of my favorite memories was watching him dance "Lord of the Dance" (involving leap-frogs) onstage for the Christmas production, when he was about 79-80 years old. That was several years after he had by-pass surgery. He had such energy!! Bruce Randall sent an email around to the West Gallery folks last night about Jack's passing, and included this excerpt from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" :

 

"Our revels now are ended; these our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits, and

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve;

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind: We are such stuff

As dreams are made of, and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep."

 

 

Pic of Jack Langstaff

Photo from www.sheldonbrown.org

[m3838]

Why don't I know anything about Revels?

Any sources for DVD or VHS?

We collect dance tapes and have some interesting ballett, folk, modern american dance, but no Revels.

[Mark Evans]

Thank you Barbara for that and the Tempest quotation. I wept and had to close my office door for awhile.

 

Michael, the Revels are magic. They must be experienced to be believed. I'm just sorry I did not get to Sanders Theater last year with the Voyageur. Dominique and I would have been in heaven.

[JimLucas]

Why don't I know anything about Revels?

Any sources for DVD or VHS?

Revels is a pageant, and the audience participates.

Having it on DVD could bring back memories for those who have been there, but for someone who has never experienced a Revels performance it would be like trying to experience a movie by only hearing the sound track.

 

I was going to suggest that you try to find a Revels near you this Christmas season, but you mentioned that you live in Manchester, England. As far as I know, Revels is only an American tradition. It's is based on various elements from English traditions, but I don't know that they can all be found together anywhere in England. Sorry about that.

[Ken_Coles]

Bruce Randall sent an email around to the West Gallery folks last night about Jack's passing, and included this excerpt from Shakespeare's "The Tempest" :

 

Bruce! Now there's another character. My first year at Pinewoods they assigned me to a cabin with the name "Newcastle." I asked if this was a joke, bringing Coles to Newcastle, but they laughed and insisted it wasn't intentional. When I found it, there was Bruce, my roommate for the week. I remember when he played for the Abbots Bromley (?name) horn dance one night after dark on his trombone. He is a regular at the Concord open band dance, which I miss (along with the rest of the music scene in New England). And of course Pinewoods as it works now shows the influence of John Langstaff.

 

Ken (not in Newcastle) Coles

[David Barnert]

Why don't I know anything about Revels?

Any sources for DVD or VHS?

It's all at http://www.revels.org/. I should mention that I first met my wife at a Revels/Langstaff performance in New York in 1983.

[Hilary]

For Revels-like activity in England, try the 'Lions Part' on 12th night at the Globe and Borough Market in London

They do at least 4 such during the year - I usually go to the Apple fest in October.

[Rhomylly]

Thanks from me, also, Barbara. I thought I was done crying over this but I guess I'm not.

 

I had the very great privilege of being part of the Washington Revels from 1996-1999. I had the occasion to meet Jack a couple times, and he was always gracious and kind.

 

He was a true "ancestor of my spirit." I would not be the person I am today if it weren't for him and Revels. After my near-suicidal spiritual crash in 1997, Revels literally kept me going for several years, gave me a space to heal, and, eventually, to reconnect with that which is spiritually important to me.

 

When I was working on the Abbots Bromley book, he could not have been more generous with his time and extra material for the book.

 

Today I have hauled all my Christmas Revels CDs in to work, and will likely listen to them exclusively for the rest of the season.

 

Yesterday I was listening to the first Christmas Revels CD, when these lines literally raised the hair on the back of my neck:

 

"St. George shall die by sword

that circle 'round his neck.

 

As winter dies, so shall he die

then to life again, like spring!"

 

 

Fare well, Lord of the Dance.

[Rhomylly]

I wanted to add this.

 

As background, the first act of every Revels performance ends with "Lord of the Dance." At the end of the song, the cast dances out in a linked-hands line into the aisles, into the audience, and, one by one, reaches out to draw individuals into the dancing line. The added audience members reach out and pull more people into the dance, and it goes on and on. The lines then snake into the theater lobby and dance around for 5-10 minutes. It is a very powerful experience.

 

Peter Smith wrote this in 1992. I know Jack Langstaff wholeheartedly believed in these words, because the first time I heard them, he was reading them. I also know, without knowing how I know, that this is what happened when he died Tuesday.

 

"I have no idea -- any more than anyone else has, of course -- of what happens at the moment of death; but if it is something other than encountering oblivion, I realize that I cannot conceive of anything I would more joyfully welcome than having my hand taken by someone -- a complete stranger, perhaps from the other side of the globe -- who had died in the milli-second before me, someone who brings me into a very wide aisle and an infinitely long chain of people who are revelling in a dance which is a dance of life rather than a dance of death, people who are all connected, through their handholding, not only to one another but also, at the point where the line begins, to the one who is indeed The Lord of the Dance."

[Mark Evans]

Rhomylly,

 

Thank you for including that. It was beautiful and a perfect vision. I'll have to go close my office door again. Thank goodness this is my afternoon to take my daughter for her riding lesson. I'll have a good two hours with the horses and will reflect on these words with them.

[Animaterra]

Oh, my friends, this is so very moving, hearing your stories and sharing your emotion. Rhomylly, my life too is what it is today largely because of Jack and Revels. I was in the Hanover Revels in 1976 and 1977, and in the Cambridge Revels from 1978 to 1996- with lots of gaps, but a continuous community. In my constantly fluctuating and unstable life of moves, divorce, bereavement, and the like, the Revels have been a constant.

 

Peter Smith's quote is familiar- I'm sure I read it back when. But it hits me now like it never did before, having lost my soul mate and many other beloved ones since then. And now Jack. What an image - the hand reaching out, pulling you along into the dance.

 

Better bring a box of kleenex to choir practice tonight-

[David Barnert]

There was a remembrance on National Public Radio's "All Things Considered" this evening. You can listen to it here:

 

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5055415