About three years ago, Ann Arbor resident Heather MacFarland had an unsettling epiphany.
"I realized the last time I was having a good time was playing with my daughter, who at the time was 10," MacFarland said. "I needed something that was fun, and went looking."
What she found was The Ring of Steel, a theatrical combat and stunt troupe that teaches and performs a variety of styles of swordplay for stage, films, workshops, Renaissance fairs, Celtic festivals, camps and more.
Ring of Steel What: A theatrical swordplay and stunt troupe, based in Ann Arbor, that offers classes and camps, and performs at a wide array of events. When: Three-hour sessions, which include two-hour lessons or classes, are held from 7-10 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays and 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sundays. Where: The University of Michigan Student Theater Arts Complex, 1202 Kipke Drive (near Michigan Stadium and Crisler Arena). Upcoming performance: Indiana Jones Action Stunt Show, from 6 p.m. to midnight at Michigan Stadium parking lot. Details: Those interested in learning about the troupe or taking classes should e-mail Maestro Christopher Barbeau at rosteel@umich.edu. All sessions are open for newcomers to observe, but Thursdays are recommended. The next open introduction class is scheduled for 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 14. |
"When you become an adult, you pay your bills and rent, but to have fun and be childlike and not childish, is huge," MacFarland said. "A lot of people have that, but usually it's sports. This is a sport and I look at it that way, but it's also theater. Part of it is the camaraderie, part of it is learning a physical skill, part of it is performance and part of it is just fun."
But for most of the group, the lure of the troupe simply comes down to getting the chance to play with swords.
"I was looking at fencing and kendo," 34-year-old computer programmer Dave Melcher said. "Then it finally occurred to me that if I learned how to use one for real, when would I get to show that off?"
Maestro Christopher Barbeau leads the troupe through three-hour sessions three times a week at the University of Michigan Student Theater Arts Complex and maintains a performance schedule, from movie openings to the Michigan Renaissance Festival, that is packed year-round.
As a performance art, Ring of Steel's theatrical swordplay and stunts combine aspects from a variety of disciplines, including dance, gymnastics, music, martial arts and fencing, but with one major difference.
"We pull from those areas to create a unique presentation," Barbeau said. "But our drive is that nobody gets hurt."
Aside from the various performances, which included demonstrations at the recent local movie openings of "The Dark Knight" and "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of Crystal Skull," the troupe centers around the three-hour sessions, which can also be considered classes or lessons and which run 51 weeks a year.
The first hour is filled with basic sword drills and conditioning, followed by an hour of more specific instruction in one of the troupe's disciplines, which range from 15 kinds of weapons training to stunt and wire work.
Reporter Seth Gordon can be reached at 734-994-6108 or sgordon@annarbornews.com. |
In the third hour, experienced members stick around to receive instruction from Barbeau or to practice with a "fight partner" on a specific routine or performance.
"The practice is really fun," Ann Arbor resident Rebecca Garber, 44, said. "It's a group that talks to each other, that cares about each other, so you get a lot of friends. I'm a freelance translator and I work at home at a computer and don't get to see people, so this was a big social thing for me that I wasn't expecting."
All the practice certainly pays off in the performances, like at the "Indiana Jones" opening, which Barbeau called the perfect "milieu" for their craft because it incorporated swordplay with hand-to-hand fighting, martial arts and whip work.
"While we can't really compete with the stunts in the movie, but Dave can do fire-whip so close to them they feel the heat off the whip," Barbeau said. "That's something you never get in a movie, nor does Harrison Ford do fire-whip."
As an added bonus, Ring of Steel provides its members with plenty of exercise.
"We have members who have joined because they thought it was a cool way to stay in shape," Barbeau said. "In fact, that's part of why I've stuck with it. All I do is do it three times a week and I weigh seven more pounds than when I was 18, and I'm 45."
With so many disciplines, performances and a go-at-your-own-pace philosophy, Ring of Steel is whatever its members make of it.
"I was never particularly good at any sport, so for me, I expect to be white-haired and still doing it," MacFarland said. "It's a lot of fun for me."