Perth City Salute August 2017
On foot of the development of the William Wallace Big Head Puppet for Ardrossan's Castle Carnival Parade this year, Independeht State of Happiness was delighted to be invited to form part of Perth's Salute Event Parade, as ongoing development from the Edinburgh Military Tattoo's Outreach work in 2015. After developing & choreographing various Haka-style chants with young Korean Martial Arts enthusiasts, Highland Wrestling practitioners, visually impaired and elderly people during 2016's Paisley Halloween Parade & the Ardrossan Parade, it was delight to work with Dundee-based Scare Actor & Zombie troupe, Castle Horror, for the Perth Parade.
One chirpy Cockney "Brewed in Scotland, Born in England" Scare Actor was quite concerned about his Cockney accent being too audible & not fitting in with a Scots, Gaelic & English chant commemorating memory of Scotland's 38 Kings crowned on The Stone of Destiny in Scone – he was assured he very much welcome & his contribution both valued & valuable, as was a participant who had travelled all the way up from Newcastle to take part in the Ardrossan Parade Warrriors' performance earlier this year.
Stàit Neo-Eisimileach Sonais / Independent State of Happiness will always welcome all who want to participate in our work engaging with, animating and bringing Scotland's rich & diverse history & folklore to life and Ariel Killick personally has a 17 year long track record of augmenting peaceful community cultural events across Scotland, Ireland & Northern Ireland, including a role as lead solo Vocal Artist & Stilt Performer at the Belfast Culture Night / International Day of Peace, seen here. Collaborating with experienced Historical Re-Enactment performers was also both a first and pretty awesome – as was linking in with a community of often highly skilled & knowledgeable performers who entertain at and augment history & culture events peacefully & without incident across Scotland every single year.
