Troupe d'Jour Demonstration 2006

Wednesday, June 7, 2006, Sydney Yarbrough, Kyle Cook, and Jonathan Moonen presented an hour long lecture/demo for ‘Troupe d’Jour,’ an educational theatre company that offers theatre-based presentations to all levels of school students. The demo was given in conjunction with a Shakespeare acting camp, so the focus was historical fighting during the Renaissance period, particularly the fighting styles reflected in the Elizabethan era. Ms. Yarbrough began by explaining how sword use did not just jump to the rapier (made so familiar by movies), but rather that it was a gradual process arising from the need for a quicker and lighter weapon for urban fighting. Emphasis was put on how the growing civilian use of swords effected a change in fighting styles for urban defense. The students were then shown various examples of weapons (cut and thrust swords, bucklers, daggers, rapiers, etc.) that would have been used at this time. Mr. Cook demonstrated stances followed by Mr. Moonen showing several 8-cut drills. The demo was concluded with Kyle, Sydney, and Jonathan sparring with long-swords, cut and thrust swords, buckler, and messer.