thebrunos.html

The Brunos: The origins, the dancers and the band.

The Brunos have been a part of the ethnic and traditional dance and music scene in California for nearly twenty years. Whether they are performing on stage or just having a dance party at the local pub, they are always brash, outspoken, and not quite what you would expect of practitioners of traditional arts.

There is a reason as to why every single dancer in Pipe and Bowl came to be nick-named Bruno, but it's a secret known to few. I think I'll leave it at that.

There is some confusion about the name 'Bruno' as it applies to us, as it has been used to denote the dancers of Pipe and Bowl, some of Pipe and Bowl's musicians and the name of the spinoff band that will soon release their first CD entitled "Bloody Knuckles." Relax, Binky: Uncle Tim is about to educate you.

Origins:

'Way back in the seventies, there was a man with a vision: Richard Chase. He brought together a bunch of college kids and welded them into a cohesive unit, a team if you will... a dance team of great energy and fortitude with the ubiquitous name 'The Anglo Folk Ballet'. His prophetic vision and legendary leadership welded together an unlikely band of dancers. Privately they referred to their merry band as 'Caca Fuego', but sadly, this was never an official stage name. For reasons too onerous to detail here, the group eventually split in two. The Merry Pryanksters and Pipe and Bowl Morris/Newcastle Country Dancers were born from this split.

(The Merry Pryanksters performed well and long, but eventually they disbanded. Anyway, this is a Bio of The Brunos: If you want to find out about the Pryanksters, search the web.)

As I was saying, Pipe and Bowl was born from the ashes of the Anglo Folk Ballet, with Doug Burger leading the troupe. With the help of such legendary names as Richard Civille, Bob Glesener, Hal Cox and Greg Dana, the troupe began to build a new, bright future for morris dancers everywhere. (well, okay... it wasn't that awesome but it looked pretty good, eh?)

With the help of Dave Ricker, Doug forged a dance troupe of such strength and fortitude that it has withstood the vagaries of chance and the fates for many many years.

So, what does that have to do with The Brunos?

The men of Pipe and Bowl are known as 'the Brunos'. I wish I could tell you why, but if I did they would make me eat lutfisk.

There is a saying among the Brunos: Everything on a need-to-know basis.

If you really need to know, e-mail me and I'll tell you. The answer might surprise you.

The Dancers:

Shunning popular opinion in the ethnic dance community, The Brunos forged ahead to create a dynamic dance troupe dedicated to the idea of not only preserving traditional dance and music, but also to expanding it and making it a performance art.

The stage persona of the Brunos has always been that of 'ill-kempt drunkards managing to dance in spite of intoxication and a cavalier attitude toward music, dance, and art in general.' The truth is probably different than most people imagine.

The members of Pipe and Bowl embody virtually every level of modern society, from a doctor of quantum physics to a schlepper of books to a delusional unemployed 'musician' who spends all his time 'writing' a web page for God knows who. In spite (or perhaps because) of this diversity, Pipe and Bowl continues to perform. Some of the original members still come out to arthritically and querulously dance.

But...
Time passes, and so do troupe leaders. Doug Burger has moved on to a better place (Hawaii), and Ron Collins has taken over his role as 'big kahuna' in the dance troupe. Even so, Doug is not off the hook: As with any gang, it is difficult to join P&B..... but it is impossible to leave.

Meet the Brunos:

'Bruno' Jason is a musician and writer who takes odd jobs as a librarian.

'Bruno' Alex is a martial artist with a degree in anthropology. He is multi-lingual in french, japanese and english. (Alex is Swiss, but we forgive him for it.)

'Bruno' Ron is a brilliant dancer and stage performer. His physical comedy is as good as has been seen since the days of silent films.

'Bruno' Jay is a doctor of physics.

'Bruno' Kevin Hughes is a gourmet cook and connoisier of fine wines.

'Bruno' Tim is a high school drop-out who has managed to get published in several magazines as a free-lance humourist (See my bio for more.)

'Bruno' Jon owns and runs a thriving computer business, wearing every hat from tech support to general manager.

Space limits me from extolling the praises of every single Bruno (there are many). As has been intimated previously, there are people from every walk -- for our older dancers , every limp -- of life.

The Band:

A couple of years ago, I was at a music camp (a retreat for musicians) when a friend said "Why don't you record something?"

I said, "Um... it's called money Chris. Ever heard of it? People who DON'T play music have it."

He said, "If you finish my studio you can record there."

And thus, The Brunos were born.

Afer only mere months of back-breaking labor, The Brunos went to work. There was a bit of confusion at first, as we had a woman in our band (and contrary to what you may have heard, there has never been a woman named Bruno) but we perservered. On the first day of recording, our top fiddler broke two of his fingers. He is probably the first person to go into recording history as 'fiddler and medical emergency'. We perservered. The other fiddlers filled in for him (very well, I might add), and were instrumental -- yes, the pun was intended -- in finishing the recording.

You might be thinking, 'that's all well and good, but didn't you do anything together before recording?'

Of course we did. most of us have played music together for many, many years and most of us have been playing together for at least four or five years.

Egad... my brain is empty! If you have any questions or comments, click on the link below and write to me.

Correspond to Bruno Tim

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