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Ride into History
...calls what they do "sneaky history." Others have called their
performances "entertaining and intelligent" and "the most popular part of
the event." One woman wrote, "I don't remember when I've had so much fun -
and I've learned, too!" Ride has delighted audiences of all ages, in
settings as varied as conferences and schools.
"You live up to all of your glowing recommendations."
Ride into History conducts historical performance workshops in January and August each year. See Workshops for more info!
Funding assistance is available for most Ride into History programs
through the Kansas Arts Commission's Touring Program. Qualified
organizations may apply for funding assistance at
http://arts.state.ks.us/grants/index.shtml.
Amelia Earhart and Calamity Jane: One Frontier, Differently
...combines the romance of horses, flight, and the West in a two-act piece for general audiences. What if the young Amelia Earhart had met Calamity Jane?
Amelia and Calamity also travel separately
They are suitable for conference banquet entertainment (references include the National Space Grant Consortium Directors, Kansas School Nurses, and Mountain Plains Museums Association). But they also play very well in schools, from kindergarten on up.
Calamity Jane comes roaring in to tell how she met Buffalo Bill and Wild Bill, became the army's only woman scout, and earned her nickname. But give her time and she'll also talk about having to pack up and leave her home in Missouri, about being an immigrant, about her parents' death, and about giving up her daughter for adoption.
Amelia Earhart runs into the room, apologizes for being late, and explains the latest problem with her attempt to fly around the world at the equator. She also tells dramatic stories about her childhood, including a harrowing sled "flight" between the legs of a horse, and about becoming the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air.
Ann has taken Amelia Earhart to elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and colleges; to public schools, Catholic schools, a Jewish school, Episcopal schools, and a school for kids with dyslexia; to schools from New York City to Saipan.
Kansas City fourth graders wrote:
A teacher in a small community was impressed.
Grower, A Woman of the Earth Lodge People
"Excellent" has also been repeatedly applied to Joyce's performance as Grower, who speaks from 1804. Grower represents the many peoples who preceded Lewis and Clark in the Louisiana Purchase, including her American father and French grandfather. Teaching stories and hands-on exploration of farming tools, seeds, skins, trade goods, and other material culture make this a favorite for schools and museums. She spoke to hundreds during the July 2004 Lewis and Clark event at Atchison, Kansas.
Texas cattle drover Georgiana Jackson took over the drive when her father became ill and her brother was in the war. But when she returned home her family thought that she should give up her outdoor life and become a lady. Instead she bought pastureland up north. Now the bank is threatening her hold on the land.
Grower and Georgiana Jackson can be combined with Mary Fix's 
story of settling in Kansas Territory to make up the three-act Whose Land?/Our Land/My Land, which explores issues of ownership and stewardship. Grower cannot understand how the people's land can be owned, much less sold ("Can you sell the air?"); Mary and her husband celebrate their new farm; and Georgiana finds on her ranch a link back to Grower.
...traveled the Santa Fe Trail in 1858, becoming in the process the first woman to climb to the top of Pike's Peak. She did her hiking in a (scandalous!) bloomer outfit.
When Abraham Lincoln was elected President, Julia and her husband left Santa Fe, dropped their two-year-old off with her parents in Lawrence, and went to DC to offer their services, returning with Henry's appointment as Secretary of the Territory of New Mexico. Julia's letters, and those of men who wrote complaining that Captain Holmes was not controlling his young wife are among Ann's sources for this fascinating woman who knew Susan B. Anthony and John Brown, taught her brother to speak Spanish, was divorced in 1870, had four children, wrote poetry, and worked for the Bureau of Education in Washington, DC at the time the typewriter was coming into being.
At least 600 women fought in the Civil War disguised as men. Fighting Beside My Brother tells their story in a composite character, a veteran looking back on her motives for going to war. Beginning with Bleeding Kansas, Jo describes the dilemmas of a female Civil War soldier disguised as a man. Ideal for fourth grade
through adult; not suitable for very young people.
School Residencies and workshops for adults
Students learn across the curriculum when they become historian/researcher/scriptwriter/actors! Ride into History performer/scholars work with teacher s in advance to determine
subject curricula to be covered. Ride into History Cultural and Educational Project, Inc. provides all materials (except most research sources), including costumes.
Blazing a Trail through history with Reading Dramatization.
History in the Park! For five days afternoon workshops train people of all ages (or young people only—your choice) to research local history and share their discoveries with first-person narratives. In the evenings Ride into History troupe members provide public performances. On the final evening the local troupe presents
short first person narratives. The result is an on-going troupe that of people who continue to develop their skills and who keep the local stories alive.
Have you seen Night at the Museum ? The displays come alive at night. The public doesn't actually witness the magic, but there are signs that it's happening. Word gets out, and suddenly a place that was going under is inundated by the public. Movie-goers feel good about a story in which a museum has found new energy, and wish that the story could be true -- that history could come alive -- while knowing, nevertheless, that it cannot: exhibits are static.
But they really don't have to be! And that's what will make it all the more startlingwhen we bring history alive at your museum or historic site.Community members arrive for tours, having a vague idea that this is something special, butconfident in their knowledge that museum exhibits don't come alive. And then, something shifts. The magic begins!
Afterwards, they tell their friends, neighbors, and the person waiting on them at the coffee shop. And suddenly your tours are over-booked. What a great problem for a museum to have!
The Experience: A docent leads a group to a display case. Suddenly, a youngster in period clothing runs up, exclaiming, "That's my top! My grandfather made it for me for Christmas!" The artifact (whatever it is) begins "glowing" as its story is told. And this happens over and over throughout the tour: the manikin that's always stood in the corner comes to life, a child walks through the door of a room display and greets the tour group. And the adult docent "loses control" as the exhibits take over!
All materials are provided ; even costumes can be provided.
Ride is serious history
...as both Ann Birney and Joyce Thierer have PhD degrees and are on the humanities council rosters in three states, and Joyce is on the history faculty at Emporial State University...
...but not TOO serious! As entertainment, Ride into History is on the rigorously juried Kansas Arts Commision Touring Program and Heartland Arts rosters.
Other information
Funding assistance is generally available from humanities and arts councils.
Most performances are ideal for groups of up to 400 people--larger in a theater or auditorium with in-house lighting and sound.
The troupe provides sound system, publicity copy, and curriculum guides.
Travel expenses additional, including $25/hour travel time out of state
| Amelia Earhart and Calamity Jane: One Frontier, Differently OR Whose Land/Our Land/My Land |
$900 |
| Single character | $500 |
| Second performance of same character | $200 |
| Second character - different character, same artist | $300 |
| School residencies (4-5 days) | $2800-$3500 |
| Half day in school | $500 |
| Full day in school | $750 |
| Add a horse or two | $300 (plus additional mileage) |
Ride into History
2886 N. Hwy 99
Admire, KS 66830
(620) 528-3580
ridehist@satelephone.com
www.rideintohistory.com
Home | Programs | What to expect | About | Workshops | Contact KAPHP | Glossary | Links | History Alive! Scholar/Performers
This site was created in 2003 by the Kansas Alliance of Professional Historic Performers and Ride into History Cultural and Educational Project, Inc. with an Attraction Development Grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce and Housing Travel & Tourism Development Division
Original site concept and development by Danny C. Boyce Computer and Network Support and Consulting, Emporia Kansas
Significant revision by G R Dobbs 6/6/2007
retaining much of the original design concept
Revisions and Layout Updates in 2008 were made by Megan Matile
Copyright © 2011 All Rights Reserved
