"You see, Steampunk, to us, is something more. It is the imagination . . .
See, it is the rumination on 'What if.'
What if Da Vinci's flying machine had worked?
What if Tesla had a better publicist?"
(Spoken by the host of the Salt*City opening ceremonies.
If you don't know who Tesla is . . .
and you know who Edison is . . .
then that's tragic.
Telsa is linked so you can discover his awesomeness.)
(My Sister-in-law Krista, who found out about Steamfest and made
it possible for my brother Steven and I to attend.)
Salt City Steamfest, in Salt Lake City Utah, was the first ever Steampunk convention in Utah, and it turned out to be a huge success. I'll admit, I've poked my nose into Steampunk here and there, trying to understand it, and what makes up this genre, but never getting a full grasp. I knew the Victorian era was important and that there was a lot of goggles and clocks involved. HG Wells and Jules Verne are the original fathers of steampunk: Victorian sci-fi. There's so much more then that.
My brother Robbie, the one on his mission, was crazy about Steampunk before he left, and he declared it would become the next big thing. Sure enough, Steampunk has been showing itself in media and products. Last fall I bought the most amazing Victorian military coat and buckled boots were all the rage. At the scrapbook store it was easy to find paper and materials with a clocks-and-cogs, Victorian theme.
(Michael preparing for battle!)
There were so many interesting classes. The first class I attended was all about weapons during the Victorian era, and it was fascinating. They were inventive, to say the least, with most of their weapons not doing well. A harmonica on a gun to hold extra ammo. A gun connected to a brass knuckle and a knife. A gun and an axe, in one. Etc.
A goggle making class was offered (because goggles are an important steampunk accessory). There was a pattern making class, building and fitting a corset (that class had some fantastic tips), 19th century fashion, and steampunk in novels were just a few of the classes offered.
LA Living Adventures, a company that specializes in larping, hosted a Nerf battle with steampunk looking weapons. I didn't participate, but it was a lot of fun watching, and my brothers had a lot of fun fighting.
I had a fantastic time at the SaltCity Steamfest. The character creation 101 class was really fun. Its not about creating a RPG style character, but the character you create for yourself. Really, the class was a love of history, of the years 1837 through 1901 and all the possibilities of "What if's" you can playwith. There were so many interesting things happening historically all over the world.
The Convention finished with "An Evening of Elegance." A Steampunk Victorian ball hosted by Old Glory Vintage Dancers, a group who specializes, teaches, and holds authentic, old fashioned dances. The class they had was fun, and now I want to get a fan and memorize all the ways someone can communicate with one.
The fan placed near the heart: "You have won my love"
Closed fan touching the right eye: "When may I see you?"
The number of sticks shown answered: "At what hour?"
Half-opened fan pressed to the lips: "You may kiss me."
Drawing the fan across the eyes: "I am sorry."
Touching fingers to the tip of fan: "I with to speak with you."
Letting the fan rest on the right cheek: "Yes."
Letting the fan rest on the left cheek: "No"
Opening and closing the fan several times: "You are cruel."
Dropping the fan: "We will be friends."
Fanning slowly: "I am married."
Fanning quickly: "I am engaged."
Fan in right hand in front of face: "Follow me."
Twirling the fan in the left hand: "We are being watched"
Drawing the fan through the hand: "I hate you!"
Drawing the fan across the cheek: "I love you!"
I first learned about the language of the fan in my BYU Theater of Civilization class and found it very interesting. Actually, it was a class highlight, next to the 5 minute complete Hamlet improv the theater students spontaneously performed.
Here is a video of the Old Glory Vintage Dancers dancing with the TLC Trio, good ol' steampunk style, to Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance." This really gives you a feel of what Steampunk is if you've never seen it. The instruments are awesome!! The amazing TLC Trio was there to perform during the ball.
Awesome weekend! I hope they did well enough so that they can hold a convention again next year; I have the feeling they did. I will attend, this time in costume.
Have a great week!
Sarah
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