When Ken is not too busy with his new company, he will write these
pages to suit him, but until then …
 In the Society for Creative Anachronism,
Ken assumes the name of Niall McKennett. His persona was originally from
8th-9th Ireland, but these days, Niall can more often be found inhabiting
the 16th century either under that name or as Juan Joaquin Ortega y Alvarez
or as his more scurrilous evil twin, Neal de Ferret (AKA Neal Weasel).
Chronology of SCA Life
- Ken first joined the SCA around 1977. He was one of the founding
members of the (then) Shire of Black Diamond (Virginia Tech/Blacksburg,
VA area) in The Kingdom of Atlantia.
- He moved to the Barony of Storvik [then the Washington, D.C. metropolitan
area], but did not become active there until 1981.
- While in Storvik, He became interested in historical
dance and spent many years teaching, researching, and performing
15th and 16th century dance. He also served the Barony of Storvik
as Baronial Exchequer. In 1985 he was elevated into the Order of
the Laurel. Ken renewed his interest in fencing and researched and
attempted to recreate period forms of duello with
the same enthusiasm he had for dance.
- The Barony of Storvik became got so large that it broke asunder and
the Barony
of Ponte Alto [Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, VA] was formed in
1992. Niall McKennett and his lady were honored to be selected the
Founding Baron and Baroness of Ponte Alto.
- During this time, Ken put much energy into promoting period fencing
in Atlantia and helping to structure the rules and award structure
used in Atlantia as well as teaching fencing. For this work, he was
one of the first fencers to be inducted into Atlantia’s Order
of Merit for fighting arts, The Order of the Sea Stag, as well as being
inducted into the Academie
d’Espee in 1992.
Medieval/Early Modern Period Interests
- 15th, 16th, and 17th century fencing/code duello
- The courtier in 15th and 16th society
- 15th, 16th, and 17th century dance
- Social and cultural contexts of dance and duello
- 17th pikemen and their training
|
|
