Guerrilla Balls - Primer

A guerrilla ball is a "meta-event", usually symbiotic with an host event that shares one or more qualities in common with a ball (but is not necessarily an actual ball,) whereby participants attend the host event dressed and behaving as though at a ball. Alternatively it *is* an actual ball wherein something about the event or participation therein can be considered subversive, secret, or sneaky.

A ball here is defined as a social evening gathering, usually lavish and requiring formal dress, typically involving a dinner, ballroom dancing, and entertainment such as live chamber music, traditional performances, and/or oratory.

The neologism guerrillaballing is a term used to describe the act of creating a guerrilla ball out of an event or circumstance.

Examples:

- The Ice Ball.
The original guerrilla ball. See the primer for an explanation.

- The Big Baltz.
The guerrillaballing of a promotional stunt called The Big Waltz, wherein members of the public were invited to participate in a 1000-person Viennese Waltz on Lincoln Center Plaza. Guerrilla Ballers wore formal wear while waltzing, thus appearing to be at a ball.

- The Beach Ball.
An embellishment of a public prank by ImprovEverywhere called Black Tie Beach, wherein pranksters engaged in a day at the beach dressed in black (or white) tie. The addition of a fancy dinner--or as translated in to beach culture, a picnic--and dancing, created the conceptual telltale of a ball.

- The Bouncy Ball.
A very metaphysical ball comprised of a collection of photos of ballers simulating the postures and manners stereotypical of a ball as translated for the medium of trampolines, from various different times and places: http://saomsdangledthreads.blogspot.com/2012/05/bouncy-ball.html

- Society Ball Spelunks.
So-called society balls are actual balls, usually thrown by or at least originally patronized by groups of people connected by ancestry or affiliation. They are customarily lavish and somewhat exclusive (if not by policy then by privacy and economics.)
Spelunk refers to urban spelunking, which itself extends the scope of the activity more popularly known as Urban Exploration. Urban Exploration involves the exploring of structures, areas, and urban features that are hidden, inaccessible, or prohibited, such as abandoned buldings, ruins, city infrastructure, etc.
Urban spelunking as applied in the context of guerrilla balls also includes infiltrating locations and attending events in which one has no sanction to participate; such as society balls.

Decentralized Dance Party - NYC

Decentralized Dance Party is the brand name of a series of flash-mob style roving street parties conducted by a duo of Canadian DJs/mischievists in various cities around North America. On January 21, 2012 they collaborated with the similarly-engaged New York-based mischievists NewMindSpaceNYC to bring the party to New York City. After a little intervention by SAOM, it happened like this:

Convocation: Union Square

Briefing

On the move

In transit

Grand Central Station

42nd Street × Madison Avenue

Steps of the New York Public Library

Thwarted by the Man

Cactus Pete - Latin Hoe-Downing

From The Life and Times of Cactus Pete

SAOM Provideth

Saomians sometimes suspect that the timely discovery of objects that incite, enable, or promote antics that they believe to be amusing to SAOM, are dangled threads.

The above-pictured boombox--slightly damaged, but otherwise fully functional--was discovered outside Agent Mom's house, 2 days before The Decentralized Dance Party - NYC Edition 1, for which a boom box would be needed to participate.

The New York Winter Society Ice Ball MMXII

Wall Street Journal, Greater New York section

UCS

"Incendiomenti!"

UCS

The Ice Ball - Primer

The Ice Ball is a guerrilla ball--the original, in fact--wherein participants "attend" by dressing up and skating around on a public ice rink, (such as the one at Bryant Park, NYC) looking and acting as though at a ball.

Most important to participation is one's attire. It is in effect what defines the ball, and differentiates ball attendees from other people who came to ice skate on a public rink during regular business hours.

The inability to ice skate--or indeed the refrain therefrom--even, is no disqualification of attendance.

The dresscode of the Ice Ball is a new protocol known as Impressionist Formal, or Imformal. It requires attire and accessories that project the impression of formality to the public eye, or incorporates exuberance derived from traditional formal dress.

While it is enough to come dressed to the sartorial hilt and appear to be at a ball, one might also act as though at a ball; such as dancing. Specifically the ViennIce Waltz, a simple partnered twirling move that mimics the appearance of the Viennese Waltz--a favorite of formal balls everywhere.

Attending the Ice Ball (or any other such event) makes one instantly eligible for the Simulacrum of Yore Society. (The other requirement is one's self-declaration of membership.)

To teach and practice this Ze Feuer Fellowes conduct ad-hoc coaching and practice sessions over the winter at Bryant Park (NYC.) They are customarily on a weekday (before Thursday) either from 6 - 7:30 PM, or 8 - 9:30 PM. See the events of the Unexplained Bacon Facebook group for scheduling: https://www.facebook.com/groups/302243449785887/events/