View source for Valley of Shadow

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'''Valley of Shadow''' is a Czech experimental larp, combining scenes where players ‘larp as usual’ with ones where they communicate using only dance – specifically blues dancing. 


==Summary==
<blockquote>''Valley of Shadow is set in a noir-style prison. It explores topics such as hopelessness, the cycle of violence, powerlessness – but also love, forgiveness and mercy. All the characters are members of a mobster “family” who got into a hopeless situation – partly through a fault of their own; partly because of an outside influence. At night, the prison falls silent and the characters return to their cells; to dream of a better life, in which they avoided their greatest mistake and did not choose hatred. The dream scenes will use blues dancing as a platform of communication, and they will tell a much lighter story of the golden youth of the jazz era and their one true love.''</blockquote>

==Statistics==
The game is for 36 players in one run and it takes cca 3 hours.
Before the game, there are two days of workshops of Blues dancing and creation of characters and their stories.
Participation fee is 110 - 140 EUR per run, food and hostel style accommodation included.
The game has minimalistic and symbolic scenography, but lights and music play important part in creating the mood of it.

==Techniques==

*[[Pre-larp Workshop]] - workshops of dancing, character creation and non-verbal playing.
*[[Played through dancing]] - the only way of communication in significant part of the game is through non-verbal playing and dancing Blues Vernacular Dance.
*[[Slow take-off]] - dancing through one song.
*[[Slow Landing]]- dancing through one song.
*[[Non-player Character|NPC]] - few of them to create mood and feeling of the game.
*[[Soundtrack]] - for significant part of the game, considering it is played through dancing.
*[[Tap Out]] - non-verbal and [[Safewords]].
*[[Debriefing]] - in small groups.
*[[Third Person Principle]] - especially during debriefing, starting by naming the character (they did not need to do it before the game).
*[[Fateplay]] - stories of characters are fully set before the game (partially by organisers, partially in workshop co-creation)
*[[Alter-egos]] - two players play one character.
*[[Dream Scene]] - cca half of the game is focused on dreams of their characters and is expressed only through dance.
*[[Time Jump]] - the game focuses only on important moments in lives of characters, so time is inconsistent and there are time jumps incorporated as well as [[Flashback]].

==Articles==
In Knutepunkt book 2019.

==Authors==

*Iva Vávrová
*[[User:Morgain|Kateřina Morgain Holendová]]
*Jakub Míšek
*Anna Vrtálková

==External Links==

*http://valley.tempusludi.cz/en/
*[https://www.facebook.com/valleylarp/ Facebook Page]
*[https://larpovadatabaze.cz/larp/valley-of-shadow/cs/53900 Larp database]

[[Category:Czech]]
[[Category:Larps]]