This particular dragon (Fanny), requires no such cheats and can trot around on its own, free from any wheels or articulated trusses welded to it. I would not count on winning any dressage competitions with it (cue the Beach Boys), and for long distances, it gets lazy and lies down on a custom built sled that ferries it from one location to another, but still, it has balance and coordination and that makes it unique in the world of live entertainment.
I discovered Der Drachenstich, like many other cool things I’ve come across, on a social media platform on the internet . You know, the type of video which is light on info, and heavy on likes, until you get the 560th comment where somebody finally identifies what’s going on. I don’t use social media much any more, but this is one time it came in handy.
The show is an annual tradition dating back about four hundred years in the Bavarian town of Furth Im Wald. Performers recount a tale that has something to do with a battle between Bohemians and Hussites and then, all of a sudden a dragon shows up and lays waste to the land and a young lady with magical powers can save everyone but first a brave man has to spear the dragon in head so she can use her powers?
The hell?
It’s not what I would describe as tight storytelling and it could use a lot of work. Given that there’s a dragon involved in this, I don’t think anyone would be too upset if changes were made to make things a little more sensical because, well, dragons aren’t real, so it’s not like facts matter. Der Drachenstich only recently added an English translation to their site and it is a bit rough, likely pulled from Google Translate (can’t blame anyone for that, it’s so handy), but it doesn’t help all that much to clarify things either.