Yesterday, daughter and I took some "try out" classes at the new dance studio that our Broadway Dance class teacher is opening (excellent classes - I highly recommend them if you're in the Durham/Orange County area).
This morning, I learned that you should never demonstrate a "body roll" (from the hip hop class) without warming up properly - especially if you have shoulder and neck problems. I was on advil and Ben Gay today, and almost decided not to go and sit for two hours at the Paperhand Puppet Intervention's performance of "As the Crow Flies" (at the Forest Theater in Chapel Hill). I finally decided to go, partly because I knew I'd enjoy it, and partly because younger son said he wouldn't go if I didn't!
I'm so glad I went. The performance is very creative, and lots of fun.
SPOILER ALERT!!!! If you're going to go see it - close this up and read it (while you reminisce) AFTER you see it. On the other hand, if you're in the area and you're not going to see it, maybe this will whet your appetite.
One thing I love about Paperhand is that they let the story unfold. They don't rush on through the tale like they're on I-40 and just trying to get to the other end. It's more like Route 66 (yes, a little Cars reference here). They linger over the creative details, and they let the story really sink in.
That's NOT to say that the show drags! There's always something to watch. Setting the mood for the story, though, is as important as telling the story itself. The mood is also excellently set by the music which, tonight, varied in style from American traditional to Eastern European to Mid-Eastern. The seven musicians, some of whom also narrated, were wonderful
This year's performance had four stories. The first was the story of John Henry. The music for this one, in particular, really moved the story along. The story was told in two ways, a small set of figures and scenery on the hillside and the larger characters in front.
The actors in front show John Henry driving a stake, and the smaller characters (detail to the right) show John Henry and other workers building the railroad.
The crows in this story danced on stilts.
The climax of the story where John Henry competes with the machine.
The second story, The King of Fools, was a comedy with all sorts of little touches.
Eventually, little flowers pop up in the flower box in the center house, and the figures of a dog and a goat become part of the story.
The next story, about Buddha, was beautifully done, but not as compelling. It's very challenging to portray an inner struggle. In this story, Buddha is struggling against demons - but in an interior sense so the demons whirl around him while he meditates (Apologies for the blurry pictures).
Buddha reaches enlightenment, symbolized by the clouds, banner and lotus flower.
Buddha exits through the audience, making quite a stir.
I had never heard of the final story before. It's the true story of a librarian in Basra, Iraq, who saved the library's books before it burned down. The local governor refused to let her remove the books so she removed them secretly - bringing them home in her car or enlisting the help of the neighborhood to pass them over the wall to a neighboring restaurant. Her story has been made into a children's book, The Librarian of Basra. This story was told with shadows (difficult to photograph). Here, people in the library are discussing the threat of war.
Tonight's show had an added bonus - fire dancing! Younger son said it was his favorite part.
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