Children's Theater

Spent this week performing with the Mount Airy Dance Theater. We performed a children's theater piece based on the book, "The Man Who Walked Between the Towers," by Mordicai Gerstein. The book describes the events of August 7th, 1974, when Frenchman Philippe Petit managed to secure a tight rope between the twin towers in New York City and perform a walk on it. The children seemed to really enjoy it! They laughed, and called out, trying to help us as we danced our "walk." They identified sounds out loud as we performed our opening soundscape, and clapped at our triumphant feat!

Mark, one of the cast members, is also a clown. He began each of our performances with an act that had many of the kids rolling on the floor! One kid had not even seen the act yet, nor did he know what was about to happen, but the minute Mark walked out, he said over and over, "This is gonna be soooo funny, this is gonna be soooo funny!" And he was right, Mark was funny!

Though I enjoyed performing is all of the libraries in Surry County, I enjoyed performing at pilot Mountain the most. The librarian there was wonderful! After each of our performances, she would ask the kids questions, and help them to engage with the work they had seen. During the performances, she sat right in the audience with the kids, and was as enthused as could be! I wish all librarians were like her!

Though I don't do children's theater often, I find it to be a rewarding activity. I love the thought of nurturing the next generation of art lovers and makers! I also love to show kids that art can be a great way to make a living. No, we art folk may not be rich, but we get to share very special experiences with many, many people! I have always thought that art is a more fun way to educate than sitting at desk, doing busy work. In my experience, children's theater can bring learning to life! I used to love when my school would bring in special groups to perform for us. I'm glad that I can now return the favor.

Now, onto bigger things! We begin shooting the film this weekend! Getting ready to glam it up.

~Cara