This post is from Barbara Parker.
It is close to 1 am, and we have just arrived at our hotel for the night. We spent 26 hours on a charter dive boat to travel round trip to a remote location in the Florida Keys where we would spend a total of 27 hours. We had never visited this site, had not picked out locations in advance, and had to cram the filming of what will be our finale vignette into the confines of 10 hours of daylight.
Did I mention that many of us, including yours truly, fought motion sickness the entire trip, went 2 to 3 days without showering, and slept in bunks with 18 cast and crew on one boat? Also, when we returned to the dock in the wee hours, our rental car had a flat tire.
Challenges.
The challenges added up at this particular site. It was the one and only filming site I had not seen prior to our arrival for this filming trip because of its remote location. I didn't need to see it because the site itself is iconic, and it isn't that large. It was a given that we were going to film here.
Dry Tortugas National Park is the least visited park in the entire system. Accessible only by boat or seaplane, it is the least visited because it is the hardest to get to. What it lacks in accessibility, it makes up for in intrigue.
Never having seen the site, we faced several challenges. Like everything in life, challenge is relative.
Each week, Cuban refugees seek asylum in the United States by traveling 90 miles west to Dry Tortugas. They build what can hardly be called boats and risk their lives in search of freedom. They run risks that range from rough seas to being turned back by the Coast Guard just miles from their destination.
No shower and a flat tire? Don't seem much like challenges in comparison.
Our location: Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas National Park
The dancers: Sarah Braverman, Eric Bourne, Steve Vaughn, Christina Ilisije, and Elena D'Amario
The music: "Arroz Con Mango" and "Lo Que Esperabas" by Tiempo Libre
The architecture alone is art, so we sought to explore the unique environment. The cultural story is powerful, so we sought to celebrate freedom. As strong as the desire for the freedom that many of us take for granted is, it is not the only story of freedom we are telling in this segment.
When you visit your National Parks, you will find freedom. You will be free to explore, to be one with nature, to find peace and calm, to enjoy what has been preserved for you. We chose to capture both those types of freedom with yet another- the freedom of dance.
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