Just Announced for Summer 2012: Wolf Trap Favorites

Today's post is from Liz Uyeda, Wolf Trap's Program & Production Assistant.

Wondering what shows to see this summer? Our Wolf Trap Favorites are always great picks! Let me tell you a little bit about why they’ve earned the title.


A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor – May 25 & 26, 2012
Garrison Keillor has been performing A Prairie Home Companion every year at Wolf Trap since 2001. Although we don’t know how much truth is in the rumors about his retiring, we do know that he won’t do it before he performs at the Filene Center on May 25 & 26 of 2012! APHC has become known for not only its wildly creative stories but also its great guest musical artists like Raúl Melo, The Wailin’ Jennys, and Abigail Washburn.

Swamp Romp – June 10, 2012
Our annual Louisiana Swamp Romp is our most unique party-like performance of the summer. Swamp Romp has been a part of the Wolf Trap summer season every year since 1990 and is one of the few general admission performances we have at the Filene Center. It’s four hours of listening to the best New Orleans music during which you can dance, lay out in the sun, throw Mardi Gras beads, or sit back and enjoy your favorite cool cocktail while picnicking on the lawn.

RAIN –A Tribute to the Beatles – June 22 & 23, 2012
RAIN performed at Wolf Trap before making a huge splash on the Broadway stage and we are excited to have them back for a fifth appearance at the Filene Center. This show is a multi-media, multi-dimensional experience that takes you back to the 60’s with historical footage, recreated costumes, and of course the music of the Beatles.

Golden Dragon Acrobats from China – August 5, 2012
2012 will be our third season with the Golden Acrobats from China. This jaw dropping performance is something that truly everyone in the family will appreciate. These well-trained performers brilliantly combine acrobatics, beautiful costumes, and traditional dance. How many people can they fit on one bicycle? You’ll have to see the show to find out!

Steve Miller Band – August 10 & 11, 2012
Steve Miller Band will be performing at Wolf Trap for the eighth time this season. This is a show that is always a sell out so to make sure that you get a chance to see it, we’ve added an additional date! In the past Steve Miller Band has played for two hours straight with no intermission, working in all of their greatest hits while making sure to play a few songs off of the most recent album.

ABBA –The Concert – August 12, 2012
This will be the seventh year in a row that this Swedish group brings the 60’s and our favorite MAMMA MIA! hits back to life at the Filene Center. Although not an authorized “sing-a-long” we know that you know all the words and dancing on the lawn is always welcome. Grab your girlfriends, your favorite bottle of wine, and those bellbottoms you haven’t worn in years! It’s that kind of night.

Sing-A-Long Sound of Music – August 25, 2012
This is the newest of our Wolf Trap Favorites that had its debut only last summer. If you missed the fun, do yourself a favor and save this date! The Sing-A-Long Sound of Music is truly a BLAST that will have you shamelessly singing in public, cheering for Maria, booing Nazis, all whilst wearing your favorite pair of lederhosen.

Just Announced for Summer 2012: Pop & Rock

Today's post is from Graham Binder.

If you're anything like us, you're thinking about live music on a 24/7 schedule.

You're probably not as much like us in the respect that we're thinking about live music right now, three months from now and even SEVEN months from now. Believe it or not, we've got a percentage of our summer 2012 schedule already lined up.

Since everyone undoubtedly has food on the brain with the fast approaching holiday season, I'm going to attempt to pair each of our just announced pop & rock shows with a holiday dish or holiday drink. Since you can bring all your own food and drink onto the lawn for Filene Center shows, maybe my suggestions will actually become a reality!

Yanni, (he hasn't appeared at WT since 1994) June 8 at 8pm - it's Baklava for the King of Acropolis

RAIN - A Tribute to the Beatles, June 22 and 23 at 8pm - Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Happy Together Tour 2012, July 29 at 8pm - Loaded thanksgiving sandwiches w/ turkey, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, and mashed potatoes (five foods for five acts!)

The Temptations & The Four Tops, August 2 at 8pm - Macaroni & cheese topped with sausage and bread crumbs

Steve Miller Band, (first time we've had him for two nights) August 10 and 11 at 8pm - Yuengling (PA beer,) Great Lakes (Ohio beer,) or Bell's (Michigan beer.)

ABBA - The Concert, August 12 at 8pm - Swedish Meatballs

So keep Wolf Trap in mind this holiday season as you feast on delicious domestic and international food! Summer 2012 is closer than you think.

If you don't know Catie Curtis --here are few reasons you should

Today's post is from Melissa Chotiner.

One of the neat things about working at Wolf Trap, you get paid to listen to and experience music. I also appreciate the opportunities AT WORK to get turned on to new (to me) artists - like Catie Curtis, who is at The Barns tonight.

I'm not gonna lie - I'm in a phase of life that I don't explore new things often enough. A wife and mom of two girls, I run around a lot, and so the rare opportunity I get for leisure activities is usually spent doing something I know and like. That's a poor excuse in this day and age when it's just so easy to learn about new artists, thanks to YouTube, iTunes, Spotify and other readily accessible outlets where you can check them out at no risk with the click of a mouse or touch of a screen. (Back in the day you had to haul it out to the mall record store and hope that no one was using the headset connected to the CD sampler to get a taste of a new album.)

I'm a big fan of music that blends folk, rock and country - especially female vocals - think Indigo Girls, Melissa Etheridge. "All I want," by Joni Mitchell is my wedding song. So if you know Catie Curtis - you can imagine it's not a big stretch for me to fall in love with her music. I'm not alone. The New Yorker dubbed her a "folk rock goddess," and this past December the White House brought her to perform holiday songs that she later made into an album. She's now touring her latest LP, Stretch Limousine on Fire, released this past August.

Here's a track from her record Sweet Leaf that is bound to brighten anyone's day.

Pisces and the Wolf Trap Line-Up

Today's post is from Melissa Chotiner.

This week we announced 39 summer 2012 shows coming to Wolf Trap which will go on sale to the public December 10. (Members can buy sooner.)This is just the first of several announcements leading up to the season. In this first roll-out you'll find everything from dance to theater to rock to symphony. The eclectic mix of artists and performance genres Wolf Trap presents is not an accident. It is a central part of Wolf Trap's mission. For a Pisces like me--it's a great thing. Why you ask -or maybe you won't, but let me tell you anyway.

Garrison Keillor at Wolf Trap 2011. Photo by Irene Rojas

Besides having a winter birthday (no pool parties as a kid) being a Pisces means you have a little bit of each sign in you. Pisces is the last sign on the zodiac. Basically I can relate a little bit to everyone and everything. In short, my circle of friends is made up of quite an eclectic mix - different ages, ethnicities, tastes and so on. The range of programming at Wolf Trap bodes well for my broad and diverse circle of friends and family (for Filene Center shows as well as those year-round at The Barns).

Steve Miller Band at Wolf Trap 2007 Photo by Andrew Propp

Take my dad --he's a big Melissa Manchester fan (who happens to be at The Barns tomorrow night). My brother--a product of the late '60s, was very disappointed to have missed Lynyrd Skynyrd last summer (his New York law practice simply could not accommodate the Tuesday night performance). He did fortunately get down to this neck of the woods for Steve Miller (who will be coming back for two nights in summer 2012). My spouse, a baby boomer, accompanied me this past summer to Aretha Franklin and Emmylou Harris (who he keeps reminding me he met as a teenager when he had his own band.). He is also a regular APHC (A Prairie Home Companion) listener. We'll be opening our season as is tradition, on Memorial Day weekend 2012, visiting Lake Wobegon at Wolf Trap. My lovely daughters - ages eight and ten - loved every minute of Miranda Cosgrove last summer. For the coming summer, I have a strong feeling The Wizard of Oz with the NSO and Golden Dragon Acrobats from China (this show does not disappoint!) will be on our calendar.

I think you get the idea - there is really something for everyone at Wolf Trap. Starting next week, we'll delve deeper into the range of programming offered at Wolf Trap with a series of posts looking at pop/rock shows, National Symphony Orchestra performances, dance and musicals, and Wolf Trap favorites.

We always like to hear from you --leave a comment with the shows you are looking forward to seeing on our schedule.

Video Highlights from October at Wolf Trap!

Today's post is from Graham Binder and Evan Milberg.

Here's a few performance gems you might have missed this past month at Wolf Trap. We've got highlights of The Ahn Trio's Wolf Trap debut, the highly anticipated return of Scotland's Golden Gods Battlefield Band, and slidemaster Sonny Landreth. Enjoy, and we'll be back at you with a November reel as well.

An Artistic Adventure: It's a Wrap!

Dancers glide diagonally down the arched corridor in 3/4 time. They are lit from the side as the sun reaches through the windows on the second floor of Fort Jefferson.

This is the last shot of our entire filming trip.

"Cut!"

"And that's a wrap!"

Before we rush to pack and load our equipment, we take a deep breath. My partner-in-crime, Jo Hodgin, leans in the give me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I have to hold back tears.

It's emotional. 10 days spent in incredible natural wildernesses surround by the most talented and enjoyable cast and crew that one can imagine. I can't believe we did it, but I won't let the tears fall because it isn't over....

This isn't the end. September is just around the corner.

We have in our Wolf Trap Mission and Value Statement that we value "the power of the arts to change society." When we talk informally about this value, I usually phrase it something like this: Wolf Trap believes that the arts can change lives. When it comes to reporting in strategic plans, quantifying how we change lives sometimes proves to be challenging. Today, it is not.

Over the past 11 days, I have seen the arts change lives firsthand. Every individual who came into contact with our Face of America filming, whether as a participant or an observer, walked away different in some way than they were before. The dancers explored aspects of their art form they have never ventured into. The crew experienced the magnificence of the natural setting and their part in bringing art to life. Park superintendents saw their parks with new eyes and new emotion. Even I, who have been a part of this from the beginning, am returning home with a heart that is larger than it was when I arrived.

Our goals for this project are multi-layers. We want you to care about these unique areas that have been preserved for our use. We want you to concern yourself with the issues they face. We want you to care about their ecological health.

We want you to see these parks and experience them in a way you never imagined. Step one, quite simply, is that we want you to fall in love with them.

A brief Face of America filming by the numbers:

1 choreographer: David Parsons

2 camera lenses broken

4 National Parks visited - Big Cypress National Preserve, Biscayne National Park, Everglades National Park, Dry Tortugas National Park

5 amazing dancers: Sarah Braverman, Eric Bourne, Steve Vaughn, Elena D'Amario, Christina Ilisije

6 incredible crew: Walter Rissmeyer, Joe Bruncsak, Vince Gancie, William Harrison, Juan Pineda, Peter Kent

12 days spent filming in and traveling to and around South Florida

16 boats of varying shapes and sizes from a dive charter to an airboat to canoes that transported us from place to place

26 hours spent traveling by boat to Dry Tortugas

149 hotel rooms needed for lodging cast and crew

302 days until the Face of America world premiere. Mark your calendars for Saturday, September 8, 2012!

Countless Park friends to whom we owe a debt of gratitude. I cannot begin to name the people who shared their time, energy, and love with us during this trip. There were so many who opened locked doors for us. To each Superintendent and every ranger in every park, everyone who drove us on a boat or stood watch for alligators, who greeted us with a smile and said farewell with a hug.

You all made this possible. Thank you.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 7, Freedom

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.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 6, Canoe

This post is from Barbara Parker.


You've all seen a canoe, yes? Long, slender boat, pointed ends, propelled by paddles. Sound familiar?

But have you ever seen 6 grown men, 1 artistic coordinator, 2 unsuspecting dancers, and a choreographer trying to plant canoes onto mud flats despite the fact that the water is rapidly rising and two producers must climb into knee-deep mud to pull the canoes toward drier land at regular intervals? I didn't think so.

Canoes are funny.

From the moment you step into a canoe, your balance is challenged. You make circular, horizontal arm movements in a desperate attempt to not fall headfirst into water. Funny, right?

There are many layers to what we are hoping to accomplish with our Face of America: Spirit of South Florida. Many layers. But one simple layer is to answer this question: What can I do when I visit the Everglades?

When we visited last year, we took several spectacular canoe trips. All had two things in common. One, the landscape was wildly beautiful from a point of view so close to the water. Two, there was a certain amount of humor to the trips.


We dealt with two-person canoes where one rower would be diligently, strenuously paddling to find that their partner was distracted by a bird or a ripple in the water. We dealt with near misses in the above mention desperation to not fall head first into the water.


We are answering the question of what you can do when you visit the Everglades with one word. Canoe.


Our location: Mud flats at Florida Bay, Everglades National Park
The dancers: Sarah Braverman and Eric Bourne
The music: "Nyatiti" from Andrew Bird's Useless Creatures


As you may have guessed, this duet is lighthearted. A couple navigating the waters of the Bay and of their own relationship, all the while determined to not topple the canoe.


I apologize for the lack of pictures in the post. Clearly, a camera was just one more thing we could potentially have dropped in the water.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 5, Alligator

This post is from Barbara Parker.

On day one of filming, dancer Elena Damario was afraid to walk into the swamp and dance in the cypress dome. She vehemently did not want to be eaten by an alligator. On day five of filming, Elena led the female dancers as they raced into a cypress dome to swim.

The Everglades have the power to transform.

Here, cypress domes become cathedrals as sun shines through leaves and branches, reflecting stained glass patterns on the water below. Mangrove trees morph into tunnels as branches grow toward one another with light beckoning from either end. As Marjory Stoneman Douglas phrased it, prairies of glades turn into a river of grass.

The same is true for humans. When you visit the Everglades, you leave a different person than the one you came.

Today, we transformed dancers into alligators.

Our location: The road toward Pa-Hay-Okee Overlook; Everglades National Park
The dancers: Sarah Braverman, Christina Ilisije, Elena D'Amario, Steve Vaughn and Eric Bourne
The music: "You Woke Me Up" from Andrew Bird's Useless Creatures

We had snapping jaws, angled limbs, and, on more than one occasion, complete submersion. The hesitation that was present on day one as dancers took their first steps into swamp water was completely gone.

Today, our dancers were transformed into alligators choreographically. But all of those who watched them fall deeply in love with this place over the past week know that, in their hearts and in their minds, the transformation was even more profound.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 4, Chickee

This post is from Barbara Parker.

There are thousands of places in this world that you don't know exist. Serene places, exotic places, spiritual places.

I'm not talking about the expensive celebrity honeymoon spots that most of us can't afford. (If you can afford those places, please contact Wolf Trap. We have a fantastic artistic adventure we'd love to invite you to support!)

I'm talking about the places that may be in your backyard, around the corner or right down the street. Places where you can escape, where all that matters is the beat in your heart, the thoughts in your head, and whatever environment surrounds you. You would want to go to these places, but, like I said, you don't know they exist.

Joe River Chickee is one of those places.

Located in Everglades National Park, this chickee is unlike anything most of us have ever seen before. A stop on the Wilderness Waterway and accessible only by boat, this chickee looks like two covered docks joined by a walkway. Someone wanting to have a waterway adventure would canoe or kayak to what seems like the middle of nowhere. They would pull up to the dock, pitch a tent in the chickee, and for a reservation fee of $10 plus $2 per person, per night, would be completely off the grid.

Those of us wanting to have an artistic adventure would go about this a bit differently.

Our location: Joe River Chickee, Everglades National Park
The dancers: Sarah Braverman, Eric Bourne
The music: A new instrumental arrangement by Tiempo Libre; Bach's Air on a G String leading into Sting's "Fields of Gold"

Here's what happens in front of the cameras: A couple explores the intimacy they could only have while escaping everything but each other. All that is meaningful in this moment in time is two people and their environment.

What happened behind the scenes: We loaded a boat with 7 crew, two cameras, a jib, and many other pieces of equipment the names of which I do not know. We power boated out from the Flamingo Visitors Center and 45 minutes to an hour later arrived on the Joe River Chickee. We unloaded, set up, and waited, all the while applying copious amounts of sunscreen.

An hour or so after our arrival, our dancers, choreographer, production assistant and, perhaps most importantly, lunch arrived. Sarah, our gorgeous lead dancer, was frantic she had left the well-packed suitcase holding all the costumes and music playback at the hotel. An incredibly generous female park ranger at the dock was kind enough to raid her own wardrobe to provide options for costuming.

The dancers marked through movement in a location they had never seen before, one where a step in the wrong direction could lead directly into water. The crew ate their lunch. Well-fed, we started shooting several long movement sequences. All the while changing camera locations and filming angles.

An hour and a half later, we had visitors. Park Superintendent Dan Kimball and Wolf Trap President and CEO Terre Jones arrive with a news crew from NBC Miami. Controlled chaos ensues.

Introductions are made. Interviews are obtained. Photos taken. Hugs exchanged. Several boats are moved several times, and we all take bets on just how many people you can fit on a chickee.

When our guests leave, we resume our schedule as the sun creeps closer and closer to the horizon. Having promised the park that we would be in before dark, we reluctantly call it a wrap in time to return to dock before sunset.

We didn't want to leave. We could have spent many more hours capturing beautiful dance in that beautiful location.

But isn't that how it always is? When you find a place you never knew existed before, you never want to leave.




All photos by Andrew Propp.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 3, Fish

Today's post is from Barbara Parker.

Yesterday, we dealt with some serious stuff.

Today, not so much.

Today, we celebrated fish. I mentioned that Biscayne National Park is 95% underwater. What's under that water? Lots and lots of life.

Biscayne is home to countless species of fish, snakes, mollusks, crocodiles, crustaceans, dolphins, coral, sponges, sea turtles and, my personal favorite, manatees. Believe it or not, I am just touching the surface with that list. As you can imagine, in order to celebrate this underwater world, we had to get wet.

Biscayne National Park is a place where many people go to enjoy recreation. They fish, boat, swim. In other words, they have fun.

We knew to portray this particular part of the park, we needed to do two things. One, we needed to go underwater. Two, we needed to have fun.

We refer to this as a foot dance. Feet as fish, if you will. We decided that we wanted only feet. Funny feet. Underwater.

So, we found a quiet spot in Hurricane Creek and we dropped anchor. Between two boats, we strung two sturdy pipes. We asked the dancers to dance, hanging from the pipes, with only their feet in the water. Okay, and sometimes their hands, and, maybe once or twice, their heads.

We put our camera in an underwater casing, a scuba tank on a cameraman, and we had fun.

This section will open the second half of our program. And, believe me, you'll smile.

Our location: Hurricane Creek, Biscayne National Park
The dancers: Sarah Braverman, Christina Ilisije, Elena D'Amario, Steve Vaughn, and Eric Bourne
The music: "Tu Conga Bach" from Tiempo Libre's Bach in Havana

At the end of the day, we headed back across Biscayne Bay to Park Headquarters. Our boat split the water in two; the sun broke through the clouds; and I sat perched in the bow of the boat. I turned my head, caught the eye of Wolf Trap President and CEO Terre Jones, and said loudly enough to be heard over the roar of the boat engine, "I have the best job in the entire world."

Evidence below.



All photos by William Harrison.

Three Minutes with the Artist: Sonny Landreth

Today's post is from Evan Milberg and Graham Binder

In the world of guitar, Sonny Landreth is known as the “king of slide.” His techniques are influenced by a plethora of styles, including the Cajun and blues styles best associated with his Southern Louisiana roots. However, he’s found a second home at Wolf Trap, playing at our annual Louisiana Swamp Romp. His latest album, From the Reach, features the likes of fellow legends Eric Clapton and Jimmy Buffett. Sonny sampled a few of those epic tracks at The Barns last week. We talked to him for a few minutes before he went on. Take a peek at our three minutes with Sonny Landreth and learn what makes the guy so special and so revered amongst his peers.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 2, Hurricane

Today's post is from Barbara Parker.

Site specific work lives at the intersection of inspiration and environment.

Today, the inspiration was resilience. A noun, meaning the ability to recover readily from adversity.

There are trees in South Florida whose trunks grow straight up, then take sharp turns, then grow straight up again. Those trees have weathered hurricanes. They are tossed and turned by wind, blown at 90 degree angles, and after, they continue to reach for the sky.

The people of South Florida are not so different; they have deep roots. Their love for this place is so deep, in fact, that they choose to invest and build knowing that at any moment, a hurricane could come through and take it all away. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew alone caused $26.5 billion dollars worth of damage; 160,000 residents were left homeless; and 15 people lost their lives. In response, Floridians dig deeper roots. They weather the storm, and then they rebuild.

Resilience. We heard the word over and over again when visiting last, and we had our inspiration.

Now all we needed was an environment.

We visited Biscayne National Park by boat. This is truly the way to see it as 95% of the park is water. Biscayne protects several major ecosystems including the third-longest living coral reef, a portion of Biscayne Bay, mangrove stretches along the shore, and the northernmost Florida Keys. It was on one of these keys, we would find exactly the environment we were looking for.

Porgy Key has a truly incredible story. In short, in 1897, Porgy Key was bought by Israel Jones, an African American who was likely born into slavery who made his way from North Carolina to South Florida. In a time when African Americans in the United States were suffering in segregation, Jones paid $300 for the island. He moved his family to the edge of the bay, cleared the land by hand and started successfully growing pineapples, key limes and lemons. The Jones family eventually became one of the most successful producers of pineapples on the East Coast of Florida.

In 1970 in the spirit of preservation, the Jones family sold their land to the National Park service, and Porgy Key became part of Biscayne National Park. Israel's son Lancelot Jones was granted the right to live out the remainder of his years in the family home. Please click here to read more about this fascinating history.

Today, Porgy Key is not an extremely accessible location. The island can only be accessed via shallow draft vessel. When you arrive to the key, you get your boat as close as you can without doing damage to the underwater terrain. Then, you hop off your boat, into the water (for us, this was waist-deep), and walk to a narrow opening. If you did not know where to look you would not find it. After walking a few feet through overgrown mangroves, you emerge into a clearing. Suddenly, you feel the spirit of Porgy Key.

In this clearing is the foundation of the Jones' family home. It burned to the ground in 1982 and what is left is only the foundation. You can walk up the steps to what would have been the front door. There are remnants of rocks marking where walls used to form rooms. There are ambitious weeds attempting to grow through the cracks in the rock. It is stunning and serene. And the perfect spot to film Hurricane.

We were granted very special permission by the Park Service to film here. We brought only the essential personnel, only one dancer, and took care to protect the ruins on which we were working.

Our location: Parson Jones Foundation, Porgy Key, Biscayne National Park
The dancer: Sarah Braverman
The music: "Dance of Death" from Andrew Bird's Ballad of the Red Shoes

We chose haunting music. The choreographer chose fluid motion. And the weather cooperated beautifully by giving us the perfect amount of wind.

When we combined all of the above, we had captured a dancer as a phoenix, rising from the ruins with hope and determination. To use another word, we captured resilience.



If you missed Day 1, please visit here.

Dancer: Sarah Braverman. All photos by Andrew Propp.

An Artistic Adventure: Day 1, Birds

Today's post is from Barbara Parker.

Tuesday morning around 8 am. I'm walking waist-deep in swamp water and thinking, "It's just another day at the office."

It was almost exactly a year ago the first time I slogged into this particular swamp, Big Cypress National Preserve. We were conducting our first site visit to South Florida. A visit meant to learn the stories of the parks in this area, to consider locations for site specific work, and, most importantly, to find inspiration.

At the end of our visit, I was strolling down the Kirby Storter Boardwalk with Pedro Ramos, Superintendent of Big Cypress National Preserve. He turned to me and asked a fairly simple question. "How are you going to tell the story of my park through dance?"

At the time, I thought, "Isn't that the million dollar question!" Today, I am thrilled to be back at that same boardwalk to show him the answer to his question.

How do we tell the story of his park through the arts? Well, we start with birds.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we are constructing our production in a series of vignettes. It just so happens that our first dance vignette in the performance, as well as our first day of filming, is our Birds segment.

The entire area of South Florida is internationally renowned as a mecca for bird watching. In fact, the Everglades were the site of the first environmental martyr: a Park ranger killed while trying to protect endangered birds. The native birds in this region aren't merely beautiful; they have personality. Anhingas have no oil in their feathers, so after they have dived for food, they must stretch their wings out to dry. The spoonbills dip their heads in the water and shake back and forth, back and forth to capture food in their bills. And the egrets, beautiful, white and long-limbed, practice their own form of bird yoga.

We prepared by watching birds. The dancers, our choreographer, the production team, we watched birds, and we watched footage of birds. We were fascinated by them, enamored with them, and watched them to steal all of their choreography for our own.

Then we dove in. Literally. Into waist-deep water in the swamp.

Our location: the Kirby Storter Boardwalk in Big Cypress National Preserve
The dancers: Christina Ilisije, Elena D'Amario, and Steve Vaughn
The music: "Carrion Suite" from Andrew Bird's Useless Creatures

Waist-deep in water, the dancers became birds. They became egrets, anhingas, and spoonbills. And they did it beautifully.

There are moments when you know you've captured it. Moments in dance and moments in film both. Sometimes it is an intangible satisfaction, others it surfaces more clearly.

At the end of our shoot this morning, Superintendent Pedro Ramos and I walked down the Kirby Storter Boardwalk together again. This time, he didn't ask any questions. Instead, he turned to me and said, "I have walked down this boardwalk hundreds of times, and I will walk down this boardwalk hundreds more. But after seeing this today, I will never look at it in the same way."

And that was the moment I knew: we had our Birds.

If you'd like to check out another perspective on our project (with great photos as well), please visit the Naples News website here.

Top photo: Christina Ilisije and Elena D'Amario. Bottom photo: Steve Vaughn. All photos by Andrew Propp.