JoAnne Tucker shares her experiences in dance from directly a modern dance company to leading movement activities for women in prison and domestic violence survivors.
In spite of my limited Spanish, the nearly two-hour production kept me totally engaged. This is a creative retelling of the story of Fernando Barba, who developed a system of using the body as a musical instrument.
Among the evening highlights were two young actors playing the part of Barba and Barba’s sister. Young Barba is played by Saul Vega, whose excellent voice and stage presence light up the stage. Barba’s sister Young Tata is played by Samy Araya. She too captures our attention. The two young performers do a lovely duet establishing the strength of their characters’ relationship. Particularly strong is Samy’s ability to show how Tata goes from a healthy, playful child to a handicapped person, needing to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair.
The lead is capably played by Rafael Esteban Arias Castro, who also produced the production in Costa Rica. The role of Barba’s sister Tata is ably played by Adriana Viquez Garcia.
It is the full ensemble’s body playing and engaging movement that stands out the most. From the very first number to the end, it is the well done musical and dance moments that I loved. Each has its own character and way of moving the story along. One highlight is the waterfall/echo number where the ensemble moves into the audience with only Barba and his romantic interest Dani (played by Betazbeth Rojas) center stage. The echo sounds done by the ensemble create a beautiful, dreamy setting leading Dani to think that Barba will be proposing to her, only to find out he has brought her to this special place to tell her that the Barbatuques have been asked to perform at the Olympics.
Another special ensemble time is when the Barbatuques are about to perform, and a car alarm goes off. Instead of letting this be a distraction, they build it right into their dynamic musical moment, adding another layer of texture.
While the whole ensemble does an excellent job, two members, Amy Lopez and Andy Gomez, stand out for their strong dance ability. Assistant Musical Director Matt Graham both plays the keyboard onstage and at other times joins the ensemble, moving and body playing with them.
Following the curtain call, Rafael welcomed the creative team to join the cast onstage. Carlos Bauzys, the composer and co-book writer, stepped out and ended the evening by directing the audience to become a symphony in the Barba style. It was great fun to follow his direction and so cool to see how everyone around me was enjoying it too. What a wonderful way to end the evening. I do hope that at any performance when Carlos can’t be there, either Matt Graham (the assistant musical director) or Rafael (who plays Barba) will guide the audience in body percussion.
Teatro Espressivo is a wonderful intimate venue. It is nicely sloped so there is not a bad seat in the house.
Barba runs until September 28th. Here’s the link to buy your ticket: https://boleteria.espressivo.cr/eventperformances.asp?evt=476
(Scroll to the bottom to read this post in Spanish. Thank you Jan Hurwitch for making this possible,)
One thing leads to another. As I mentioned in recent blogs, Casa Uno Artist Residency has hosted several graduates of New York University’s MFA program in Musical Theatre Writing. For the past two years, a faculty member from NYU’s program has sent out an email so alumni can apply for the Residency. In July, I received an email from Kim Bixler saying she knew of my interest in musical theatre and was going to be in Costa Rica working on a musical called BARBA: Brazilian Body Percussion Musical, inspired by the Brazilian musician Fernando Barba, and she would like to meet me. So we began corresponding, and on August 19, I attended a rehearsal of BARBA. What an awesome treat, and I’m so excited that the piece is being workshopped here and I will get to see a performance. I encourage all my Costa Rica friends and readers to make sure they go and see BARBA too.
There is lots of interesting history behind this production. Let me begin by sharing a bit about the two creators, Kim Bixler (Writer and Lyricist) and Carlos Bauzys (Composer, Co-Book Writer and Musical Director). I immediately identified with Kim, as she boldly tries new things in her life. She gave a TEDx talk this past February titled “Why I Couldn’t Be a Musical Theater Writer Until I Turned 50.” Besides our common interest in musical theatre, we share a love of Frank Lloyd Wright. The latest book she published is Growing Up in A Frank Lloyd Wright House. My mom often talked about seeing Frank Lloyd Wright walking around when Fallingwater was being created, as she had a friend with a summer home near the property. I visited the house many times, first as a teenager and most recently around 2018 with my daughter Julie and her family. You can learn lots more about Kim by visiting her website.
When I met Kim at the rehearsal, we had some time to chat, and she explained that COVID proved to be helpful in bringing her and her collaborator together. Because of COVID, potential NYU students could apply via Zoom, which opened the option for international talents to apply without the expense of making a trip to NYC to audition. Carlos Bauzys was one of those people and was awarded a full scholarship to attend. He already had an outstanding career in Brazil as an award-winning composer, arranger, musical director, conductor and educator. His resume of musical direction is very impressive and I encourage you to check out his website. Kim and Carlos met and were partnered to work together during the two years they were enrolled in NYU Tisch’s graduate Musical Theatre Writing program. According to Kim, the first year of the program is dedicated to working with a new collaborator every week on a musical project, then tackling a rewrite after receiving feedback. At the end of the first year, students are asked to rank their top 10 collaborators for their master’s thesis project. Carlos and Kim got their top choices—each other! Their final year is dedicated to completing a full-length musical. Their project became BARBA: Brazilian Body Percussion Musical. Their fellow classmate Matthew Graham from Edmonton, Canada, began working with them when BARBA was just one song and a dream. He is here in Costa Rica as their Assistant Musical Director and also performing in the show.
In February of 2024, BARBA: Brazilian Body Percussion Musical had sold out Off-Broadway performances in NYC where Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro from Costa Rica was the lead actor (BARBA). He is the Producer of the Costa Rican production and again playing the lead role of Barba. At the rehearsal I attended in San José, the choreographer, Rodrigo Varandas (originally from São Paulo, Brazil, currently living in Los Angeles), was at work setting a section with Rafa and the ensemble. Rafa’s strong presence guides the scene with talented local Costa Rican actors, singers and dancers supporting him.
Rounding out the international creative team is Guy Retallack from London, England. He is director of the Costa Rican workshop production of BARBA.
Before closing the blog, I want to share more about the relationship of Carlos to Fernando Barba. Carlos found a way to notate the body percussion and showed that to Barba. That was the beginning of a long friendship and collaboration. On Carlos’s website he talks about how important that was and how committed he is. I quote from his webpage:
As the former co-musical director of the Barbatuques, and close friend of Barba, I’m excited to have the opportunity to tell Barba’s history in a musical, because it is also my history. Today, Barbatuques is a very well-known group in the world with reference to body percussion, but Barba’s influences are also in musical education across the country. The way he could create music from nothing, using just the body and the creativity coming from all people around him was so special, evolving and inclusive.
Kim showed a page of the notation to me, and it is fascinating. I look forward to asking Carlos about it. It looks as though “x” marks and “little circles” around notes, along with other small symbols on the musical staff, tell the performer what kind of body percussion to do.
While a graduate student at NYU, Carlos published “Songbook Barbatuques: Volume 1 featuring 12 scores and 4 lead sheets” in honor of the late Fernando Barba. The songbook provides for the first time what was played by the Brazilian group. Here’s a link to learn more about it.
Watching the rehearsal was a real treat and an excellent example of collaboration. Collaboration has been my focus in previous blogs. It is indeed very special that a future Broadway show is being workshopped here. I encourage all my Costa Rican readers to make sure to get tickets. The show runs in San Jose at Teatro Expressivo from September 11 to September 28. If you live in Atenas we are arranging for a bus to take us to the Sunday, September 21, performance. Here’s a link to buy tickets.
Thank you, Kim, for reaching out to me, and inviting me to a rehearsal! Following are a few of the pictures I took during the rehearsal. The international creative team is in black T-shirts while the local cast (which is doing an outstanding job) are in blue T-shirts.
Kim Bixler and Carlos Bauzys watching rehearsal. Assistant Musical Director and Performer Matthew Graham on keyboardCarlos conferring with Director Guy RetallackDirector Guy Retallack videotaping Choreographer Rodrigo Varandas working with the cast. Actor Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro is center.Chorus surrounding BARBA (played by Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro).
All photos taken by JoAnne during a rehearsal on August 19, 2025.
BARBA en Costa Rica– Una colaboración creativa internacional
Una cosa lleva a otra. Como mencioné en blogs recientes, Casa Uno Artist Residency ha acogido a
varios graduados del programa de Maestría en Bellas Artes en Escritura de Teatro Musical de la Universidad de Nueva York. Durante los últimos dosaños, un miembro del cuerpo docente del programa de la NYU ha enviado un correo electrónico para que los antiguos alumnos puedan solicitar la
residencia. En julio, recibí un correo electrónico de Kim Bixler en el que me decía que sabía de mi interés por el teatro musicaly que iba a estar en Costa Rica
BARBA: Brazilian Body Percussion Musical, inspirado en el músico brasileño Fernando Barba, y que le gustaría conocerme. Así que empezamos aescribirnos y, el 19 de agosto, asistí a un ensayo de BARBA. ¡Qué maravilla! Estoy muy emocionada de que la obra se esté preparando aquí y de poder ver una representación. Animo a todos misamigos y lectores de Costa Rica a que vayan a ver BARBA también.
Hay mucha historia interesante detrás de esta producción. Permítanme comenzar compartiendo un poco sobre los doscreadores, Kim Bixler (guionista y letrista) y Carlos Bauzys (compositor, coautor del libreto y director musical). Inmediatamente me identifiqué con Kim, ya que ella se atreve a probar cosas nuevas en su vida. En febrero pasado dio una charla TEDxtitulada «Por qué no pude ser escritora de teatro musical hasta los 50 años». Además de nuestrointerés común por el teatro musical, compartimos el amor por Frank Lloyd Wright. El último libro que hapublicado se titula Growing Up in A Frank Lloyd Wright House (Crecer en una casa de Frank Lloyd Wright). Mi madre solía hablar de haber visto a Frank LloydWright paseando por Fallingwater cuando se estaba construyendo, ya que tenía una amiga con una casa de veranocerca de la propiedad. Visité la casa muchas veces, la primera cuando era adolescente y la última alrededor de 2018 conmi hija Julie y su familia. Puedes conocer mucho más sobre Kim visitando su página web.
Cuando conocí a Kim en el ensayo, tuvimos tiempo para charlar y me explicó que la COVID había resultado útil para unirla a ella y a su colaborador. Debido a la COVID, los posibles estudiantes de la NYU podían presentar su solicitud a través de Zoom, lo que abrió la posibilidad de que talentos internacionales pudieran solicitarla sin tener que incurrir en los gastos de viajar a Nueva York para hacer la audición. Carlos Bauzys fue una de esas personas y obtuvo una beca completa para asistir. Ya tenía una carrera destacada en Brasil como compositor, arreglista, director musical, director de orquesta y educador galardonado. Su currículum como director musical es muy impresionante y les sugiero que vean su página web. Kim y Carlos se conocieron y se asociaron para trabajar juntos durante los dos añosque estuvieron matriculados en el programa de posgrado de Escritura de Teatro Musical de la NYU Tisch. Según Kim, el primeraño del programa se dedica a trabajar cada semana con un nuevo colaborador en un proyecto musical y, a continuación,abordar una reescritura tras recibir comentarios. Al final del primer año, se pide a los estudiantes que clasifiquen a sus10 colaboradores favoritos para su proyecto de tesis de máster. Carlos y Kim consiguieron sus primeras opciones: ¡el uno al otro! Suúltimo año se dedica a completar un musical completo. Su proyecto se convirtió en BARBA: Brazilian BodyPercussion Musical. Su compañero de clase Matthew Graham, de Edmonton (Canadá), comenzó a trabajarcon ellos cuando BARBA era solo una canción y un sueño. Está aquí, en Costa Rica, como asistentedel director musical y también actúa en el espectáculo.
En febrero de 2024, BARBA: Brazilian Body Percussion Musical había agotado las entradas para las representaciones fuera de Broadway en Nueva York, donde Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro, de Costa Rica, era el actor principal (BARBA). Él es el productor de la producción costarricense y vuelve a interpretar el papel protagonista de Barba. En el ensayo al que asistí en San José, el coreógrafo Rodrigo Varandas (originario de São Paulo, Brasil, y actualmente residente en Los Ángeles) estaba trabajando en una sección con Rafa y el conjunto. La fuerte presencia de Rafa guía la escena, con el apoyo de talentosos actores, cantantes y bailarines locales costarricenses. Completa el equipo creativo internacional Guy Retallack, de Londres, Inglaterra. Es el director de producción del taller costarricense de BARBA.
Antes de terminar el blog, quiero compartir más sobre la relación de Carlos con Fernando Barba. Carlos
encontró una forma de anotar la percusión corporal y se la mostró a Barba. Ese fue el comienzo de una larga amistad y colaboración. En la página web de Carlos, él habla de lo importante que fue eso y de lo
comprometido que está. Cito de su página web:
Como antiguo co director musical de Barbatuques y amigo íntimo de Barba, estoy encantado de
tener la oportunidad de contar la historia de Barba en un musical, porque también es mi historia. Hoy en día, Barbatuques es un grupo muy conocido en el mundo de la percusión corporal, pero
la influencia de Barba también se extiende a la educación musical en todo el país. Su forma de crear
música de la nada, utilizando solo el cuerpo y la creatividad de todas las personas que le rodeaban, era
muy especial, evolutiva e inclusiva.
Kim me enseñó una página de la partitura y es fascinante. Estoy deseando preguntarle a Carlos sobre ella.
Parece que las marcas «x» y los «círculos pequeños» alrededor de las notas, junto con otros pequeños símbolos en el pentagrama, indican al intérprete qué tipo de percusión corporal debe hacer.
Mientras era estudiante de posgrado en la Universidad de Nueva York, Carlos publicó «Songbook Barbatuques: Volume 1 featuring 12 scores and 4 lead sheets» en honor al difunto Fernando Barba. El cancionero recoge por primera vez lo que tocaba el grupo brasileño. Aquí hay un enlace para obtener más información al respecto. Ver el ensayo fue un verdadero placer y un excelente ejemplo de colaboración.
La colaboración ha sido mi tema central en blogs anteriores. Es realmente muy especial que un futuro espectáculo de Broadway se esté preparando aquí. Animo a todos mis lectores costarricenses a que se aseguren de conseguir entradas. El espectáculo se presentará en San José, en el Teatro Espressivo, del 11 al 28 de septiembre. Si vives en Atenas, estamos organizando un autobús para ir a la función del domingo 21 de septiembre. Aquí tienes un enlace para comprar entradas.
¡Gracias, Kim, por ponerte en contacto conmigo e invitarme al ensayo! A continuación, algunas de las fotos que tomé durante el ensayo. El equipo creativo internacional lleva camisetas negras, mientras que el reparto local (que está haciendo un trabajo excepcional) llevan camisetas azules.
Foto n.º 1: Kim Bixler y Carlos Bauzys observando el ensayo. El director musical adjunto y actor Matthew Graham al teclado.
Foto n.º 2: Carlos conversando con el director Guy Retallack.
Foto n.º 3: El director Guy Retallack grabando en vídeo al coreógrafo Rodrigo Varandas
trabajando con el reparto. El actor Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro está en el centro.
Foto n.º 4: El coro rodea a BARBA (interpretado por Raphael (Rafa) Esteban Arias Castro).
Todas las fotos fueron tomadas por JoAnne durante un ensayo el 19 de agosto de 2025.
I am fascinated with the collaborative process. How does a team work together to create a musical? Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with Georgeby James Lapine gives us an intimate look at how he and Sondheim worked together.
I never saw the show but had the original cast album and knew all the songs by heart. The songs really registered with me as they speak of the challenges of being an artist. “A blank canvas” for me is just like an empty space in a dance studio. The book goes into detail about how Lapine and Sondheim developed the show. Lapine was just beginning his career while Sondheim was already very successful. They had an easy time developing the first act but struggled with the second act. It is not usual for major stars like Mandy Patinkin and Bernadette Peters to participate in workshops to help develop a show, but both did. It was interesting to read how both Patinkin and Peters requested an additional song to develop their respective characters further.
The librettist who was part of the artist in residency at Casa Uno not only recommended the book but told me that there was a recording of Sunday in the Park with George online. And indeed, there is. What a joy to finally see the show with the original cast. It was made for PBS’s American Playhouse in 1986. Here’s the link so you can watch it too.
Reading about the Sondheim/Lapine collaboration reminded me of how many gifted collaborations there have been in the musical theatre world and how much joy collaborations like Lerner and Loewe, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Kander and Ebb have brought us.
I found that my creative energy was pushed to a new level whenever I collaborated, which was most of the time. While my collaborations were not in musical theatre and took different forms they stand out as very meaningful parts of my creative life.
The beginning of Avodah Dance Ensemble was a result of a collaboration between me as choreographer/dancer and Irving Fleet as composer. Together we wrestled with what we wanted to say about the key prayers in a Shabbat Service for the piece In Praise. Here’s a Link to read about the beginning of In Praise. Those discussions happened in 1972. That is over 50 years ago and yet those beginning discussions are memories I cherish. We went on to collaborate on two other pieces, Shabbat Womenand Sarah, that are also very meaningful to me.
Rabbi Richard Jacobs and I collaborated on a piece M’Vakshei Or with music by David Finko. Rick, then a rabbinic student and a member of The Avodah Dance Ensemble, introduced the concept of midrash to me and to the other company members. Drawing on his knowledge we worked together bringing ritual movement and improvisations on Biblical text to life.
Later a collaboration between me and Susan Freeman, also a rabbinic student and dancer in Avodah, would develop the idea of dance midrash used in M’vakshei Or into the book Torah in Motion:Creating Dance Midrash which is still available to buy on Amazon. Susan also contributed poetry and insight to a piece Sisters based on the Biblical sisters Rachel and Leah. Cantor Meredith Stone and dancers Kezia Gleckman Hayman and Deborah Hanna also collaborated on this piece and made it one of my favorites.
Often a collaboration has a key moment when you realize that you share a complimentary vision and that working together will take it further than you could alone. With Irving it was visiting him in his hospital room and talking about God. With Rick it was driving to Philadelphia and meeting composer David Finko.
Another important collaboration was with the choreographer Louis Johnson, for a piece based on Exodus. And the moment when we knew we could create something together was when we were having lunch and Louis, with a sparkle in his eyes said, “I can hear Go Down Moses with the Hebrew chant at the same time.” The resulting piece Let My People Go was performed many times during the next ten years.
Photo of JoAnne and Louis taken by Tommy Scott
Finding the collection of poems Wine, Women and Death: Medieval Hebrew Poems on the Good Life by Raymond Scheindlin was a different kind of collaborative experience. After choreographing five or six of the poems, I got to know Ray and he joined us on tour talking about the medieval period and introducing the piece before we performed it.
Newman Taylor Baker began as a substitute performer the first season of Let My People Go, and we felt an immediate connection over his approach to accompanying the piece. That led to a collaboration that has continued to recent years. I loved how I could work on choreography and then Newman would find just the right percussion sounds to take the movement to a new level. Working with him on the Forgiveness Project was one of those special experiences. Fast forward seventeen years and the film company I founded, Healing Voices – Personal Stories, was looking for the right music for a film we had completed on men who experience domestic abuse. Newman’s music came to mind. I’ve written a blog on how his approach enhanced the film. And then just three years ago Newman spent a month in Costa Rica and contributed to inaugurating Camino del Artista, the labyrinth on my property which is an important part of Casa Uno’s residencies.
When I began writing this blog about collaborations in the musical theatre world I did not anticipate that it would soon lead me on a journey to explore how meaningful collaborations have been in my creative life. Mostly Dance is filled with more examples than I am highlighting here. Each member of original casts, whether dancers or musicians, played a collaborative role in creating that new piece. I am so grateful for their willingness to try things and to make suggestions. And this blog is a collaboration too. For thirteen years Kezia, the blog’s editor, was a member of The Avodah Dance Ensemble and was part of the creative process on pieces like Let My People Go,Sisters, and Binding. Now I send her my first draft of a blog, she smooths my language out and makes suggestions, I go over it again, and she checks it before it is published. I could not do it without her. I love when she remembers a moment in the dance company’s history that I had forgotten to include.
I end with a deep bow of gratitude to the dancers, composers, and choreographers I have partnered with.
“What books do you suggest I read to learn more about the history of musical theatre and how different composers and librettists work together?” I asked one evening, as a resident graduate of NYU’s MFA program in musical theatre and another resident working on a novel joined me on the porch to enjoy the sunset.
“One of my favorites books,” responded the musical theatre resident, “is called Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George. And I can email you the reading list that students get from NYU when they are accepted into the program.”
She did indeed email me the list, entitled “Year 1 Textbooks & Summer Reading/Listening.” It is an extensive and challenging reading list. It begins with their required textbook: American Musicals: The Complete Books and Lyrics of 16 Broadway Classics, 1927-1969 (Library of America) by Laurence Maslon. I was really pleased to see how many of the musicals in their textbook I had seen and enjoyed. If you remember from the last blog, as a youngster I danced to the original cast albums in my friend’s living room. Today there are quite a few I listen to while I am walking/dancing in the swimming pool. I am surprised to see that well over 75% of the sixteen musicals are favorites of mine and I know most of the words of the songs. Check this link and press “more” to see the names of the 16 musicals that are included in the two-volume set.
The required reading goes on to list 42 more current musical theatre works with which the student should be familiar, and again I have seen many of them. But there are some I haven’t seen, and so I am building my own list of what I need to listen to, read or see if I can find them on YouTube. Next there is a list of 50 plays the faculty recommends, as they feel musical theatre has often been lacking in diversity. I hunch I won’t spend much time going over this list although I applaud the program for wanting future musical theatre writers to be familiar with these works. The last section intrigues me as it continues with books on the writing and process of creating a musical theatre work. WHEW… so if I get bored I have a lot of resources to go to in a field I am passionate about.
The resident novelist also responded to my question and made a super suggestion, “Read Mary Rodgers’ Shy: The Alarming Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers.
I didn’t know much about Mary Rodgers other than her being the daughter of Richard Rodgers of Rodgers and Hammerstein fame. My curiosity was piqued and so I downloaded the audio book written by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green. The book had me laughing from the very beginning. She immediately lets you know that Richard Rodgers was no saint. When someone is identified by the narrator Christine Baranski (who is reading Mary’s voice), Jesse Green gives us immediate notes about the person. For Richard Rodgers, Jesse states, “1902 – 1979, composer, womanizer, alcoholic, genius.” The main game Richard Rodgers played with his two daughters was getting them to identify musical intervals. That’s ear training, which is part of college composition courses. The girls loved it and his reaction when they got it right. The first chapter, called “Hostility,” goes on to name a variety of games that Mary played with various people in her life, most of whose names are very familiar if you are a musical theatre person. Among her close friends was Stephen Sondheim, and he figures a lot in the narrative.
It was a quick listen as the book continues with a sense of humor, sarcasm and inside scoop on what the musical theatre royalty celebrities’ life was like. It was great fun for me, and I learned some interesting things about Mary Rodgers, a writer/composer herself. Even though she was married two times and had three children with each husband, she was the main support of her family. She faced many challenges as a woman in the mainly male-oriented musical theatre writing and composing world.
Among her unique jobs was writing songs for the Little Golden Books for children, and assisting the producer for Leonard Bernstein’s Young People’s Concerts which were television specials from 1958 – 1972. She wrote the novel Freaky Friday in 1972, and it has had a long life of entertaining people with the playful situation of a mom and daughter switching places for a day. Disney has made three films with the name and story outline. The first one was in 1977 and starred Jodie Foster as Annabelle the daughter and Barbara Harris as the mother. It tickled me to see how the Disney channel describes each of the four movies just a bit differently.
For the 1977 version the description is, “A free-spirited girl switches bodies with her strait-laced mother.” When they remade the film, released in 2003, it starred Lindsay Lohan as Anna the daughter and Jamie Lee Curtis as the mom and was then described as, “A mother and daughter see things a bit differently when they switch bodies.” I watched the 2003 film and it was a perfect antidote to the day’s news. Fast forward to 2018 and now it’s “Disney’s madcap musical teen Ellie and Mom Katherine swap bodies” starring Cozi Zuehlsdorff as Ellie and Heidi Blickenstaff as the mom.
Next time I need a funny cheer-me-up from the day’s headlines I will watch one of the other interpretations. And I can look forward to one that is soon to be released by Disney called Freakier Friday which is being billed as the sequel to the 2003 film version.
I’m fascinated by how Mary Rodgers’ novel has motivated different interpretations, and I look forward to watching all the films and comparing them with the original 1977 which is probably closest to the book. In fact, as a beginning writer, curious about how something is adapted to theater or film, reading the actual novel sounds appropriate.
Until reading Shy I mainly knew Mary Rodgers as composer for Once Upon a Mattress. I was lucky to see the show, which starred Carol Burnett, in 1959. I was taken to see it by my father’s elderly great-aunt and uncle, who lived in NYC when I was taking a modern dance intensive at the Martha Graham Studio. I had to pass up my favorite habit of waiting at the stage door to get autographs. While the show didn’t have a long run (256 performances) it is still frequently performed by community and school groups across the United States, and a Google search proved just how popular the show has been.
On YouTube you can watch two made-for-television productions, both starring Carol Burnett, one made in 1964 and the other in 1972. In 2024 Sutton Foster played the Carol Burnett role of Princess Winnifred on Broadway, and in fact opening on July 16th there is a production at Central City Opera in Central City, Colorado. Indeed, as Mary stated in her book, there is always a production of Once Upon a Mattress playing somewhere. Next time I am looking for something to dance to in the pool, it will be the original cast album of Once Upon a Mattress available on YouTube.
I highly recommend Shy for the inside story on famous people in the musical theatre world during the 40’s through 60’s. It was also valuable to learn how shows are developed and how Mary Rodgers persevered as a woman competing in a male-dominated career. I love that her work continues to have a presence in the entertainment world today, over 50 years later.
Book Cover
Next blog will be a look at Putting It Together: How Stephen Sondheim and I Created Sunday in the Park with George by James Lapine. Meanwhile if you have seen Once Upon a Mattress or Freaky Friday I would love to hear your thoughts! And of course, if you have read Shy, please share too.
Three years ago, I began an Artist in Residency program at my home in Costa Rica. Slowly the residency has built from three sessions (a total of seven artists) the first year (based only on my own mailing list) to nine residencies this year with three artists here at a time. I will again be offering nine next year. The word is out, and it is now listed in several writers’ newsletters. Last summer it was sent to alumni of a musical theatre MFA program. Several graduates of musical theatre programs have attended, which has added an extra delight to my hosting, as I have loved musical theatre since I was a child. It is fun having residents here who are developing scripts, working on both the libretto and music. The first group here donated a portable keyboard they had brought. Music will often drift out of the casita or from the porch, reminding me of the halls of Juilliard.
My introduction to musical theatre began with dancing to recordings in my friend Regina’s living room. I’ve written about it in an earlier blog sharing how much fun we had dancing to musicals of the 1940’s and 1950’s. Here’s a link to that blog.
In 1956, my Dad had a business meeting in NYC and decided to take my mom and me along. Knowing how much I loved musicals, he got us tickets to see My Fair Lady with Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, and Gypsy with Ethel Merman. If I wasn’t hooked before that trip I certainly was after it. I loved seeing the musicals on stage, not just listening to the records. And of course, as an enthusiastic 13-year-old, I insisted on waiting at the stage door to get autographs. Julie Andrews was so sweet, inviting me to stand under her umbrella (it was lightly drizzling) as she signed my autograph. The night before, Ethel Merman wouldn’t even stop to acknowledge me. Oh well… I still loved her performance in Gypsy.
From then on, Mom and I regularly went to see musicals at the Nixon Theatre in downtown Pittsburgh. One highlight was seeing Damn Yankees, with a cast member Al Checco. My Mom remembered him from when he would hang out at my grandparents’ house during the WWII. He and my uncle had not been drafted and were in school at the time, in a music and theatre program. My father had been drafted and so my Mom and I were living at my grandparents’ house. It was quite lively with my uncle’s friends often playing music and singing in the living room. At Damn Yankees, I asked if we could go backstage and of course we did. I had fun seeing the reunion between my Mom and Al, with Al being very kind to me, having remembered me as a toddler.
I’m not sure exactly how old I was then, but I was old enough to apply to be an usher at the Nixon Theatre for Saturday afternoons. I don’t think I got paid, and it must have been some special program they had for high schoolers to get to see more theatre. For at least two years I regularly ushered, and my favorite thing was when a show was there for more than one week and I could see it twice. When Can-Can came to town and was there for two weeks, I noticed that the person who had recreated Kidd’s original choreography, Socartes Birsky, was touring and performing in the production. I boldly went backstage after the show and introduced myself to him and invited him to come and visit my house on his day off and to see a piece I was choreographing to Ravel’s Bolero. He did come and was very polite and encouraging. He joined us for dinner and then one of my parents drove him back to the hotel where he was staying.
My choice for attending Perry-Mansfield was based on Helen Tamiris being the guest teacher for the first three weeks. She was a pioneer of modern dance as well as a choreographer of several Broadway shows. My experience of working with her for three weeks profoundly impacted my life. Here’s a blog where I have written about working with her.
When I realized how important it was to be a triple threat for a career in musical theatre, and my singing voice just couldn’t cut it, I put my performing focus on modern dance.
I did choreograph a high school production of The King and I and later directed community musical theatre. I have written about my experience directing Fiddler on the Roof. Here’s the link to see that blog.
Having graduates of musical theatre programs in residence working on original theatre pieces is a delight. We have lively conversations about favorite musicals. I learn about new trends and recommendations of books to read and where to find musicals online that I might not know about. I’ll be exploring that in Part II. I end this blog with a picture of the group currently in residence. They graduated from Berklee’s Theater Arts Collaborative in New York City last year. They are continuing to work on Coretta – The Musical that they started when a part of the program.
From left to right: Neil Baker, Akili Wynn-Beavers, and Letitia Bullard
One of the challenges that Linda Kent faced when she was Director of Dance at Perry-Mansfield was to provide really meaningful experiences for the dance students after their concert which was held the fourth week of camp. That meant there were still two weeks left of the six-week program. She came up with the idea of bringing guest artists to P-M so the students would be exposed to both master classes and a lecture demonstration by an outstanding artist.
In 2007, P-M faculty member Christina Paolucci arranged an amazing experience featuring Gemze de Lappe sharing work of Agnes de Mille, along with two dancers and a musician. (At that time I did not know about Agnes de Mille’s history with P-M. Check out Part I of this blog to learn about it.) I was thrilled that the students would be able to have master classes and a lecture demonstration, and so Murray and I made a contribution to P-M to help fund it.
Christina at the time was Educational Director/Associate Artistic Director at New York Theatre Ballet, and Gemze had been working extensively with NYTB from 2005 until her death in 2017 as NYTB presented many excerpts from de Mille’s ballets. A highlight of NYTB’s work on de Mille was a production called Dance/Speak. A description in TheatreMania describes it well:
The New York Theatre Ballet celebrates its 30th Anniversary season with the World Premiere of Dance/Speak: The Life of Agnes de Mille, a dance/drama which tells the story of choreographer Agnes de Mille’s struggle for success in the American theatre. Written by Anderson Ferrell, novelist and director of The de Mille Working Group; Directed by Scott Alan Evans; Staged by Gemze de Lappe (including dances from Oklahoma!, Carousel, Brigadoon as well as Fall River Legend, Three Virgins and a Devil, Rodeo, and Debut at the Opera) with Additional Choreography by Liza Gennaro. All performances are followed by an intimate panel discussion with the creators.
Diana Byer, Sallie Wilson, Gemze deLappe and Paul Sutherland at a post-performance conversation after an evening of de Mille works produced by NYTB. Photo by Christina PaolucciElena Zahlmann and Terence Duncan in Oklahoma! Photo by Richard Termine, courtesy of New York Theatre Ballet
An obituary in The New York Times helped me understand better the contribution that Gemze made to the dance world and to keeping the integrity of de Mille’s choreography. Richard Sandomer described it well in this quote:
Miss de Lappe understood that de Mille’s dancers had to be actors, and that her choreography — which was celebrated for incorporating elements of folk dancing and classical ballet — was as much about forging character as it was about learning the steps. When she recreated de Mille’s choreography, Miss de Lappe used her mentor’s vocabulary, vivid with motivational similes, to inform even the subtlest of movements.
The obituary also pointed out:
Miss de Lappe’s association with de Mille began in 1943 when she was cast in a small part in the first national tour of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s“Oklahoma!”
…“She was the potter’s clay for Agnes and one of her foremost interpreters,” Anderson Ferrell, director of the de Mille Working Group, which licenses performances of de Mille’s dances, said in a telephone interview. “Gemze was her muse.”
Over the course of three days Gemze along with dancers Terence Duncan and Julie-Anne Taylor and music director Ferdy Tumakaka conducted a Repertory class for P-M dancers, held two master classes open to the public and presented an hour-long lecture demonstration. Repertory from Carousel, Brigadoon and Oklahoma were introduced. Christina and Terence remember that Gemze’s master class focused on the breath and very detailed characterization from Carousel.
Gemze (center) teaching at Perry-Mansfield. Photo by Christina Paolucci
Five years later in 2013, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Perry-Mansfield Linda Kent turned to de Mille’s Rodeo and shared the following with me:
I wanted to celebrate our history and our dance present and future. Rodeo seemed the most perfect look back. I had great ambition and very little budget!!! Paul Sutherland and the de Mille estate worked with us and we did an excerpt of the second half of the dance. Paul has been the exclusive restager of Rodeo since 1979 and he gives the dancers so much more than steps!! It was a miracle to see contemporary 16-21 year olds ransformed into the gals and cowboys of de Mille’s first encounters. Our cowgirl, Cleo Person, was a delight in her awkward mooning over Keil Weiler as our Champion Roper (and fantastic tap dancer). Paul Sutherland was delighted and I was thrilled that we could bring this back to the community where the inspiration began.
Murray and I had already moved from Steamboat Springs to Santa Fe in late 2009 and while at first we returned in the summers, by 2013 we were busy sharing our artwork at fairs and didn’t make it up to Perry-Mansfield for the celebration. We did hear raves from our friends about how well the evening of dance went.
One of the most delightful things of writing the blog posts for Mostly Dance is the interaction I get with other artists sharing memories. I am very grateful to Linda Kent, Christina Paolucci and Terence Duncan for going through notes, photos and memories that made this post possible.
It wasn’t until 2011 that I learned that Agnes de Mille had been at Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado during the 1930’s. If you are a regular reader of this blog you know that the summer I spent at Perry-Mansfield as a teenager in 1958 was life-changing and that Agnes de Mille’s autobiography Dance to the Piper was also a big influence during that period in my life. In 2011 I was a member of the Board of Directors of Perry-Mansfield and was asked to chair a book-signing event for Dorothy Wickenden’s new book Nothing Daunted: The Unexpected Education of Two Society Girls in the West. In discussion with Dorothy I learned that the reason she wanted to have her book signing at Perry-Mansfield instead of the local bookstore was she wanted square dancing and if possible an excerpt from de Mille’s Rodeo to be part of the event. She felt this would set the ideal mood for her book and draw people out to the event.
Wickenden’s book Nothing Daunted tells the adventures of two young women, graduates of Smith College, who in the summer of 1916 left their society life in New York state and headed to Colorado to teach school in rural northwestern Colorado. One of the women was Dorothy’s grandmother, and nearly a hundred years later Dorothy discovered her grandmother’s letters. These letters helped her recreate the womens’ saga.
Perry-Mansfield was founded in 1913 by two other Smith College women, Portia Mansfield and Charlotte Perry. “The Ladies,” as they were usually referred to, shared their purpose in the following statement: “Creative practice through art and nature manifests in a thoughtful, insightful, and courageous life.” Certainly Charlotte and Portia knew the two women written about in Nothing Daunted.
C. S. Carley, in one of her blogs at Castleandcoffeehouse.com, notes, “The story of Agnes de Mille in Steamboat Springs is one of the many historical nuggets in Dorothy Wickenden’s bestselling book . . .” Carley goes on to describe de Mille’s stay in Steamboat:
During her stay . . . ,Agnes asked to be taken to a square dance, an important regular social event in the local schoolhouse. Not only was she fascinated with the actual cowboys and girls dancing in actual cowboy boots, but she went out on the floor and did a solo turn, to much applause.
The event for the book signing was planned. It included some square dancing, a duet from Rodeo and of course Dorothy Wickenden speaking.
Dorothy Wickenden speaking at Perry-Mansfield (photo by Murray Tucker)
Sharing the duet from Rodeo was the beginning of a project by Linda Kent, who at the time was the director of dance at Perry-Mansfield. She brought the project to culmination two years later by presenting an
excerpt from the second half of the dance as part of the 100-year celebration of the performing arts camp.
Paul Sutherland is the sole répétiteur of the ballet Rodeo, having been appointed by the choreographer in 1979. There is a wonderful article from the Sarasota Herald-Tribune that shares the important role Rodeohas played in Sutherland’s life. He first saw the ballet when he was 18, when someone gave him a ticket. The next morning he signed up for a ballet class and two years later he had a contract with The American Ballet Theatre. His first role was dancing one of the cowboys in Rodeo. Here’s the link to the article which shares additional information. http://ticket.heraldtribune.com/2011/12/03/stager-paul-sutherland-is-still-in-the-saddle/
Linda arranged for Paul to come to Juilliard and teach the dance to her student Ellie (who would be a scholarship student at Perry-Mansfield in the summer), and to a young man from the Ailey BFA program, who also planned to be at P-M. When the dancer from the Ailey program was unable to attend, Ellie (then at P-M), taught the dance (with Paul’s permission) to Raffles Durbin, who was a scholarship student from Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Dallas.
The event was a success with a packed, enthusiastic crowd.
Steamboat Sprints Pilot Newspaper, saved by Linda Kent, publicizing the book-signing event! (Credited to John F. Russell/Staff)
Much to my surprise and delight I found that Disney+ was streaming the 1955 movie of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical Oklahoma (that duo’s first musical,created for the stage in 1943). When the movie first came out I wasn’t a big fan, as I didn’t like the casting of the main leads. I loved the original Broadway cast album of Oklahoma that featured Joan Roberts, Alfred Drake and Celeste Holmes. None of them were in the movie so I did not see the movie until many years later. What attracted me to watching the movie this month was that it is one of the few examples of Agnes de Mille’s choreography that we can see today. Since I was a teenager and read Dance to the Piper (published 1952) I had always admired de Mille, who despite being discouraged by her parents from becoming a dancer, and facing numerous struggles as a dancer and choreographer, achieved success through her sheer determination.
De Mille choreographed the movie just as she did the Broadway show. She was hired by Rodgers and Hammerstein following the 1942 success of the ballet Rodeo which she choreographed for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. She asked Aaron Copeland to create the score for the piece. It premiered in the fall of 1942 at the Met in New York City with deMille dancing the lead cowgirl. She received 22 curtain calls, and the ballet’s success led to her choreographing the Broadway show which changed the use of dance in musicals. For her, dance was not just an entertainment but rather a way to advance the emotions of the characters and the plot.
The original lead dancers in the dream ballet were Marc Platt, Katherine Sergava and George Church. They doubled for the leading actors, and John Martin in a review in The New York Times wrote that Ms. Sergava, dancing the alter ego of heroine Laurey, “with her strangely remote quality of beauty becomes the ideal heroine of a rather terrifying dream.” Neither Katherine Sergava nor George Church was in the movie. Marc Platt was, but not in his original role of Curly. Instead he had a role dancing and speaking as one of Curly’s pals. The dance leads in the movie were Bambi Linn as Dream Laurey and James Mitchell as Dream Curly. Bambi Lynn made her debut in Oklahoma as a dancer and later went on to a career as a ballroom dancer with her husband Rod Alexander. James Mitchell began as a modern dancer and for 25 years was an assistant to de Mille.
In the movie there is a very graceful transition from the actress Shirley Jones to the dancer Bambi Lynn where for just a moment they mirror each other and then the dream ballet really begins as Laurey runs into and is lifted by Curly and the two dance a very lovely duet. A chorus of women soon joins in and it is a celebration with Laurey imagining her wedding, with a veil that floats down and is put on her head. The scene builds as townspeople gather and an imaginary wedding is about to take place. Curly begins to lift Laurey’s veil when suddenly instead of Curly it is Jud. Laurey flees from Jud and ends up running into a scene of women dancers (women of the night) doing the cancan as Jud watches and at times joins in with them. Laurey continues to be a part of the scene, confused, sad and bewildered, and at times even trying to dance with them. One of the dancers puts Laurey into Jud’s arms and Laurey flees from him and up an open stairway that dramatically is a dead end into open space.
A transition within the ballet is then made with sound effects and lighting suggesting a thunderstorm or tornado, and a trio with Curly, Jud and Laurey begins. Following their struggle, townspeople enter as the energy builds, ending with Jud killing Curly and lifting and carrying Laurey off. This is where the dream ballet ends and the actor Jud appears ready to take the actress Laurey to the party as she awakens from her dream terrified!
As I watched the ballet several times I was struck by what a beautiful ballet de Mille created and what a wonderful score Richard Rogers created using melodies from all different songs in the musical. The dancing is well executed and the way it was filmed added to the richness of the choreography. I also
noted that it was danced on a good soundstage so the dancers could be at their best. We are so lucky to have this available to watch, and I hope I have whet your appetite and you might watch this very well done sixteen minutes of dance. I think that Disney+ still might have a 7-day free subscription trial.
There are other good dance moments in the movie too. One comes about 24 minutes into the film, beginning with a kind of two-step which becomes a vigorous tap dance solo building into a full ensemble dance taking place at the train station. The ending is fun as three of the dancers end up on the roof of the train and two women dancers jump off the train into the arms of waiting men as the train leaves with the male dancer still dancing on the train’s roof!! Another lovely moment is a women’s ballet to the song “Many A New Day.” A square dance in Act II to the “Farmers and the Cowboys Should be Friends” is lively and is used to point out the tension that exists between the cowboys and the farmers, ending with a well choreographed full stage brawl!
While I have to point out that the story doesn’t really work for me anymore the dances sure do, along with the songs! I grew up listening to the music and also remember my Mom mentioning how she had seen the show shortly after it opened with my Dad, who was in the army about to be shipped overseas. She had loved it and talked about the enthusiasm of the audience. I wanted to know more about Oklahoma’s impact at the time related to World War II and found two excellent pieces online related to this. In a blog written by Ryan Raul Banagale he points out that “Oklahoma can be seen as a work that captures an optimistic vision of America at a moment when its future remained very much up in the air.” (https://theconversation.com/oklahoma-at-75-has-the-musical-withstood-the-test-of-time-94110 )
In an article in The New York Times, Todd S. Purdum mentions that “at every performance, there were rows of men in uniform, sitting in seats especially reserved for them, or taking standing room before shipping out overseas.
Both of these articles clearly point out how Oklahoma changed musicals and how the show remains relevant today. I am thrilled we have this example of de Mille’s choreography to watch today. Reading her book, and learning about her, strongly impacted my decision to be a dancer.
In searching for a picture to include I found this wonderful interview of Agnes de Mille talking about the stage version of Oklahoma. While it was uploaded to YouTube in 2013 it is actually from a PBS series done in 1979. We see excerpts from the stage version. It is curious that she never mentions the movie. While the choreography in this clip is similar to the movie I think the movie is actually more interesting and stronger.
Note: Update December 2025 – This YouTube is no longer available!
Screenshot from YouTube interview of de Mille in 1979 PBS program
A business trip back in the early 1990s, on which I was able to accompany my husband Murray, still has special significance to me. Murray had a case in Singapore that required him to travel there for some onsite research. We decided to begin our trip with a five-day visit to Thailand. After a long day of flying, which included changing planes in Tokyo, we arrived around 1 AM in Bangkok. I still have a very vivid memory of our taxi ride from the airport to our hotel as traffic was bumper to bumper! And that is how it seemed all the time in Bangkok – never a time when there wasn’t a lot of traffic on the roads. A quick Google search as I am writing this post shows that traffic in Bangkok is still a major problem. Murray and I soon learned that many of the tourist sites were close to one another along the river and that it was possible to take a water taxi on the Chao Phraya River that connected The Grand Palace, Temple of the Reclining Buddha and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. We also took a river trip to the old capital and another river trip in smaller canals to get a flavor of local life. While we did not stay at a hotel on the river we determined that should we ever return, we would certainly do that, to radically limit our time on traffic-filled streets.
While the trip to the old capital was very interesting and I loved the various Buddha statues, my favorite part of the trip was the time in Bangkok at The Grand Palace. Upon entering the grounds my immediate reaction was that I was on the set of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s play The King and I. Everything felt so familiar to me, having been such a fan of the musical. Of course I realized that this was where so many of the set ideas had come from. And for choreographer Jerome Robbins, the position of the figures in many of the facades were woven into the dances.
My own history with The King and I goes back to shortly after the original production starring Gertrude Lawrence and Yul Brynner opened on Broadway in March 1951. My good friend Regina had an original recording of the show. We would dance to the songs in her living room. In 1956 the film version of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s musical came out, and what a dazzling production with amazing sets! Jerome Robbins recreated his ballet Small House of Uncle Thomas for the film, and I loved that ballet.
In 1964, after returning to Pittsburgh following my two years at Juilliard, I was asked to choreograph a production of The King and I that was being done at Taylor Allderdice High School, the very high school that I had attended. I had a wonderful time doing it. There are three wonderful dance moments in the musical: of course, the sixteen-minute ballet Small House of Uncle Thomas; The March of the Children, when they are introduced to their new teacher; and the duet between Anna and the King. Working with the two leads in the high school production was particularly fun and they were very appreciative of my help.
Over the years I have enjoyed watching the movie quite a few times and seeing revivals of the production. While I didn’t see the 2015 Broadway revival with Kelli O’Hara I was pleased when it won a Tony for best revival. There is even talk right now of a remake of the film. What a great contribution Rodgers and Hammerstein have made to musical theater!
I conclude this blog with a few pictures from our trip to Thailand and welcome your comments related to your connection to the award-winning The King and I.
Photograph taken of a Buddha during our tour to the Old Capital
Images on a façade at The Grand Palace that might have inspired Jerome Robbins’ choreography.
Murray and me on the grounds of The Grand Palace in Bangkok, Thailand.
In an earlier blog I wrote about an intensive discussion I had at about the age of 8 with Regina, a very good friend who lived down the street from me, about who was the better ballerina, Moira Shearer or Margot Fonteyn. In this blog I want to share the great fun I had dancing in Regina’s very large living room.
I am not sure where Regina got the half parachute that we played with, but what a joy it was to wave it, dance under it and use our imagination to turn it into whatever we wanted.
We lived on the same street about a half a block from each other. Regina is only about two months older than I am, but because her birthday is at the end of November and mine isn’t until January and the cut off date for kindergarten was December 31, we weren’t in the same grade. She was a half year ahead, having started kindergarten in September while I began in February. (The Pittsburgh School district had admissions to start in both September and February, and one could even graduate in February from High School. I doubt this still exists.)
Anyway, back to the living room. It was very large, reminding me of the living room in my grandmother’s house that I use to dance in as a toddler. There was lots of open space for us to move in. I remember in one part of this magical space, close to where you entered, was a record player along with lots of musical theatre records. During our grade school years and into the beginning of middle school I remember spending so many afternoons listening to musicals of that period such as The King and I, Oklahoma, and Kiss Me Kate. Regina had a lovely singing voice and she would sing along. I did not, so I was strictly about dancing. We talked about a favorite actress, Gertrude Lawrence, who was the original Anna in The King and I and was on the recording we regularly listened to. Her biography, Gertrude Lawrence as Mrs. A, became a favorite of mine. I saved that book for many years, occasionally returning to re-read it. That book and Agnes de Mille’s Dance to the Piper were major sources of inspiration during my pre-teen and early teen years.
Another favorite actress that I remember liking during this time was Celeste Holm, who was the original Ado Annie in Oklahoma. With my awful, out of tune voice, I sometimes tried to sing I’m Just a Girl Who Can’t Say No. Alas… even this kind of song did not work for me. It was a good thing I liked to dance, ‘cause a triple threat (singer, dancer, actress) I would never be.
l. to r. JoAnne, JoAnne’s sister Peggy, Regina at Peggy’s birthday party. The only photo I could find of us at the age when we were having fun in Regina’s living room.
Those early after-school/weekend times influenced me in several specific ways.
Many years later, when I built the Creative Dance Center in Tallahassee, Florida (See https://mostlydance.com/2018/11/09/feminism-meets-the-bank-building-a-dance-studio/) one of the first things that I made sure to have was a parachute as a prop to use both with children and adults. This time it was a full parachute that I was able to purchase from an Army Surplus Store. It was an all-time favorite of all ages. Sometimes we just made a large circle and watched the wonderful waves it made. Other times we lifted it as high as we could, making the shape it would be in when it floated down from the sky and then brought it back to the ground. Sometimes I would invite a child to be in charge of how she wanted the rest of the class to hold the parachute so she could dance under or around or what she was imagining it to be, such as a roaring ocean waves.
When I do a search for creative movement with a parachute, the results are usually focused on pre-schoolers or young school-age children, and there are lots of fun ways the parachute has been used. However, nothing comes up for use with adults, and I found that use equally satisfying. Leading adult workshops, particularly in Tallahassee when I was doing “permission” workshops as part of Transactional Analysis Training (that’s another later blog), I used it with great success especially with encouraging adults to find or rediscover their inner child.
Clearly those afternoons fostered and reinforced my love for musical theatre, which led not only to attending theater but also choreographing and directing some musical theater.
Regina and I continue our friendship and creative journey to today. Over the years we have led workshops together, and sometimes as we are dancing around a room with 20 or so participants, we pass each other and smile remembering those times so many years ago when we were doing something similar in her living room.
Regina and JoAnne attending a film festival, September 2014. JoAnne and Regina are Board Members and filmmakers with Healing Voices – Personal Stories. The organization was honored that its film “Jessica’s Story” was selected for the Festival and won best LGBT film in the Festival. Photography by Murray Tucker.
