SHORT REVIEW: Parr Barn Party Was Big Surprise

August 15, 2014

Last Saturday was another big surprise presentation by Cape Charles Harbor Festival. Venue: Parr Barn — An old white barn at the end of a cornfield, overlooking the marshes and barrier islands of the Atlantic seaside. At the back of the barn, guests were in the periphery of a circular driveway and in the center a maleTaiwanese dancer clad in a billowing black skirt was miming in silence. Boooring.

After 10 minutes I was about to leave when suddenly appearing from the seaside was a female Taiwanese dancer in similar attire but in red, jumping ,writhing, pirouetting gracefully towards the black dancer in unison with a hypnotizing Chinese melody. Hmm — interesting. The two dancers went inside the barn and out came several dancers clad in all white costumes and gestured the audience to go with them inside the barn, up the stairs into the rafters.

Up there, we were enveloped in white smoke as the dancers danced and the audience stared, mesmerized. It felt like I was participating in someone else’s dream. After the sequence, someone started playing the violin by the big barn window with the big moon just hanging outside like a cliched landscape. We went back downstairs to another stage where a very talented husband and wife team (Bridgman and Packard) performed their magical, whimsical dancing as images were projected into a black screen. At times, it was hard to determine whether it was the real person dancing or an image. Totally engrossing.

Many thanks to the organizers and supporters of the Harbor Festival for bringing this avant garde productions to our little town.

– MARIA FRANCIA VARGAS DALKINSKY

 

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