Thursday, January 7 was a magical night as the Fine and Performing Arts group hosted the Illuminations Event and Lantern Walk for the Holton community. "Illuminations: Shining Your Light" has been a curricular theme for the visual arts classes in each division since September. Thursday's event was a culmination of that exploration starting with a short performance in the Lewis Theater and flowing directly into the Lantern Walk.
According to Mary Jane Pagenstecher, Director of Fine and Performing Arts, visual arts students in each division made personal lanterns using various materials and construction techniques. Visiting light artist, Laure Drogoul, who has worked on Baltimore's Great Halloween Lantern Parade and many other Maryland school and community projects, inspired and guided the students to create lanterns assembled with eco-friendly materials, such as recycled bottles and LED lights. Drogoul worked extensively with Upper School art majors in small teams that brought together ceramics, drawing and painting, and photography students to design and construct large lantern floats that became the centerpiece of the Lantern walk.
Holton faculty and staff started last week with a festive lantern-making workshop and current Holton families also had a chance to create cylinder lanterns on Thursday afternoon.
The captivating Illuminations event began in a darkened Lewis Theater with a seamless progression of short performances including a voiceover poem and handbells ringing out of the darkness, singers from grades 3-12 coming together in song, a Diwali song/dance by third graders, a choral poem by eighth grade speech students, and a candlelit dance by Orchesis. At the end, the curtains opened to reveal the large illuminated floats and the performers and audience members added their lights one at a time to the collective glow. The Lantern Walk followed as the floats led the crowd out of the theater. As the performers and the greater community merged together as one, the front circle was filled with light and song. As the giraffe, peacock, sea creatures, and even a snowman glided around the circle, each member of the parade passed through a corridor of sound created by singers arranged on both sides of the driveway. The parade proceeded over the bridge to the amphitheater, and by the end, almost 500 people had gathered with lanterns bobbing and dancing in the dark. Third graders invited all to join in "This Little Light of Mine" and then led the crowd back out of the amphitheater with their singing.
Visiting Artist, Laure Drogoul described the event as "absolutely magical" and others described it as "delightful," "breathtaking," and "memorable." Susanna Jones, Head of School said she was "almost speechless." It was a first-of-its-kind event for Holton, and the Fine and Performing Arts team is incredibly grateful to all who participated in this extraordinary celebration of light.
