September 20, 2023 | Photos by Gordon Miller and Lisa Scagliotti

A special back-to-school event at Crossett Brook Middle School last week drew quite a crowd for a unique circus-like performance that magically combined music, dance, puppeteering with a large dose of imagination.

*The performance features six 12-foot-tall inflated horses, each with a human puppeteer. Photo by Gordon Miller*

A break in rainy weather didn’t hurt either as a crowd gathered last Thursday night outdoors on the school grounds. A back-to-school dinner in the school cafeteria drew many students and their families. Many more trickled in from the community until around 400 people of all ages settled in on chairs and blankets, and standing in a semi-circle.

The atmosphere was similar to Thursday nights in Rusty Parker Park for the Waterbury Farmers Market and the Rotary concerts, both wrapped up for the season now.

*The horses emerge and return to the performers’ costumes. Photo by Lisa Scagliotti*

Mingling with the crowd were the performers for the evening. Dressed from head to toe in white costumes with feathery tails and what appeared to be bulky front packs were the members of Compagnie des Quidams, a performance art troupe from Bresse Vallons in central France. The artists mingled silently with the crowd along the walkways, on the grassy field, even on the mowed paths on the steel hillside where children scampered about before the show. They communicated non-verbally in a sort of pantomime using facial expressions and body movements.

Simply dubbed “Playing Fields,” the program was a project of the Flynn Center for the Performing Arts in Burlington. Crossett Brook was the final stop on a six-school tour where the group performed on literal school playing fields in Burlington, Winooski, Hinesburg, Danville and Vergennes.

Nearly 30 years old, the French group has performed in about 50 countries with more than 100 shows per year. The “Proud Horses” performance they presented in Duxbury has been in their repertoire for a decade. The costumes conceal what become 12-foot-tall inflated horses that tower over their puppeteers and the audience.

*An appreciative crowd plays along. Photo by Gordon Miller*

When the music begins, the actors begin their dance led by a conductor who waves a large feather to offer direction and emphasis. Within minutes, the costumes unfold and the horses inflate and illuminate. For the next half hour, they proceeded to dance to choreographed numbers punctuated by moments where the six horses approached and visited with audience members.

If you missed the show, the gallery and video below capture many of the highlights.

(Click to enlarge the images.)