Since 1982, I have occasionally done glow in the dark routines in with a black light. My very first black light was a Christmas gift from my brother, David, and my first routine was to Harry Chapin's song "The Laugh Man". Since then, I've created glow in the dark routines with balls, rings, hoops, silks and cigar boxes to music by artists such as the Newsboys, Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Mark Heard. I have also had my student jugglers perform with black lights once in a while. These routines are hard to perform regularly, whether alone or in a team, because it requires a total black out, and this is challenging in many venues. Sometimes there are large windows to block, or perhaps the audience wouldn't lend itself to being in a totally dark room (think jail ministry; although I did do a glowing routine at the Oxford, Maine county jail back when it was run like Andy Taylor's jail in Mayberry.) This year, though, I decided to have my students, LOL by name, do a black light routine for the first time in several years.
The best thing about this particular one -done to the old shaker hymn "Lord of the Dance" by John Fischer- was that this time four of my students helped to create it. Malakai, Anna, Grace and Lillia, all 8th graders, brainstormed with me one afternoon, and by the end of this session we knew we had something special. The routine would include visual art, dance, mime and juggling. Now we just needed to put all the pieces together. E mails went home asking parents to send in black clothing, including ski masks and gloves, white gloves, ribbons and socks were gathered, and two more blacklights were purchased. And rehearsal began.
Everybody had their own roles. While Lillia, our strongest dancer and tumbler, played the role of Jesus, others juggled, tumbled, and produced and vanished fluorescent art work. Malakai and Aidan, our two biggest students, were in all black, so were able to move props (and two times in the routine, move Lillia) without ever being seen.
Knowing how hard it is to find a venue to perform in darkness, we planned to do it twice, once at the school Christmas play, and once at an all school Christmas chapel. Both of these events were within the last two weeks. Both were awesome. In the two productions of this routine, only one juggler dropped one ball one time. This is very hard to do in the dark with gloves on. The audiences were mesmerized, and at the end, Malakai and Aidan were able to create the effect of Lillia (Jesus) ascending into the air. It was magical and beautiful and powerful.
Below is a painting I did of what the audience saw when Lillia was 'crucified' in the black light. We kept her costume simple, letting our imaginations fill in the black space.
Every once in a while as a performer there's a routine where I know I have something very very special; almost magical. Lord of the Dance is one of those rare times.
