Arts Festival

November 7, 2015

We attended a major Arts Festival which was held at Fontainebleau High School in Mandeville, a school at which Darla had taught and coached soccer. It is a very large high school and there were hundreds of folks there for various kinds of art activities.

We drove to Fontainebleau and began our exploration of this large school. All kinds of activities were set up in the halls, with stages for music and drama at the ends of the side halls.

Two youthful heralds tell a story of ancient Greece involving goddess Hera and god Zeus. Elyse plays the role of Echo, who runs afoul of jealous goddess Hera by talking to Zeus.

The drama begins with Echo having an animated conversation with the Greek god Zeus. We get the idea that talking is one of her favorite things to do, and that she may be unaware that by talking to Zeus she will raise the ire of jealous goddess Hera.

And talk she does! Echo enjoys talking to Zeus, and it doesn't appear that he gets a chance to say anything. It would appear that Zeus knows that this conversation will make Hera angry, and that Echo seems blissfully unaware of that.

But now goddess Hera is on the scene, and she is not pleased! She accuses Echo of talking with Zeus, but Echo denies it. Hera continues to question her, and she continues to deny the conversation.

Echo tries all her most eloquent denials of conversations with Zeus, but Hera doesn't seem convinced. Maybe Echo forgets that she is dealing with a goddess here.

But finally the game is over and goddess Hera tells Echo that she knows she is lying. After all, she is a goddess! She condemns Echo to not being able to speak. Echo pleads with her that talking is one of her favorite things, so Hera relents, but limits her to repeating back what is said to her.

Being able to speak gives Echo some hope when she encounters the handsome Narcissus. But that hope is quickly dashed when repeating his words back to him gets her into trouble.

Things go from bad to worse when Hera re-enters the picture and transfers her anger against Echo into a curse on Narcissus. He thereafter finds only himself beautiful.

Narcissus can now find beauty only in his own reflection in a pool. Transfixed, he finally grows roots and becomes a flower. Surely Hera had something to do with that.

The performers for this drama came from two different elementary schools which collaborated for their drama group.

The family hanging around at the end of the great hallway. Elyse's stage was at the end of the side hall close by. Behind Jordan and Ashleigh is the stretch of the main hall, with probably a half dozen side halls in this huge school building. Over 1000 students attend here.

Midst all the clowning around as we went down the long hall, I did get this shot of Jordan and Ashleigh with Elyse in her Echo costume.

We walked all the way to the other end of this long hall where the auditorium was with a large exhibit area in front of it. Pearl River High School had an art exhibit there with Ashleigh's painting of Quito, Ecuador in the middle of it. This perspective of Quito was of the old city which we saw from the hilltop park on our first Sunday in Quito. She had also done a Quito painting for the pastor and his wife at the church where she worked in Quito.

Pearl River High School was represented by lots of talent at the Arts Festival, including this elaborately costumed drama group. Pearl River HS is the school of Ashleigh and Jordan (and Darla).