Les Envolées – The Flights

On Thursday, March 13, students in Alpha through first grade put on "Les Envolées - The Flights," a first-of-its-kind Shorecrest performance of street theater. Led by visiting artists in residence, Maxime Gonçalves and Estelle Thoury, and carrying oversized handmade flowers, stars, clouds, puppets and birds, the students paraded throughout the campus as parents and Lower School peers lined the route. The event was a culmination of a weeks-long cross-curricular and cross-divisional project that combined visual and performing arts, literacy and cross-cultural exchange. 

The artists in residence hail from Amiens, France, where they are part of Compagnie des Invisibles, a professional theater company that specializes in storytelling through puppetry arts. Titled "Les Envolées - The Flights," the project was inspired by the creative themes of flight and the wonderful diversity of birds found in our local area. 

“You can connect the idea of flight with our hopes and wishes for our students from Alpha through 12th grade and beyond," shared Experiential School Head Adriana Hollenbeck, who championed the project. 

"As they flap their wings for short or long flights, Shorecrest will always be the nest where they feel safe to go out and try new things. Their dreams will take them places. Let them be free, colorful and powerful. Let our children be courageous to fly higher and higher.” 

"Our specialization is in hand puppets (human-sized), and our artistic approach consistently seeks coherence and harmony, where art contributes to living, sharing and collaborating," shared Maxime Gonçalves, half of the artistic duo from France.

"We also aim to raise awareness about the importance of preserving nature, particularly in relation to birds. Birds are essential to our planet, inspiring in us a desire for freedom, dreams, imagination and the sensation of growing wings."

Using recycled and reused materials, the visiting artists taught students and teachers how to make bird puppets out of foam. Together with Lower School Art Teacher, Lori Auletta, and Experiential School Studio Teacher, Takeya Trayer, the students also created pennants and hanging puppets related to the sky and flight, including clouds, stars, a sun, etc. 

Truly a community endeavor, division heads Lisa Bianco and Adriana Hollenbeck, Lower School Curriculum Dean, Sarah Palazzolo, and Auxiliary Programs teacher and artist, Christine di Staola “Ms. D,” collaborated with the art teachers and artists to make this four-grade-level project possible. Helping Hands volunteers cut out thousands of feathers for the project, and classroom parent volunteers helped students and artists throughout.

The culminating performance began on the Lower School playground with a flight by Petit Pierre, a bespoke pelican hand puppet more than six feet high. A flock of 125 small bird puppets, puppeteered by the young children, followed as they sang songs and joyfully waved at friends and family.