Luna Moths - waiting in the wings  |
In
Procession - Caterpillar  |
In
Transition - Pupa |
Metamorphosis
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From the beginning, the one constancy in the Village Halloween Parade has been change. So in 1998, in recognition the Parade's 25th Anniversary, Superior Concept Monsters chose to celebrate change itself, as that year's theme . "Metamorphosis" explored the capacity of all beings to reinvent themselves, for Halloween is above all a night of self-transformation. The standard-bearers of our procession were the Giant Luna Moths, who pupated and emerged throughout the Parade, their newborn wings providing the stage for a dance of light and shape-shifting shadows.
In the Procession of the Giant Luna Moths, the puppets, five in all, stood 20' tall at the antennae. As they progressed up Sixth Avenue, they periodically broke formation into a circle, shed their caterpillar bodies, and emerged from pupation as white illuminated moths with 18' wingspans. As the wings extended, their surface formed a cylindrical stage upon which shadow puppets performed their own micro-drama of metamorphosis, changing in the strobe-lit silhouette from grim skeletal figures into exultant winged creatures.
The moths were accompanied by two other ensembles. The Luna Lepidorchestra, who wobbled resonant sheets of galvanized steel and twirled droning bamboo bull-roarers, gave voice to the moths and a score of sorts for the shadow-dance. The Moth Attendants, with Kabuli-inspired faces and irridescent moth bodies, flew 14' overhead, occasionally swooping over the barricades into the crowd as intermediaries between the lofty and distant luna moths and their audience. All told, the puppets were operated and accompanied by a crew of over 100 performers, technicians, and puppeteers - nearly all volunteers.
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