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Brad Thomas interviews recording
artist and playwright Clayton Carrigan
Q: Dancing in the Light is a fascinating production. It seems
to cross many ethnic boundaries and principals of thought; is that
what you intended?
A: The title Dancing in the Light is more symbolic opposed to literal.
It’s a supernatural story of a soul’s long journey to
the divine light. The story also crosses the boundaries of love. It’s
termed the ultimate love story because of the soul’s quest to
find divinity and find its soul mate. The actors capture the story
beautifully, but it’s the ballet and the live world music concert
that bring the story alive. There is also the universal collectivity
of the soul. In the story, the closer the boy gets to his enlightenment
the more he understands his connection. So Dancing in the Light has
a mystical theme, but is also an easy listening, feel good kind of
story. It’s like experiencing and watching a real journey of
reincarnation that evolves through the ages.
Q: Where do you feel your journey has taken you?
A: Seeking is a never-ending cycle. My journey over the years has
taken me to living and travelling in India, Asia, Europe as well as
Cuba and Central America. Studying and performing different forms
of music, especially Indian classical, was one of the highlights.
I was able to share the stage with some great Indian musicians while
performing in India. I was also studying different styles of meditation
yoga and taught meditation for close to 16 years. Dancing in the Light
is an accumulation of life experience, spiritual thought, and the
fantasy of what we may envision as the divine’s true message
of life. It all rides the belief that our soul has reincarnated so
many times on its journey to the light of Nirvana.
Q: It sounds like a Buddhist theme.
A: No, the story is not really about any one religion, instead it’s
about the journey of the soul and the soul’s universal nature.
Uniting the various beliefs, it is more about how the soul has learned
a lesson with each rebirth. The soul could be Christian in one life
and Buddhist in another depending on what lesson was needed. In Dancing
in the Light, the soul reincarnates in four different lifetimes. A
disciple of a wise sage in ancient India, a solder at the tomb of
Christ, an aboriginal boy in the 1800s and then as a hippy in the
late ‘60s. It is a funny story in many ways, but is also beautiful
in the fact that it shows in a sweet way that we are all divine flowers
on the one tree of life.
Q: You have mentioned that Dancing in the Light is not your average
stage production. What do you mean?
A: We have taken a different approach whereby the acting and theatre
aspect of the show tells the story, and the ballet dancers and musicians
also play a part in the script. It’s like getting a theatre
production, a contemporary ballet, and a world music concert all in
one show. US director Laura Lee (Utah and Les Follies Bergere) and
choreographer Sandra Botnan (Cirque du Soleil) will be incorporating
actors, yoga, modern ballet, and Indian classical dance and fusing
some very fine First Nations dancers into the story as well. John
Ottman, formerly of Ballet BC and the National Ballet, is the ballet
consultant. Then you add a great 12-piece band that features great
concert and solo musicians, add East Indian classical musicians to
the journey and the show now takes on its own very original form.
Q: What would you say is the main musical theme?
A: It is definitely a world beat theme. As the story evolves so does
the style of music and the dance forms. From Indian classical dance
and music that represent the time period of ancient India in the first
scenes to modern dance, Latin and jazz sounds in the ‘70s segment.
Q: There seems to be a new spiritual awareness blossoming. How do
you see that Dancing in the Light fits in?
A: There is a strong flow towards a new spiritual understanding. We
could see this with the Dalai Lama’s recent visit to Vancouver
where they had to go from a 600-seat venue to the 13,000-seat venue
because of the demand. It seems so many people are seeking more from
their life and more from their spiritual understanding of the divine
aspect. I believe what we are seeing is the dawning of the new age
of awareness. This thirst for knowledge is just the first step in
establishing the 1,000-year peace. We must have knowledge before we
have the understanding of where we are and where we are going. We
are all seeking the same answers. It is the process of our individual
evolution that creates the tests for the journey we are on individually
and collectively. Dancing in the Light is part of this evolution.
It’s enlightened theatre coming into the mainstream. Where the
audience will see a reflection of themselves in the story. Twenty
years ago there would not have been the infrastructure for supporting
this kind of show on this level. Dancing in the Light crosses a new
boundary of musical theatre, where the past and the future meet. I
feel blessed to be a part of this new awareness.
In June, Canadian playwright and recording artist Clayton Carrigan
releases his third world beat and jazz CD, featuring some of Canada’s
leading musicians. www.dancinginthelight.ca
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