Metamorphosis danced in St. Paul’s parish hall. (Photos and videos by David Brussat)

On Saturday afternoon, Billy, Victoria and I attended a dance performance, part of the ongoing annual Pawtucket Arts Festival. The event was held at the Episcopal Church of St. Paul, which we toured, noting that next year will be its 200th anniversary. We saw a troupe called Metamorphosis perform an extended work for six dancers in the church’s parish hall, pictured above at the beginning of the dance. The troupe is associated with Ten31 Productions, whose WaterFire gargoyles (stationary performers) are among its specialties.  The dancers filled the stage with a fluid and evocative performance, very not scary, not the sort of angular sudden thrombosis of modern dance that we’ve come to expect and, too often, regret. In fact, quite beautiful. Shockingly so. Metamorphosis and its moves were indeed a delightful surprise!

Afterward, the dancers actually took questions from the audience. Then we crossed Park Place to see an art exhibition of artfully drawn butterflies in the Forget-Me-Not Gallery, sponsored by the Samaritans of Rhode Island, whose director, Denise Panichas, a friend of very long standing, seemed to be in charge of the afternoon’s events, including a seminar that we unfortunately missed on gargoylism – the ins and outs of the gargoyles’ constumes and their style of animation – in the grassy meridian along Park Place.