Tea Time with Thomas | November 2017
RIT’s own Thomas Warfield is the fueling artistic visionary behind the one of a kind dance production at the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, based on the original French story of Beauty and the Beast, originally published in 1740 by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villenueve. Warfield had been thinking about this story for about 10 years and how he could bring a non-verbal expression of this story to the stage. Warfield has always been fascinated by the transformative power of love, the beauty of difference, the evolution of the characters and the message of compassion in the original Beauty and the Beast.
Now, Warfield, along with his collaborator and co-director, Nicole Marie Hood Cruz (a former student of his) has combined the genius power of discovering a love story through dance. This production is not the typical Hollywood version, relying on extensive dialogue or extensive musical lyrics. Each member of the audience will be part of this learning journey as the dancing opens up their imagination. Each person and character is highlighted by the evolution and beauty of how we can transform ourselves. Through the art of dance, body language, lighting, costumes and sign language, the characters rediscover their inner beauty in this ‘tale as old as time’. This dance production “allows the audience to witness the transformative power of love and in turn reveal more about our own humanity,” affirmed Warfield.