Vander Barbette, born in Round Rock, Texas was a trapeze artist of the 1920s and ‘30s. Using the unisex name of Barbette, he performed in women’s clothing, and caused a sensation by revealing his masculinity at the end of the act. A member of Parisian Cafe Society during its Jean Cocteau period, he appearing in the latter’s Blood Of A Poet film; at his prime he was considered the principal rival to Josephine Baker.

In LIGHT SHALL LIFT THEM, I told the story of the young circus-obsessed Vander, practicing in the backyard on his mother’s galvanized wire clothesline. The performance then moved on to his glory days in Europe, which included a live reconstruction of his act on tight-wire and trapeze. The work ends with a film interview employing the actual works of the now gray, crippled, and lofty trailblazing queer sage.

Story, direction, choreography by John Kelly
original score by Bill Obrecht
lyrics by Mark Campbell; set design by Billy Jarecki and Tom Pritchard of Pure Madderlake; film sections by Anthony Chase; lighting design by Stan Pressner; costume design by Donna Zakowska; trapeze coach, Irina Gold; French diction coach, Jacqueline Chambord. Produced by the Leid Art Center, Lincoln, NE; The Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Next Wave Festival; and Liz Dunn for John Kelly Performance. Premiere: Majestic Theater, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, NY, November 1993. WITH: John Kelly (Jean Cocteau, Vander Barbette), Robert La Fosse (Dargelos, Muse) and Mary Elizabeth Poore (Vander’s Mother, Comtesse de Tildanette, Maid).