SaReel Project Update—

Music Teacher Is Setting An Example For His Students

With Upcoming Performances On NYC Stage

Turn of River Middle School music teacher and Sandy Hook resident Darryl Gregory will have an impressive “What I Did This Summer” report when class gets back in session.

On August 24 Mr Gregory and his world music group, SaReel Project (SaReel.com), will premiere a new Off-Broadway production, Grimm, at the Duke Theatre in Times Square. Grimm, a stylish production of dance and new music, is a retelling of the Hansel & Gretel tale. Mr Gregory co-composed music for the show, which stars noted dancers Otis Cook (Momix, Pilobolus, Julie Taymor) and Faith Pilger (Juilliard, Mark Morris, Metropolitan Opera Ballet).

Excerpts of Grimm were debuted during a SaReel performance at Fairfield University’s Wein Theater in February.

The family-friendly presentation explores the traditional story of a boy and girl lost in the woods through the other-worldly tones of original instruments performed by SaReel Project and the choreography of the noted dancers mentioned above.

The production, Mr Gregory told The Bee in February, offers an “exciting tale of empowerment and courage.”

“SaReel is a quartet that performs alternative world music,” said Mr Gregory, one of the group’s founders. Mr Gregory plays flutes, harmonica, kubing, and does percussion and vocals for the quartet.

His collaborator and the group’s other co-founder is Middletown resident Sasha Bogdanowitsch.

“We refer to ourselves as avant-world,” said Mr Gregory. “The operative word is world because we draw from all parts of the world music culture and then make it our own.”

To create some of their exotic sounds, SaReel’s members perform on unusual instruments, including some they have created themselves: PVC pipes that are banged against each other or onto stones as well as tuned glass and a homemade Koto, a traditional stringed musical instrument from Japan resembling a zither. Members have even been known to play terra cotta flower pots, which are strung up as part of a large instrument on stage during the band’s shows.

A Juilliard alum, Ms Pilger is able to dance and improvise right along with the musicians of SaReel as they perform. She has been dancing with SaReel for about two years, and was instrumental in starting the Hansel & Gretel project.

“She got a huge grant from The Princess Grace Foundation to kind of spark this whole idea,” Mr Gregory said in February.

In addition to the SaReel beat, Grimm — which has already been called “as timely as it is exciting” by The Hartford Advocate (Dan Barry) — will feature dancers flying through the theater using “aerial silks.” Mr Gregory is hoping his students can attend the show (running August 24–27) but if not, he will still bring the experience into his Stamford classroom.

“I want the kids to see that what we’re learning is not just in the books — it can be brought to life. And you can work with other amazing artists to bring new and inspiring experiences into the world. I love to think that’s what we’re doing here.”

Performances will run at 8 pm nightly, with tickets priced at $30 for adults and $15 for students (with ID). Tickets are available through TeleCharge.com or at The Duke, 229 West 42nd Street, New York City.