Pan Becomes Human

This is the story of Pan – half goat, half human, and god of the flute. 

The goats lie asleep on the mountain. They open their eyes, and, ecstatic with the realization that they are alive, they dance. When they’ve exhausted themselves after a day in the sun, they doze back off. Perfect harmony.

[Honegger: Danse de la Chevre]

Pan is like these goats – free and in harmony with nature. But he is also like us – with the desire to create, to control, to possess.

One day, as Pan is wandering the forest, he comes across a beautiful wood nymph. The most beautiful creature he’s ever seen. He admires her from afar, inspired by how in tune with nature she is. He feels a deep connection and calls to her, but she doesn’t respond.

They say when you see a beautiful rose, you should leave it be. To love it is to let it live. But Pan is so tempted to pick this rose, gripped by the desire to possess. He chases after the nymph.

The nymph flees, and, not wanting to be found, asks to be transformed into a reed.

This is the story of Pan’s pursuit of the ephemeral nymph, Syrinx.

[Debussy: Syrinx]

Desperate to be close to Syrinx, Pan takes her reed and creates a flute. He meditates, looking to Ardalus, the inventor of the flute, for guidance as he crafts her into the most perfect instrument. 

[Hovhanness: Meditation on Ardalus]

When the flute is ready, Pan looks at the subject of his admiration. He plays his first song — pouring all of his love and pain into the instrument.

[Clarke: Beverley]

The beautiful sound of the flute makes him feel closer to Syrinx! High on the excitement, he sets off on a journey in search of beauty. Maybe one day, he will find something as beautiful as her.

[Beeftink: Wings]

After an eternity of searching, Pan stumbles across a breathtaking scene. A clear day in the meadow, wildflowers growing endlessly. The sunlight cast a golden glow on it all. It was almost as beautiful as his memory of Syrinx. Almost.

Maybe, he thought, I can add some things to this scene to make it a tiny bit more beautiful. There is so much potential. Soon, his mind was clouded with ideas – a little cottage, no - a castle, no skyscrapers!

As his daydream of creation consumes him, Pan loses sight of the beauty in front of him.

[Crawford: Peeck at the Kil]

We humans like to create things, to control them, to possess them. But in order to create and control and possess, we must destroy. To have our trains and our planes and our palaces and our skyscrapers, we have to give up what was there before.

So Pan, having succumbed to his desire to possess, is now living in a world with trains and planes and palaces and skyscrapers – a world with more noise than harmony.

[Clarke: The Great Train Race]

Amidst the noise, Pan plays his flute, trying one last time to get in touch with the side of himself that was so compelled by Syrinx. He breaks through the noise to play one last little tune, but the noise consumes him. He loses his goat legs and becomes fully human.

[Huang: Stand clear of the closing doors please]

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Credits

Performed by Serena Huang

Fashion Design by Rodrigo Barros

French translation by John Minh