Stilt-dancing troupe ends its two-decade run

FALLS VILLAGE — Mark Alexander, the creative force behind the stilt-dancing troupe Mortal Beasts & Deities, is retiring. Sort of.

Interviewed at his cottage in the Pine Grove section of Falls Village on Friday, Sept. 11, Alexander said he has disbanded the company, but he is not retiring completely.

“I’m retiring from running the stilt dancing company. I’m not retiring from making puppets.”

Over two decades, the stilt dancers became a familiar sight across the Northwest Corner, including at The Lakeville Journal’s street fair in Salisbury and the vintage car parade and festival in Falls Village.

It all began in 2004. Alexander had left his job as an art teacher in the Region One schools and was beginning to have second thoughts about the decision.

Then he received a commission from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City for a performance called “The Flock of Doves.”

“Talk about vindication,” he said.

The production was nearly ready when disaster struck in the form of a fire at the cathedral. The show was canceled, leaving Alexander with costumes, stilts and performers, but nowhere to stage it.

The late Rev. Richard Taber of the Salisbury Congregational Church stepped in.

“He said they’d take it, and we did it in May of 2004.”

“My hometown saved the day. It became the signature act of the troupe.”

The troupe’s two-decade run came to an end at the Fourth of July parade in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, this year.

“It’s a really good parade. They really pull out the stops. Two miles long, 150 units.

“We had 12 dancers and the Berkshire Resilience Brass Band on a trailer.”

Alexander made five “Uncle Sam-ish” costumes for the parade, adding to the extensive collection of costumes he created for the troupe. His cottage is still bursting with them.

“You know anyone else who owns 100 pairs of stilt pants?”

Alexander is now trying to sell the collection, a process he described as “slow.”

He said the logistics of managing the troupe became increasingly difficult after the COVID-19 pandemic. Fewer performers were available. Some had moved on to other pursuits, while others had simply aged out.

“It was like taking a family of four for a walk in a wheelbarrow.”

Alexander is still keeping a hand in the stilt-walking world. At Lime Rock Park’s vintage car parade Sept. 3, he was spotted chatting with stilt dancers Cynthia Rauschert and Timothy J. Walsh of Circus Moves.

Rauschert said Alexander had generously provided a list of potential events and useful contacts.

Alexander is now busy with his next project: bobblehead puppets mounted on backpack frames.

“So if you see an old backpack at the transfer station, grab it and give me a call.”