GREENFIELD — Hidden among the flowers and greenery of the Riley Boyhood Home Gardens, there are pixies — pixies and fairies — that can only be seen once a year at the Pixie Garden Tea Party.
Inspired by James Whitcomb Riley’s poem “The Pixy People,” Dance East Ballet Company will host the Pixie Tea Party at 1 p.m. June 24 in the gardens behind the Riley Boyhood Home, 250 W. Main St. just as it has done for the past six years.
“We wanted to create a garden scene where the pixies of the garden come alive and then create a magical afternoon,” said Dana Hart, director of Dance East Ballet Company.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]Click here to purchase photos from this gallery
Of the four gardens behind the Riley Home, three represent different Riley poems, and the fourth is a butterfly garden.
“We have a pixie garden for the poem ‘The Pixy People,’” said Riley Boyhood Home coordinator Stacey Poe. “Our sun dial gardens have the poem ‘Prayer Perfect,’ and the rose arbor has the poem ‘The Rose.’”
The dancers from Dance East have performed vignettes in each of the gardens in past years, but this year they will be performing in the table area near the gazebo.
Hart describes the event an authentic British tea party — a day of hats, fancy dresses and sun umbrellas. Tea — both iced and hot — is served, along with cheese sandwiches and ‘savories and sweets,’ Hart said.
Following the refreshments, quilts are spread out on the grass for the guests to sit and enjoy the entertainment. In addition to the dancing pixies and fairies, a special guest usually makes an appearance to share James Whitcomb Riley’s favorite garden poems.
Lucy and Harper Reed, ages 7 and 4, love dressing up and going to the tea party, said their mother Maddie Reed. Reed, her two daughters, her mother, mother-in-law and stepmother, all attend regularly.
“It’s fun to be fancy for a day,” said Reed.
Last year’s pixie tea party happened to fall on a special day for one of the Reed girls: it was Harper’s fourth birthday. The pixies and fairies gathered around and sang “Happy Birthday” to her.
When asked how the fairies knew it was her birthday, Harper answered, “It’s because they’re magic.”
“They do such a wonderful job of making everyone feel welcome,” Reed said. “It’s very magical. They always use real tea sets which the girls think is so fun. The food is delicious and the costumes are gorgeous.”
Her favorite part is watching the girls’ faces when the pixies and fairies make their appearance.
Tickets for the event are $20 per person or $140 for a table of eight. Seating is limited, and the event sells out every year. Call 317-318-9266 for ticket information.
[sc:pullout-title pullout-title=”Pull Quote” ][sc:pullout-text-begin]
The Pixy People by James Whitcomb Riley
It was just a very
Merry fairy dream!–
All the woods were airy
With the gloom and gleam;
Crickets in the clover
Clattered clear and strong,
And the bees droned over
Their old honey-song.
In the mossy passes,
Saucy grasshoppers
Leapt about the grasses
And the thistle-burs;
And the whispered chuckle
Of the katydid
Shook the honeysuckle
Blossoms where he hid.
Through the breezy mazes
Of the lazy June,
Drowsy with the hazes
Of the dreamy noon,
Little Pixy people
Winged above the walk,
Pouring from the steeple
Of a mullein-stalk.
One–a gallant fellow–
Evidently King,–
Wore a plume of yellow
In a jewelled ring
On a pansy bonnet,
Gold and white and blue,
With the dew still on it,
And the fragrance, too.
One–a dainty lady,–
Evidently Queen,–
Wore a gown of shady
Moonshine and green,
With a lace of gleaming
Starlight that sent
All the dewdrops dreaming
Everywhere she went.
One wore a waistcoat
Of roseleaves, out and in,
And one wore a faced-coat
Of tiger-lily-skin;
And one wore a neat coat
Of palest galingale;
And one a tiny street-coat,
And one a swallow-tail.
And Ho! sang the King of them,
And Hey! sang the Queen;
And round and round the ring of them
Went dancing o’er the green;
And Hey! sang the Queen of them,
And Ho! sang the King–
And all that I had seen of them
–Wasn’t anything!
It was just a very
Merry fairy dream!–
All the woods were airy
With the gloom and gleam;
Crickets in the clover
Clattered clear and strong,
And the bees droned over
Their old honey-song!
[sc:pullout-text-end]
