According to Lynne Waggoner-Patton, Owner and Director of Shadowlight Theatre and The Silhouettes®, they are a shadow dance company made up of primarily children and young adults that travel the world spreading messages of hope, inspiration and love. They have helped raise millions of dollars for organizations that help children and people in need. They train, film and rehearse at Shadowlight Theatre in Arvada, Colorado, and offer live performances for the Colorado community. A portion of the proceeds from their shows benefit Mt. St. Vincent’s Home For Children in Denver, and Arvada’s Ralston House. They were named business of the year for 2015 by the Arvada Chamber of Commerce and are gearing up for another great year of light and inspiration. Every performance is family friendly and offers incredible messaging that moves audience members to laughter, goose bumps and tears. Some of their clients are Microsoft, Sprint, LG, Samsung, Lenovo, Remax, JDRF, Abbott Labs, Nancy Speilberg’s Children of Chernobyl Bayside Church in Sacramento, Festival De Las Almas in Mexico City, Gleaner Manufacturing, Ardi Insurance, Nippon’s 24 hour Television in Japan, See Dad Run on Nickelodean, Muscular Dystrophy Show of Strength on NBC, Argos Cement Company in Brazil, Ometz Organization in Canada, Olympia Theatre in Dublin, Ireland and many more.
The use of shadow, video, pictures and creative choreographic story telling is a unique medium to reach audiences of all ages. They were the first Shadow company on Season 6 of America’s Got Talent and placed 2nd out of over 100,000 acts. They use primarily children and young adults which is unique and they are also the creators of the photo overlay technique where the dancers morph into a picture in shadow and the actual picture appears on the screen over their bodies. The spirit, dedication and heartfelt performance from the cast of The Silhouettes® and Shadowlight Theatre is very special and stays in the hearts and minds of every audience member forever.
Lynne’s proudest moment when teaching dance according to her there are so many moments! One is when a child walks through the doors of Shadowlight Theatre and is timid and shy and has no idea of their incredible gifts, but then soon realizes that they are unique and special in their own way. It is then that she knew why she loves teaching! In this day and age when there is so much negative in the media and in everyday life, it is important to offer a safe, loving way for these children to find themselves and believe in their dreams. If you would like a more specific moment, it is when the curtain came down at the televised Muscular Dystrophy Show of Strength and the cast came off of the front of the stage to meet the man 
they were honoring with their performance. He has MD and is confined to a wheelchair and is unable to communicate with the exception of his big toe moving a mouse pad connected to a computer. Her cast placed sunflowers all over him and he began to cry. Truly a moment to remember. When they can touch the heart of someone who has suffered so much and has had a life changing tragedy or disease this is the greatest moment of all.
In Lynne’s opinion, the biggest mistake dancers make would have to be “being a competitor” instead of an artist. Having previously been a competitive level dance studio for 23 years before they made the change to the professional performance world, she watched as her students’ spirits were changed because of the constant pressure to win. Her studio never focused on winning; however, they were in fact at a competition and the end goal was to receive a trophy no matter how many times you tell them that it is about the performance not the award. Having said that, they would never be where they are today without the push that competitions gave them and the opportunity to grow as a choreographer through creating thousands of routines. However, how competitions affected the minds, bodies and spirits of the dancers was not something Lynne was comfortable with and she did not feel comfortable in the competition world. She wanted to provide a “real” theatre experience for her students where everyone applauded for their performance and not just their parent section. When they first opened Shadowlight Theatre, she told the cast everyone was going to applaud. They actually didn’t believe Lynne, but when the entire audience soared to their feet with thunderous applause at their Red Carpet opening show, the cast teared up because they were so overwhelmed. They have been at their new theatre for a 1.5 years and the change in overall health, energy, openness to learn, growth in performance abilities and lack of injuries (compared to when they were in the competition market) has been amazing. They have successfully incorporated vocal and acting into the program to round the dancers out into triple talents. The ability to love every person that walks through the doorway and support them because it is a non-competitive environment has taken them back to their grass roots of when she first opened 24 years ago. It is once again about the love and light of dance and the entire cast and staff is thriving.
Lynne’s goals for this year are to continue on the same path of light and love and to offer even greater scripts and stories for the cast to perform. They have a brand new show premiering this season; Behind The Curtain, April 8th 10th, and are bringing back their Heroes Tribute on Memorial Day weekend to honor the heroes of their country. They hope to raise even more funds for homeless children and children in need and will continue to strive to make a positive difference, not only in their students and cast members lives, but in the lives of everyone they meet.
Lynne grew up performing and absolutely loved it. It is what makes her soul soar and she has surrounded herself with cast members who love the same thing! She was a vocal music education major and taught dance to put myself through college. Musical Theatre was her greatest love and when she opened her studio, she hoped to incorporate acting, vocal and dance. The “dance” took over until they were on America’s Got Talent when it changed her life course and brought her back to her love of the theatre.
Many of their cast members face life threatening illness or family situations that, for a normal person, would make them give up. The beauty is that these cast members not only overcome the obstacles placed in front of them, they are also great leaders for the other cast members. They inspire audience members who also face obstacles in life and give them strength to reach for their dreams. They received a $500.00 check in the mail from a lady in Washington. She stated that she was in a car accident over a year ago and was living in a wheelchair too afraid to leave the house. She saw their performances on America’s Got Talent and how the cast members overcome their fears and challenges and it gave her strength to venture out into the world again. They donated the check to Mt. St. Vincent’s and thanked her for sharing her story. The cast continues to inspire young children through adults and reminds people that there is love in this world.
Many people ask what America’s Got Talent was like. It was the most exciting, thrilling, frightening and life changing experience of their lives! They never intended to go on a reality show and when they were first asked to audition, she said, “no”. She was teaching out of state and was not available to rally the cast, so they asked her to send down some cast members with a DVD of their work. Lynne decided it would be a good learning experience for audition purposes and sent out an email asking the cast to go to the audition. They did and three months later Lynne received a call from Nigel, one of the producers on AGT, saying they wanted them to be on the show. At first she thought it was a prank phone call (her cast members like to tease her with prank calls sometimes) but when she realized it was truly Nigel, she didn’t know what to say! Every show that they did for AGT was special. She told the cast that it was the last show they were doing so enjoy every moment and learn as much as they could. This wasn’t because she didn’t believe in their ability to perform, it was because they never intended to be on the show and they never expected to win. Most people they meet state that they wish they would have won. Lynne believes that placing runner up was the best position for them because they still gained all of the media exposure, but they did not have to move to Las Vegas or New York. They could do anything they wanted with the exposure and were not under contracts to go on a six month tour. This is truly important because they have children on their cast. It would not have been fair to uproot their lives and take them away from their families due to promised fame and fortune. Lynne made the decision to stay in Arvada, and when her current lease was up, she opened there new Shadowlight Theatre where they could do it all train, perform, rehearse and film and it has been illuminating!
If you would like more information about The Silhouettes® or The Shadowlight Theatre, visit their website at http://thesilhouettes.com/shadowlight-theatre or email Lynne at lynnewp@thesilhouettes.com. You can also “Like” them on Facebook, follow them on Twitter and view them on YouTube.
Please post a comment if you have had any experience with Lynne Waggoner-Patton of Shadowlight Theatre and The Silhouettes®.
