CALGARY INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FESTIVAL
May 21 to 25
Check listings
Downtown Calgary is about to be taken over by puppets, singers, dancers and clowns – it’s the annual Calgary International Children’s Festival.
For five fun-filled days, Olympic Plaza and every theatre space in the Centre for the Performing Arts will be home to an assortment of entertainers from across Canada and around the world. Over 20,000 kids of all ages will be there to enjoy the best in theatre, music and dance.
For the past 16 years festival producer and programmer JoAnne James has brought the world to Calgary’s kids, and this year’s festival promises 14 different companies presenting shows from South Africa, Brazil, Scotland, England, Denmark, Germany and Australia.
"It’s a great thing to do with kids," says James. "We’re getting some of the best theatre in the world. It doesn’t matter that it’s for kids.... A four-year-old audience member is just as important as a 35-year-old audience member.... You have to create your show with as much integrity and as much care for detail and content as you would for an adult. Why would you deliver less?"
While the festival always draws thousands of children, it’s long been known that many adults look forward to attending the festival too. As James says, the shows are chosen to appeal both to children and anyone who has ever been a child. There is plenty in the lineup to entertain those of us who are well beyond school age.
A show of particular interest to dance fans is Everybody, choreographed by Canadian Joe Laughlin and co-produced by Dancers’ Studio West. Everybody fuses traditional African movement and contemporary western dance forms, and will be performed by the South African dance company, Moving Into Dance Mophatong – this will be the world première of an exciting new cultural collaboration.
Aché Brasil is another spectacular performance of dance, fuelled by Afro-Brazilian music and a form of martial arts called Capoeira.
A special project this year is The Story Children, presented by Manitoba storyteller Jamie Oliveros, who worked with children from four Calgary schools to create a show focusing on four places in the world where children are at risk – Kosovo, Afghanistan, Palestine and Angola. While James is enthusiastic about everything at the festival, she considers this a must-see event.
"These stories – you can’t believe the kind of stories they created! They’re so imaginative. They’re so touching. They’re so honest. They talk about the fragility of peace. It’s their idea of how you create peace."
Aside from the many shows, the local arts community will benefit from the three workshops offered by festival performers: an exploration of physical comedy with Michael Lane Trautman, a Capoeira workshop and one devoted to Afro-fusion dance. The festival will also offer an evening colloquium on Wednesday, May 22. This is an opportunity to meet the performers and talk about the state of entertainment for children around the world.
For the festival staff, volunteers and performers, this festival is the culmination of all their hard work. As for James, she's still as passionate about it as she was 16 years ago.
"I get a lot of juice from this," she says. "I’m very proud of what we have created here. I believe very strongly in presenting the very best work that we can find. I get a real buzz when I find something new and I get to bring it to Calgary." |
