PREVIEW
International Children’s Festival of the Arts
Tuesday, May 29 to Sunday, June 3
St. Albert Place, Arden Theatre, École Father Jan, Red Willow Place, St. Albert Curling Club
Tickets: All ages feature performances $13; Toddler Town 0 to 4 years $10, adults free; best value $20 Butterfly pass
Call the Arden Theatre at 780-459-1542 or visit www.ticketmaster.ca
To dream. To escape. To discover. That is the mandate of the 37th edition of the International Children’s Festival of the Arts – one that has never wavered since its inception.
Next week the St. Albert based festival kicks off the region's springtime artistic effervescence with six days of intense activity from Tuesday, May 29 to Sunday, June 3.
Stretching from École Father Jan on the flank of the Sturgeon River across to St. Albert Place and reaching as far as the St. Albert Curling Club, the festival is a welcome respite for the 55,000 expected guests.
Roving characters stroll through the grounds in addition to outdoor performances, workshops, activity centres and the always popular face painting.
But the big showcase is eight main stage shows celebrating theatre, music, dance, puppetry, storytelling, magic and the circus arts. The majority of shows are targeted to children four years and older.
Tots and toddlers instead are treated to Toddler Town, their own special tent filled with non-stop daily entertainment, play rooms, and a fenced outdoor playground. There is also a private mother’s room for feeding and diapering.
But regardless of age, these productions are surprisingly ambitious and bring to life the qualities of resilience, inventiveness, generosity and resourcefulness that play such a large part in childhood.
Main stage shows
Traditionally St. Albert Children’s Theatre main stage show is the first to sell out completely, and this year is no exception. Schools and individual ticket holders are flocking to see Junie B. Jones The Musical, a one-hour show about a boisterous little girl who discovers that elementary school has its rough moments.“Kids crave a sense of belonging and forming strong friendships and finding out who your real friends are. It’s a sweet story about a girl making her way through Grade 1 and not being hurt by these milestones in life,” said Caitlin North, the festival’s professional programming presenter.
Organizers have invited two shows from Quebec. Puzzle Théâtre’s Plastic/Plastique is pure inspiration as players shape plain plastic bags into fantastical creatures and puppets.
“There’s an environmental slant to this and it’s important for our children to hear about how plastic affects landfills. It’s also a fun and charming show, but with a message children will understand quickly,” North said.
The second Quebec show is L’Illusion Théâtre’s Thumbelina/Tommelise, Hans Christian Andersen’s captivating fairy tale about a tiny girl born in the heart of a mysterious flower.
“The company has such beautiful puppets and this is such a recognizable story. They combine puppetry, music and dance.”
Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia returns to St. Albert with a blacklight production of The Rainbow Fish. Mermaid Theatre takes three stories from Marcus Pfister’s award-winning picture book and spins them into a tale about sharing.
From Ontario’s Ottawa Valley, The StepCrew dance production explodes with lightning-fast feet and blazing fiddling.
“They combine Celtic and Irish music with a full band and four or five dancers. They’re very lively. It combines modern tap and traditional step dance.”
Hailing from Vancouver for their first performance outside British Columbia is CircusWest’s Neverland, A Peter Pan Origin Story.
“There are 14 performers from 14 to 18. All the performers are youth. All are highly trained.”
Also new to the festival from Vancouver is Jacky Essombe’s Songs From Africa. The Cameroon-born performer has created a program packed with songs, music, storytelling and easy to learn interactive dance steps.
Rounding out the main stage performers is magician/illusionist Ron Pearson plying his Mystery Wonder Show.
“Ron has created a non-verbal show that combines theatre and magic. It was originally a Fringe show and he has continued to develop it. It’s about a down-on-his-luck magician that tries to get a leg up and keeps having mishaps.”
Roving artists
St. Albert’s own Peter and Mary are back after a short absence as banjo-plucking, guitar-pickin’ strolling troubadours. And when they stop for a breather, be prepared to meet their ventriloquist puppets.Indigenous storyteller Amanda Lamothe, a long-time favourite, returns with four of her children for a week of stories, music and dance.
“She’s been with us for many years and you can find her on the Canadian Heritage Trail. She brings life and colour. She’s so serene and calm and brings a gentle energy to the festival which is something lacking. She just grounds you,” North said.
Grande Prairie’s Amanda Syrada reintroduces her character Mandi, the Clown.
“She’s a really exceptional hoop artist. Her act is more interactive and she invites kids to learn hooping. She’s also just written a picture book called Mandi, the Clown. She’s quite innovative.”
After an absence of several years, Vancouver’s Mortal Coil returns to share picnic lunches, selfies and high fives with children.
“They are a festival favourite. Kids love to have a picnic lunch with them. They bring a real magic to the festival.
Aytahn Ross, better known to festival-goers as Balanzo the Great, has hosted events at the festival on several occasions. He appears this year, not as Balanzo, but as a new roving character. At the writing of this article, the character was still being kept under wraps.
“Whatever he does is exciting and innovative.”
Former Morinville resident and playwright/author Marty Chan also wanders around the site carrying a portable stage filled with small puppets that recite international folk tales.
“This is a new activity and I’m really excited to see how it turns out.”
Site activities
Watching a show is one way to absorb culture. Accomplishing an activity is yet another.This year’s site activities bring back the legendary Jason and the Argonauts, Chinese calligraphy, paper-making, a mandala mosaic and a problem-solving code quest.
Musée Heritage Museum takes Indigenous programming to the next level combining Métis beading with a Witness Blanket, a large-scale installation symbolizing the need for reconciliation.
Over at the Art Gallery of St. Albert, children are asked to change the world through poetry. They are asked to search for words in recycled books that represent how they would make a community a better place. The words will be transformed into poetry and built into a masterpiece collage.
Once again master percussionist Bob Fenske drives up from Calgary to lead Moo-vin’ to the Rhythm, a drum-pounding workshop for aspiring, energetic musicians.
“It’s a wildly popular activity. He introduces kids to a variety of percussion instruments from all over the world,” North noted.
To assist visitors in navigating the festival, about 10,000 flyers will be available as well as a free festival app that provides extensive information on shows, artists, site activities and a site map.
Parking is very limited. Visitors are encouraged to use a park-and-ride shuttle. Pickup is at Village Transit Station and drop-off is at St. Thomas Street by the festival grounds. Shuttles depart every 15 minutes Tuesday to Saturday 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Sunday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
