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NEED one last jolt of the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival? Today's your final day, and there are several shows with one last showing available.
A Small Idea
Weather Parade dance theatre
MTYP Mainstage -- Kids Venue
Winnipeg's Ali Robson and Natasha Torres-Garner explore the nature of "ideas" in this 45-minute contemporary dance show for children of all ages, which includes a live original score performed by bassist/guitarist Ashley Au. The pair creates a colourful playground where balls symbolizing ideas are tossed, rolled, batted and balanced.
The show is at its imaginative best when it gets goofy: seeing the dancers "pass" undulating movement between each other is fascinating. Its imagery is also visually appealing, such as when Torres-Garner strings streamers around onstage poles to create a giant web -- or cat's cradle -- or during the show's thunderstorm when Robson shelters her partner with a ribbon-festooned, skeletal umbrella.
At times the energy lags (the building-block scene, with its poor sightlines, could be cut), and audience participation in kids' shows is always a great idea. Still, the two dancers play off each other like schoolyard chums, and when they volley a ginormous balloon into the audience, even the adults can't resist joining in the fun. ***1/2
-- Holly Harris
Zahgidiwin/love
Happy Sunflower Sunshine Hour
Onstage at Pantage -- Venue 4
In her post-colonial fantasy, local Anishinaabe playwright Frances...