Wexner Center Presents Third Annual International Performing Arts Series for Families

Expanded Series Spread Throughout Year; Ticket Packages Available

Now in its third year, the Wexner Center’s International Performing Arts Series for Families brings rhythmic movement, wry comedy, and a magical carpet to the Wexner Center for the Arts in 2007 and ’08. Featuring troupes this year from France, the U.S., and Italy, in October, February, and May respectively, this series exposes children to contemporary theater, music, and dance, as well as to other cultures. All shows are for ages 4 and up and their families.

“We are pleased to again offer an alternative in performing arts for children and their families,” says Kendra Meyer, educator for youth programs at the Wexner Center. “This series provides an opportunity for kids to experience innovative, multimedia, world-class performance in their own backyard.”

In addition to the public performances listed below, school performances are also being offered again this year (teachers should contact the education office at 292-6493 or edweb@wexarts.org to reserve space in the school performances and to inquire about bus subsidies).

For the first time, series ticket packages will be available: $36 for the general public, $27 for Wexner Center members, and $21 for children. Individual show tickets are $14 for the general public, $10 for Wexner Center members, and $8 for children under 12 (infants under 1 year old are admitted free). Tickets go on sale to Wexner Center members July 16 and to the general public September 4. Call the ticket office for tickets at that time or to become a member: 614 292-3535.

The schedule follows (performance times to come):

Echoa

performed by Arcosm Company (France)

Sunday, October 21, 2007 (two performances) | Mershon Auditorium

“Echoa confronts a young public with intelligence, nevertheless touching them through the use of humor....There is magic to be found in this piece.”—La Marseillaise du Var

Two dancers and two percussionists create seven stories exploring the connection between movement and rhythm in this exuberant production. With Echoa, French company Arcosm seeks to discover the commonalities between music and choreography, exploring such questions as “How does a percussionist dance?” and “What is the sound of a dancer’s body?” With its septet of stories, often infused with Latin music, Echoa presents an intriguing and innovative journey. Click here for more information on the company.

Post Comedy Theatre

performed by Robert Post (United States/Columbus)

February 29–March 1, 2008 | Wexner Center Performance Space

“Uproariously funny.”—NPR

Combine a quart of dry humor with three tablespoons of expert mime, versatile acting, and skilled juggling; add a keen sense of satire and the absurd; and what do you get? A host of unforgettable characters at the perfect comedy feast! Columbus’s own Robert Post uses body language, props, music, and genius to create a repertoire that entrances the young and young at heart. This show will include a variety of his skits that will appeal to all ages. More information: www.robertpost.org.

The Japanese Garden TPO Children’s Cheering Carpet (Italy)

May 16-18, 2008 (with carpet on view May 12-16)

Wexner Center Performance Space

“It’s about theater as a shared experience and I’ve never seen anything quite like it.”—Tony Reekie, Bank of Scotland’s Children’s Festival Director

Bonsais, stones, water, the Zen garden, and other elements of the Japanese garden are reconstructed on an interactive magical carpet stage by this Italian company based in Tuscany. This sensorial journey through natural environments gives audiences the chance to enter the performance and “animate” the carpet with digital images and sounds that react to the pressure of the feet or body. It opens with one of the performers telling the story about how this garden was born. Then the audience members are invited to sit around a big white carpet, and a dancer begins to animate the five gardens of the original story— followed by an invitation for children to explore and animate the gardens themselves. For more than two decades, TPO has distinguished itself as a “visual theater company,” and The Children’s Cheering Carpet is one of its crowning achievements. When shows aren’t going on, the public will be able to interact with the carpet during normal gallery hours. More information: www.tpo.it.

OTHER UPCOMING FAMILY EVENTS AT THE WEXNER CENTER

On Sunday, September 23, the Wexner Center will host a free William Wegman Family Day from 1 to 4 pm (members-only from 11 am to 1 pm), in conjunction with the exhibition William Wegman: Funney/Strange. The day features interactive gallery tours, Wegman’s short films created in the 1970s and ’80s for Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, and a Robert Post variety of workshops, including postcard pictures, “funney” photography, animal storybooks, and animal movement. Admission is free.

The Wexner Center presents its fourth annual Columbus International Children’s Film Festival November 29–December 2, with films from around the world. More details on this wildly popular series to come in the next few months.