Dancers, actors and acrobats fly across the stage in perfect unison, creating a mystifying blend of performance art and athletics.
The Okanagan Rhythmic Gymnastics (ORG) Club and Cirque Theatre Company is bringing its rendition of Pinocchio to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre stage Nov. 24-25.
With roots in the classic Italian yarn, the club brings together talented actors and current rhythmic gymnastics Team Canada stars to create the captivating performance experience.
乌鸦传媒淥ne thing I really found from coming from a high performance background is kids feel, 乌鸦传媒極h, I did sports, I can乌鸦传媒檛 do that,乌鸦传媒櫸谘淮綕 said the show乌鸦传媒檚 producer, director, choreographer and ORG head coach who competed in the 乌鸦传媒�96 Olympics in Atlanta. 乌鸦传媒淚 think the lines are way blurrier than we think.乌鸦传媒�
And it乌鸦传媒檚 an arts and athletics marriage that has sparked success for Martens and ORG, who have put on their yearly performance since 2000, consecutively filling more than 3,000 seats since their 2010 performance of Wonka.
This year is no exception, with the performance乌鸦传媒檚 three special school-only shows filling up on the first day.
乌鸦传媒淲e had to say no to a whole school,乌鸦传媒� Martens said. 乌鸦传媒淚t used to be like, I wonder if anyone will come.乌鸦传媒�
But these shows, which bring buses of students from across the area to the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre, aren乌鸦传媒檛 about the profits.
乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 really make money on the school shows, it乌鸦传媒檚 more about community outreach,乌鸦传媒� Martens said, adding that she hopes the shows inspire kids to pursue athletics and/or the arts and show that there乌鸦传媒檚 always more than one way to do things.
乌鸦传媒淕rowing up in a family where we weren乌鸦传媒檛 told a lot of that, we definitely had more of a sense of let乌鸦传媒檚 make our own way of doing it,乌鸦传媒� the Vernon product said. 乌鸦传媒淟et乌鸦传媒檚 do something else. Let乌鸦传媒檚 do our own thing.乌鸦传媒�
Following Martens乌鸦传媒� mantra of carving a new path, the cast of roughly 70 people ranging in age from five to 70 perused the story乌鸦传媒檚 multiple versions to craft an ORG-specific screenplay.
乌鸦传媒淲e thought at the end of it all, what乌鸦传媒檚 the story we want to tell?乌鸦传媒� Martens said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 the whole fun of it. We get to look at the way it乌鸦传媒檚 been done.乌鸦传媒�
Drawing inspiration from multiple versions of the family-favourite tale, ORG乌鸦传媒檚 Pinocchio features Madeline Sellars as the title character, Ben McLean as Grillo the Cricket 乌鸦传媒� better known as Jiminy Cricket from Disney乌鸦传媒檚 take 乌鸦传媒� Gabriel Newman as Geppetto, Emmalee Holland as the Blue Fairy and Yann Brierley as Stromboli. The show also features renowned Vernon talents Brie-Anne MacPherson, , and Tammy Andreotti.
It乌鸦传媒檚 a show that had been suggested in the past, but Martens said it never felt right, until now.
乌鸦传媒淲e had Pinocchio suggested a few times, but I shied away from it because I found it scary as a kid,乌鸦传媒� Martens said. 乌鸦传媒淲hat draws us to it (now) is the whole concept of strings and looking at what does it mean to be real and in what ways do we avoid being real? For us, the metaphor of the strings are a symbol of numbing.乌鸦传媒�
Martens asked the kids what they fear the most, and the resounding answer was being embarrassed. Unlike some adults who use drugs and alcohol to escape their problems, Martens said, kids often turn to TV or their devices. Pinocchio is about being true to oneself and breaking down those barriers.
乌鸦传媒淟ooking at Pinocchio and his challenges to be honest, brave and generous and watching him go through a whole series of events is sort of joyous,乌鸦传媒� Martens said.
乌鸦传媒淲e all want to be real and sign up for the full human experience,乌鸦传媒� Martens said. 乌鸦传媒淭hat乌鸦传媒檚 what brought us to this story.乌鸦传媒�
ORG乌鸦传媒檚 Pinocchio takes the Vernon and District Performing Arts Centre Nov. 24 at 7 p.m. and Nov. 25 at 2:30 and 7 p.m. Tickets are $38.25 adult, $25.25 seniors and students, $18.25 child 12-and-under or $80 for a family of four (two adult and two youth passes, not available online) available through the Ticket Seller, 250-549-7469, .
