{"id":34587,"date":"2024-05-23T17:07:53","date_gmt":"2024-05-23T21:07:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=34587"},"modified":"2024-05-23T17:07:55","modified_gmt":"2024-05-23T21:07:55","slug":"weefestival-set-to-wow-youngsters-with-paper-playground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/weefestival-set-to-wow-youngsters-with-paper-playground\/","title":{"rendered":"WeeFestival set to wow youngsters with Paper Playground"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Youngsters will be able to flex their creative muscles in brand new ways this month as the Aurora Cultural Centre partners with WeeFestival to bring a new immersive experience to the community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Paper Playground, which will be offered at the Aurora Public Library on May 25, is the brainchild of British Columbia-based Foolish Operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPaper Playground is an immersive experience that welcomes children as true creative collaborators, where they become an essential part of the \u2018under the sea\u2019 performance,\u201d says the Centre. \u201cExploring the theme of water with boats, fish, crabs and sharks, the artists offer irresistible invitations to roll like a wave, fill with air like a cloud and draw the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is a stimulating experience set on a large paper carpet created especially for children six and under that is full of live music, drawing, colourful projections and movement. A playful and interactive dance performance where children are free to join in and explore \u2013 because that\u2019s what young ones do best!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Foolish Operations\u2019 Artistic Director Julie Lebel, a dancer of more than 25 years, says she has always been interested in \u201cintergenerational work\u201d in the field of dance. When she had her twins in 2010, she started focusing on making work for \u201cvery, very young children\u201d that put this interest into action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think if you can breathe you can dance,\u201d she says. \u201cI started working with people of all ages and I think when people discover their own power through movement it is a beautiful thing to watch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paper Playground was one of the very first works produced by Foolish Operations and with west coast success, they\u2019ve long-dreamed of bringing the show to Ontario and beyond.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen we started in 2016 and 2017, water was on our minds,\u201d she says. \u201cThe protection of water and it is still very dear to our hearts. We can\u2019t say this is an environmental piece in a way that we don\u2019t have a strong message of \u2018protect the water\u2019 but we are hoping to instill a sense of wonder about the water and little kids and in families that this will help them be more curious about water and hopefully make efforts to protect it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe started that with my children, an improvisation practice for parents and children together. The children are 0 \u2013 5 and what I keep witnessing is we started with children who aren\u2019t verbal yet\u2026 and I am witnessing them growing in confidence \u2013 in their muscle, in their bones \u2013 as they are making creative decisions, exploring through dancing\u2026outside of their main caregiver with other children. I am sensing we\u2019re all witnessing these children growing in confidence and that sense of safety and exploring, developing relationships with new people. They have this in their early DNA and I\u2019m hoping as they grow through life they will be humans who will not be afraid, try new things, and express themselves and have a voice. I think that\u2019s what dance gives you \u2013 that confidence of being witnessed in your space and take your place in the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe create this sense of play and joy, but sometimes we have parents tearing up because they are witnessing their child in a new way. That was surprising to us, it keeps happening, and I hope it will happen in Aurora.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Paper Playground, a Foolish Operations production presented by the Aurora Cultural Centre and WeeFestival will take place at the Aurora Public Library on May 25 a 11 a.m. (a production best for kids between the ages of eight months and three years) and again at 2 p.m., recommended for participants aged three to six. Admission is $10.
The show is presented as part of the Aurora Cultural Centre\u2019s Magic Carpet Series.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For more information, visit auroraculturalcentre.ca.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Brock Weir
Editor
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter<\/strong><\/p>\n\r\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Youngsters will be able to flex their creative muscles in brand new ways this month as the Aurora Cultural Centre partners with WeeFestival to bring a new immersive experience to the community. The Paper Playground, which will be offered at the Aurora Public Library on May 25, is the brainchild of British Columbia-based Foolish Operations. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,4,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-general_news","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-8ZR","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-25 06:51:58","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}