A Fairy Tale Christmas, presented by the Cascadia Society and Vancouver Waldorf School, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 11 a.m., 1: 30 and 8 p.m., at Kay Meek Centre, West Vancouver. Tickets: $10/$15/$20, visit www.kaymeekcentre.com.
AN upcoming holiday-themed production is breaking down barriers between two diverse communities on the North Shore.
For the third year in a row, members of the Cascadia Society, a North Shore-based organization serving adults with special needs, and students at the Vancouver Waldorf School are coming together to bring a beloved fairy tale to life.
A powerful use of the arts to build relationships and perform community outreach, the annual collaborative project is continuing to make an impact, both on those taking the stage, as well as those taking in a performance.
This year's production, A Fairy Tale Christmas, featuring Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, is a follow to last year's successful Snow White and Rose Red.
Three performances are set to take place Tuesday at West Vancouver's Kay Meek Centre. The performance features 70 performers - Cascadia adults and Waldorf students, in grades 3, 5, 8 and 12. It's unique in that the story will be told through eurythmy, an art of gentle movement, similar in appearance to tai chi, and without the use of props. Storytelling is aided by costuming and musical accompaniment, provided by a bell choir as well as other musicians.
"It's very peaceful, it's very calming and it transports you into another world," says director Ruth Tschannen, Cascadia's artistic director.
The role of narrator is filled by Patricia Smith, Cascadia's executive director.
"We call ourselves a life-sharing community," she says, of Cascadia. "We live and work with people with special needs."
In addition to operating residences, they run a day centre, which offers a variety of artisan workshops, including basket making, weaving and gardening.
"We also have a pretty strong cultural component, which is what we're going to be showing when we do our fairy tale," says Smith, adding the production is also viewed as a form of community outreach.
Cascadia has a long-standing relationship with the Vancouver Waldorf School. "We support each other and our philosophies are quite similar," says Smith. In addition, the art of eurythmy is familiar to the participating students as it's part of their curriculum.
The Cascadia Society representatives work on their roles for the holiday performance for a year leading up to December. The Waldorf students come on board in September.
"What's really nice is that our folks really know the story backwards and forwards by then," says Smith. "Some of the parts are double cast so our . . . people are able to teach the high school kids their parts, which is really thrilling for everybody. And it's also an incredible way to break the ice . . . . It's an amazing experience to see how they form relationships with each other through working in the arts. And, how our folks can really help them because our people have a way of inhabiting a character, which is uninhibited and pretty direct; whereas, some of the teenagers have to overcome their stage fright, shyness and all that kind of stuff."
"When (the Cascadia members) are the prince and they marry the princess, for them, it's real. . . . I think they have a real experience and through that, being able to lift themselves out of perhaps their disability. It's a healing experience," she adds.
Smith encourages community members to attend.
"They have an experience of people being able to work together where the disability doesn't show anymore. It's a really heart-warming experience," she says.
emcphee@nsnews.com
