MANITOULIN—The auditorium at Manitoulin Secondary School in M’Chigeeng was hopping last Saturday afternoon. The music was loud and the crowd was large. When the music stopped and the room darkened the crowd hushed in anticipation of ‘Loudly in the Library,’ a Body Stories end of season presentation.
Both Friday evening, June 2, in Manitowaning and Saturday afternoon, June 3, in M’Chigeeng, Loudly in the Library was performed, the culmination of 10 weeks of hard work from a total of 90 students, ranging in age from three to 13. The premise of the story: a group of kids sneak into the library after hours hoping to cause some trouble, but once there, they discover instead a world of magic and wonder. By opening the books after hours, the books magically come to life.
Candice Irwin is the creative director and choreographer of Body Stories. In conversation she explained that the program honours her two favourite places as a child—the library and the dance studio. “Reading is where I first learned how a great story can transport you to a new world and dance taught me how I could bring stories to life,” she said.
Loudly in the Library is the embodiment of her wish to share the experience and the magic of words and interpretive dance with others, especially children. As the dance instructor at Body Stories, Ms. Irwin teaches more than the technical side of dance, she also wants her students to find their own creative voice. “A lot of the movements you will see them do in the performance are dance moves they’ve created themselves,” she said, proudly.
“It’s true,” seven-year-old Lily Massicotte said. “I took ballet for a while, but I like this type of dance better. It’s improv,” she explained. This was the first time their recital was performed on a stage. When asked what that felt like, seeing so many people out in the audience, Lily replied, “Actually, it was very scary.”
Each dance segment of the show was the title of a children’s book, and the children danced to music while the spoken words enhanced the magic of the performance. ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ ‘The Hobbit,’ ‘The Little Engine,’ 11 titles in all, something for everyone and for every age group, Ms. Irwin herself played the Wild Robot in one of the final segments of the show.
The children put on an amazing performance in front of a packed and appreciative audience. Ms. Irwin was surprised and pleased at the size of the crowd. She expressed her gratitude for the support of the families, the technical and design support, as well as the many volunteers needed to keep such a large group of children silent back stage. Well done, one and all!
