Taama, DreamScape, and Cyclo: made with Love!

Made with Love! The beautify, thoughtful attention to detail, and celebration of community in Taama, the DreamScape, and Cyclo

I would like to share my thoughts on a few of the Wee Festival presentations. This is to give those of you who are still on the fence a chance to see a post show point of view, however subjective. 

Let’s first talk about Taama. I watched it with my children, although they were older- 6 and 8, they were still into it. The songs in Burkina Faso were absolutely delightful! Aida Dao had a face that communicated openness and generosity. Benoit Leseure provided beautifully balanced vocal harmonies and performance energy. The set was a wonder to children as so much is going on. The tea pot basin towers, the home built, the violin, the singing and of course the drumming. Letting children try out the instrument is also a wonderful component to this work. I thought the music, though colorful and wonderfully performed, was presented to the children along with the sets. I wished for more discovery of music and of the actual set and less presentation of already made material. 

My next adventure was Dreamscape. I have to say the effort that went into creating the different world of textures must be paramount with breathtaking results. The film was done so sensitively to really try to be looking through a toddlers eye at the wonder of each what can be considered mundane matters. My heart ached that this pandemic has kept wobbly drooling little ones out of the incredible art space designed for them to touch, to crumble, to squish and to step on. Ruchira Das’ concept for this production is full of love, knowledge and respect for the massive growing minds. Even when limited by screen, this is apparent.

I was quite blown away by Cyclo. It was a wonder. The attention to detail, the decisions on what messages to send to children in all that is presented, the knowledge that a child will look at everything and another child will look at everything else, the sheer beauty of true make believe. The joy! Oh the Joy! My 6 years old was dancing with it and chatting at it the entire time. None stop! This is a beautiful show. I as the parent especially appreciated the beautiful uniformed treatment of genders in costume design and vocal pitch exchange. I also really loved the sense of Community this piece gave me through choreography. We all experience the same things in life, but we may experience it at different speeds and in different shapes. We are here together to make different discoveries.

Xin Wang

About Xin

Xin Wang was born in Yunnan, a South western province of China. She arrived alone in Canada at the age of 18 to study singing. Her path took her from Winnipeg to Toronto where she settled and built her home of three beautifully loud children and a charismatic husband with many saxophones. 

Xin is most interested in the mechanism of the singing body and is most stimulated by the learning of intricate music. This has led her to the world of contemporary repertoire. 

The learning of complex contemporary repertoire has been a gift. These musical puzzles push her towards her threshold while build her up from within, a similar experience as motherhood.