Mummenschanz headlines PAC’s family programming

Posted OnAugust 2, 2019

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Mummenschanz headlines PAC’s family programming: The Performing Arts Center at Purchase College recently announced their 2019-20 performing arts season with an expanded program of five family entertainment events. The longest list in their history. Headlined by the legendary Swiss mask-theater troupe, Mummenschanz, Pac’s family events line-up is filled with dance, theater, circus and street theater created for kids and grown ups too. Including:

Arch 8: Rising Tide, Performing Arts Center, Sat., 11/23: 3pm: The innovative Dutch dance company Arch 8 and choreographer Erik Kaiel present their new work, Rising Tide. Arch 8 is known for their unorthodox, acrobatic dance for kids (and grown-ups) who can’t sit still, specializing in joyful and engaging interactive performances. The company has performed around the globe, including St. Petersburg, Istanbul, Cairo, New York, San Francisco, Vancouver, Senegal, and throughout Europe. Arch 8 received the People’s Choice Victor Award at IPAY Montreal in 2016 for their production of Tetris. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Mummenschanz, you and me, Performing Arts Center, Sun, 2/23: 3pm: The latest creation from the “Musicians of Silence,” you & me is a surreal and enchanting experience, with large-scale masks, acrobatics, sculptural puppetry, and visual antics – but no music or sound aside from the awe, joy, and laughter of the audience. Founded in 1973 as the Mummenschanz Mask Theater, Mummenschanz had a three-year run on Broadway from 1977-80 and returned to Broadway with a new show in 1986. They have appeared on The Muppet Show, Sesame Street and Northern Exposure. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Airplay, cirque, Performing Arts Center, Fri., 2/28: 7pm: In their new show Airplay, husband & wife team Seth Bloom and Christina Gelsone merge their circus and street theater performance art with the sculptural artistry of Daniel Wurtzel. In this circus-style adventure, two siblings journey through a surreal land of air as fabrics dance in the wind, confetti turns into the night sky, and an enormous canopy of hovering silk brings to life the very air we breathe. Along the way they encounter flying umbrellas, larger-than-life balloons, giant kites, and the biggest snow globe you’ve ever seen. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Performing Arts Center, Sun., 3/1: 3pm: The acclaimed Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia return to PAC in this production of three beloved stories by Eric Carle, award-winning children’s book illustrator and author. Through the magic of black light and fanciful puppets, The Mermaid Theatre follows the adventures of a very tiny and very hungry caterpillar as he eats his way through an amazing variety of foods on his path to becoming a beautiful butterfly. In this sixty minute show for kids 3 & up, The Mermaid Theatre also take on Eric Carle’s Little Cloud and The Mixed-Up Chameleon. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)

Treehouse Shakers: The Boy Who Grew Flowers, Performing Arts Center, Sun., 3/22: 3pm: Adapted from the picture book by Mara McEwin, commisisoned by The PAC, and choreographed by Emily Bunning, this new dance-theatre piece incorporating shadow puppetry from Treehouse Shakers tells the story of young Rink Bowagon, who lives on top of Lonesome Mountain with his unusual family of rattlesnake tamers and shape-shifters. The townspeople agree that Rink’s family are quite strange, but they are unaware of Rink’s spectacular gifts. Whenever the moon is full, Rink sprouts beautiful flowers all over his body. When a new girl, Angelina, moves to town, Rink’s life truly begins to grow. (735 Anderson Hill Rd., Purchase; www.artscenter.org)