Dance aims to capture passion, pure joy of Pippi

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This article was published 19/12/2014 (4314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Pippi Longstocking — the adventurous, assertive girl in the bright-red pigtails and mismatched socks who can lift a horse high above her head — has been a muse to many.

Heralded as both a literary icon and a feminist role model, Astrid Lindgren’s beloved character has been charming generations of children since she first made her debut in 1945.

So when Winnipeg choreographer/dancer/teacher Treasure Waddell began work on a full-length contemporary dance for children — something she’d always dreamed of creating — Pippi immediately popped into her head.

“She’s a character I remember from my own childhood,” Waddell says. “She’s an adventurous girl. She’s curious and passionate. She finds the joy in everything. There are so many things about her story that translated to dance. It called to me as a dancer to translate this story.”

That Pippi Longstocking is something of an antidote to pink-princess culture also appealed to Waddell. “We still don’t see many strong, independent female characters,” Waddell says. “To show that was important to me.”

Created in collaboration with Toronto-based choreographer Marie-Josée Chartier and performed by Ali Robson (who stars as Pippi), Natasha Torres-Garner, Alexandra Elliott, Janelle Hacault and Waddell herself, Pippi Longstocking: A Story in Dance features the beloved characters who populate Lindgren’s collected stories, including Pippi’s monkey and horse, as well as her friends Tommy and Annika. It’s a dance show about a spirited girl who quite literally dances her way through life.

Because this is not a play and uses no written script, Waddell was tasked with translating a literary narrative into the language of dance. She describes the creative process as being fluid.

“I kind of approached it like Pippi,” Waddell says with a laugh, adding that all of the performers were integral in shaping the show. With sounds and music by Nicky Mehta of the Wailin’ Jennys and Grant Johnson (formerly of Novillero), and lighting by Dean Cowieson, Waddell and Chartier were focused on creating a captivating world that would capture the imaginations of the children and adults alike in the audience.

Waddell wanted to evoke the feeling of getting lost in a really good book. “That’s what it feels like when we get to be a part of Pippi’s world and share in her joy,” she says. “It’s as Pippi says, ‘Oh, isn’t it glorious to be alive?'”

And when it came to capturing the indomitable spirit of Pippi Longstocking, Waddell can’t think of anyone who could have done a better job than Robson.

“She is Pippi,” Waddell says. “Ali is an amazing interpreter. She’s been so curious about this role. She’s created a very rich character with a lot of subtlety and depth. She really tapped into Pippi’s compassion, which is one of her most defining characteristics.”

For Robson, putting her own spin on Pippi has been pure joy. “It’s been really great to take a character that’s so well known and identifiable and approach it from a physical place,” she says. “It’s been really interesting to investigate how she interacts with her environment. In the show we abstract a lot of it — it’s not a linear theatrical telling. That was my favourite part; I was really able to dive into the subtext and the layers of her character.”

Waddell was conscious of the fact that she was making a show for kids, turning a careful eye to pacing — the show runs about 50 minutes — and thinking about what holds a younger audience’s attention. But Pippi Longstocking: A Story in Dance never talks down to children, nor does it underestimate their intelligence.

“Kids understand things on a sophisticated level, too,” Waddell says. “Pippi is living in a house on her own without parents; she lost her mother as an infant and her father is currently lost at sea. I thought about what that would feel like for a child. There are a lot of emotional tones in this piece; it’s not all fun and games.” (Although, there’s plenty of that, too.)

“That’s something I’ve tried to keep in the back of my head as a performer,” Robson says. “Kids do pick up on subtle things. I love performing for kids because they really pick up on the energy of the performances. Kids are good at taking it all in. I don’t need to cater to kids. Their imaginations are working for them already.”

jen.zoratti@freepress.mb.ca