All for one

With its first public performance — a revue of numbers from family favourites such as Toy Story and Frozen — a new performing arts organization in Winnipeg is aiming at a more accessible, accepting and diverse vision of musical theatre production.

Co-founded by theatre educators Brenda Gorlick, Lois Brothers and Laura Kolisnyk, AIM 4 All brings together performers with and without disabilities to train, practise and perform in full-scale musical productions: AIM stands for “all-inclusive musicals.”

This weekend, 28 Manitobans will take the stage in five stagings of Disney’s Dare to Dream Jr. at the University of Winnipeg’s Asper Centre for Theatre.

With plenty of supportive family and community members excited to see the result of months of preparation, the organizers are pleased to say each show is sold out.

“A big word for us is ‘integrated’ along with ‘inclusion,’” says Gorlick, who has also developed the All Abilities Dancers with Manitoba Possible, formerly known as the Society for Manitobans with Disabilities. “There are a lot of companies — theatre, dance, acting or film — that are inclusive, but we’re integrated. Fifty per cent of our company members are neurodiverse or have physical disabilities, and 50 per cent are neurotypical.

“That’s a completely different model than has existed before. That’s why we can lay claim to the fact that we’re the first all-inclusive musical theatre company in Canada.”

Brothers, an arts educator with the Children’s Acting Centre, says that for each of the co-founders, the goals of AIM 4 All are personal. Her son, an adult with Down syndrome, enjoyed participating and performing in theatre arts while completing his education at Grant Park High School.

“He’s 25 now and he would constantly ask me, ‘Mom, when’s my next musical? And it just ripped at my heart strings, because of the fact that it wasn’t so easy to get him into a program I thought would be beneficial for him,” Brothers says. “So this came from me thinking, ‘What can we do? How can we make this happen?’”

Connecting with Kolisnyk — a performer who teaches musical theatre and dance for the Crescent Arts Inclusion Network, as well as Inclusion Winnipeg — helped pave the way for the program’s creation: the three women have known each other for decades, and over walks through their South Osborne neighbourhood, they planned AIM 4 All’s launch.

Since starting in September, the non-profit has partnered with the Manitoba Down Syndrome Society, Manitoba Possible and DASCH, holding weekly rehearsals and workshops in that organization’s Pembina Highway facility.

The organization’s approach is based on a professional theatre model, with approximately 120 hands-on hours spread out over the course of the eight-month prep period.

The cast ranges from 15 years old to early 60s, with many participants performing in their first professional productions or their first large-scale shows since their high school days.

“Many of these folks have had aspirations of being onstage, in film, directing, creating, doing lighting, doing fashion design: everyone has their dream and that’s the beautiful thing about the show,” Gorlick said Monday.

“Yesterday we shared our finale with the family members, parents and supporters, and I don’t think there was a dry eye in the house.

“Everybody shared their dream out loud and that’s magic.”

AIM 4 All adds to the city’s network of performing arts organizations that highlight the talents of individuals living with different abilities or neurodivergences. Other notable groups include Sick & Twisted Theatre and Neurohilarity, an expansive comedy and performance arts group spearheaded by standup comedian and community organizer Adam Schwartz.

Though tickets for the performances are sold out, the organization has garnered not-for-profit status. Support tickets ($10) are available at aim4all.ca, along with information about sustained financial support and future events.

On the website, interested parties can also find information about AIM 4 All’s upcoming open tryouts, which are set for June 2 to 4.

winnipegfreepress.com/benwaldman