Two upcoming performances bring unique genres of storytelling to FIM this season: spectacle and dance. Cirque FLIP Fabrique: Blizzard takes the Whiting Auditorium stage at 7:30 p.m. on April 4, and MOMIX: Alice follows at 7:30 p.m. on April 24.

“Cirque FLIP Fabrique: Blizzard and MOMIX: Alice both bring stories familiar to us and tell them in a new way. It is important to continue to introduce different ways to enjoy a story. Both titles do just that,” says Ella McAndrew, FIM Director of Programming.

Based in Québec, Canada, Cirque FLIP Fabrique is a circus company born out of the dreams and friendship of circus performers in 2011. The troupe is renowned worldwide for its beloved production which combines astonishing feats with visual poetry.

“FLIP Fabrique presents family oriented, very acrobatic, energetic and funny shows,” says Bruno Gagnon, Cirque FLIP Fabrique Founder and Artistic Director.

Blizzard will resonate with Michiganders on the heels of a long cold season, as FLIP Fabrique takes audiences on a wildly poetic and gentle journey in the dead of winter, inviting them to lose themselves in a moment of complete wonder. Featuring outstanding visual poetry and performers at the peak of their art, Blizzard promises to delight and astound audiences of all ages.

“Blizzard is a very pleasing, aesthetic and poetic illustration of winter in the eye of a Canadian.” Gagnon says. “A show is like a human; it grows. And I am very proud of the life-stage you will see in this piece. The first act, the Chinese bull duet, is incredible. And the trampo-wall at the end, where there are no walls, just trampolines up to the roof, is very acrobatically pleasing. The visual effects and poetry behind the show are so unique.”
Also committed to telling stories through motion, MOMIX is a company of dancer-illusionists under the direction of Moses Pendleton. They are known internationally for presenting work of exceptional inventiveness and physical beauty. The company’s repertoire has been broadcast to 55 countries.

Seamlessly blending illusion, acrobatics, magic and whimsy, MOMIX sends audiences tumbling down the rabbit hole in Moses Pendleton’s newest creation, Alice, inspired by Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice in Wonderland. Join the mind-bending adventure as Alice encounters time-honored characters including an undulating caterpillar, a lobster quadrille, frenzied white rabbits, a mad queen of hearts and a variety of other surprises.

“Something I always tell people is to come in with an open imagination,” says MOMIX dance captain and dancer Seah Hagan, who understands that the world of dance is unfamiliar to many audiences. But the familiarity of the story can help folks navigate what may be an unfamiliar art form. “Let the show take you on a journey. There is something for everyone, so let yourself laugh when you want to laugh, be scared or be curious. Let yourself feel all those emotions and jump back into your childhood a little bit.”

FIM is excited to welcome FLIP Fabrique and MOMIX to Whiting Auditorium as they connect new audiences to the stage with resonant stories told through spectacle and dance.

Fenton Area Public Schools Elementary Teacher Chelsea Debo on Value of FIM Community Programs

I love the idea of the Cirque FLIP Fabrique: Blizzard experience of poetry in motion as inspiration during poetry month! I also thought the acrobatics made the performance sound very entertaining. We are bringing three fourth-grade classes, totaling 70 students. I’m certain they will love it!

We’ve taken advantage of multiple FIM shows at Whiting Auditorium and online. Students love the opportunity to see a live performance and practice being good audience members.

We are incredibly lucky to have these highly engaging field trips. Many of the shows correlate directly to our Common Core curriculum standards and provide a real-world experience for our students that enriches their learning in a way that cannot be achieved solely in the classroom.