The 2012 Flint Hills International Children's Festival
May 3, 2012

Ordway Center for the Performing Arts presents its 12th annual Flint Hills International Children's Festival from May 29-June 3. Minnesota's signature arts festival for children and families-and one of the only of its kind in the nation-features artists hailing from all around the globe, telling stories about different cultures through the uniting power of the performing arts. The Flint Hills International Children's Festival will highlight five headlining artist groups making their mark internationally through extraordinary puppetry, dance, music and theater performances.

The Festival takes place in two parts: School Days (May 29-June 1) and Family Weekend (June 2-3). More than 14,000 children from schools across Minnesota and Western Wisconsin participate in School Days by attending international performances, participating in interactive activities and engaging in artist residencies throughout the week.

During Family Weekend, attendees experience the same international performances the students enjoy during the week-for only $5 a ticket thanks to Target-in addition to three free, outdoor stages filled with artists and free arts activities in the parks including the Xcel Energy's Butterfly Garden, international cuisine, walk-around artists and more. Festival activities fill downtown Saint Paul's Rice Park, Landmark Center, Landmark Plaza, Hamm Plaza, Ordway Center for the Performing Arts and Lowry Lab Theater. General admission tickets to world-class international performances can be purchased ahead of time through the Ordway ticket office and online at ordway.org/festival.

"The Flint Hills International Children's Festival is one of the top children's festivals in the world," said Jake Reint, director of public affairs at Flint Hills Resources. "The festival is an opportunity for Flint Hills to be a part of something extraordinary, something unique to Minnesota, and performances that inspire young people to be creative and dream big."

"It is a gift to present this Festival to our communities," says Dayna Martinez, artistic director of world music, dance and international children's festival programming at the Ordway. "These remarkable performances honor and celebrate the diversity in all of us."

Indoor International Performances

World of Rhythm
Explore the world of percussion with Drums United's explosive performances of "World of Rhythm." Drums United is made up of nine percussionists from seven different countries including Bangladesh, Senegal, Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Surinam and Venezuela. This exciting show mixes African, Latin, Spanish and Indian drum traditions with Western drumming and uses contemporary electronic sounds that are sure to get you moving in your seat! The performance not only gives the audience an opportunity to listen and watch top players, but also imparts the underlying message that people from widely varying nationalities can work well together.

Zorro
A mysterious figure has arrived in town. A flurry of a cape, the glint of a sword and a flash of a mask; who is this baffling character? Exciting friend or formidable foe? Watch as our masked champion ricochets from one sticky situation to another in a world where justice is the name and adventure is the game! Join Visible Fictions on the epic adventure of the classic swashbuckler in 19th century California.

BAM
Join Theâtre des Petites Âmes on a great adventure in the land of Tran Tran Troo! Meet the most famous person in Tran Tran Troo, the Great Lady La, who can make the water sing. One hot summer night, the land of Tran Tran Troo dries up and the Great Lady La is left without a voice. Luckily for our story, the Great Lady La's two children, Lilou and Lalou, set out to find a new source of water to hear their mother's song again. And so begins a great adventure which takes place here, there and everywhere.

The Wolf and the Goat
This magical story by Compagnia Rodisio is about a wolf and a goat that meet on a dark night far away from home, but don't recognize each other. Forgetting that they are usually enemies, they discover that they are closer than they imagined. Will the goat really be brave and the wolf frightened? Or maybe nothing changes and the wolf will eat the goat? Or maybe the frightened goat will escape? Like the wolf and the goat, we don't know what is going to happen - do you? Inspired by the Japanese novel "One Stormy Night" by Yuichi Kimura, this captivating tale will keep you spellbound.

Outdoor performances

Outdoor performances by numerous resident cultural artists are scheduled on the free Flint Hills World Stage and Target Alley Stage from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday. This year, one of our international performing groups Dance Theatre of Ireland, will be holding free performances of its work "Block Party!" Saturday and Sunday of the Festival, attendees can experience these dancers' interactive choreography utilizing moveable blocks as the set and inspiration for the work.

Block Party!
"Block Party!" is a portable performance like no other featuring dazzling dancers, explosive live percussion and giant-sized toy blocks. This outdoor spectacle by the Dance Theatre of Ireland merges the world of dance, music and architecture to create a playful, animated and athletic experience. Full of color and imagination, dancers kick, twirl, jump and roll as the block scenery changes with the dancers' captivating choreography. Don't miss the inventive performances of "Block Party!"

On Saturday at 1 p.m., the ever-popular ARTmoves Parade highlights a vibrant dancing display of resident Twin Cities cultural dance schools as they wind around the streets and parks of downtown Saint Paul.

One of the highlights of the Festival is the ARTgarden installation: an urban garden created by artists Mark Granlund and Angela Koebler from The City of Saint Paul's Parks and Recreation Department. This year's garden-The Story Time Garden-centers on the theme of the art of storytelling. The garden, which will be installed in Hamm Plaza, will feature a 20-foot-tall, carved tree trunk as its central focus. Award-winning wood carver Curtis Ingvoldstad carved the more than 100-year-old cottonwood tree, which was fished out of the Mississippi River at Harriet Island by forestry employees during the 2010 flood season. Ingvoldstad depicted visuals of Minnesota and international wildlife, along with Father Time on the tree. During the Festival weekend, story tellers will perform in the ARTgarden. The ARTgarden is supported by Ruth and John Huss, The Saint Paul Garden Club and the Historic Hamm Building.

The Clear Channel Outdoor ARTwalk is a unique opportunity for the Festival to highlight the visual arts achievements of young people. In the professionally curated exhibition of young artists' artwork, more than 500 visual art projects from Minnesota's finest student artistic talents will appear in windows of downtown Saint Paul businesses from May 4 through June 3, as a part of the Flint Hills International Children's Festival.

Free Rides to the Festival on Metro Transit

The Festival is accessible to everyone, thanks to Metro Transit offering free rides to the Festival on all Metro Transit buses and light-rail trains June 2 and 3 with the Go Greener Pass. This pass can be downloaded from a link on ordway.org/festival starting May 18.

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