tA delightful show at Orcas Center this weekend

From the Bellingham-based artists who brought Dream Science Circus and Circus D’Orcas to Orcas Center, audiences will delight in “Sleeping on the Ceiling” on Friday and Saturday, July 25 and 26. Joining Ukoiya and Islando, the creators of these performances, will be a half-dozen other professional dancers, acrobats and jugglers, and a host of local children, to the wonder of audiences of all ages.

In the “new circus” style of Cirque de Soleil which is equally appealing to adults and children, without animals and with highly physical theatre, dance, music, “Sleeping on the Ceiling” unravels a lyrical and fun narrative. Goblins and Faeries fight over the moon, and the Oracle knows your deepest secrets. A man literally falls into the dreams that he denies to his son, trapped in his own relentless imagination.

His dream monsters include walking flowers, club wielding goblins, mischievous faeries, stone guardians and a beautiful goblin queen. Aerial acrobatics, juggling, dance and theatre meld seamlessly into the story as he gets pulled deeper into his dream world.

Ukoiya describes the entertainment as “extravagant and mystical physical theater with extraordinary costumes, advanced acrobatics and aerials.” It is the troupe’s first ensemble piece, produced and directed by Michael Bean of Vancouver, B.C.

The cast of professional circus performers takes the audience on a journey that is at once a delightful and positive fairytale for children and a slightly sexy show for adults. Joining the professional cast will be several young local participants of the 2008 Theatre Camp, including Paris Wilson, Ronan Rankin, Olivia and Hannah Brunner-Gaydos and Wiley, Ronan and Amelia Kau.

Tickets for Sleeping on the Ceiling are $20, $16 for Orcas Center members, and $10 for students. For more information or to purchase tickets, please visit www.orcascenter.org or call or 360/376-2281 ext 1 or visit Orcas Center during box office hours, Thursday-Saturday, noon – 4 p.m.