Cirque FLIP Fabrique’s ‘Blizzard’

Discover breathtaking beauty and playfulness in a cold and snowy Wisconsin winter when Cirque FLIP Fabrique presents “Blizzard” on Sunday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m. in Overture Hall. Tickets ($30-45) are available at overture.org.

With “Blizzard,” FLIP Fabrique takes you on a crazy, poetic and gentle journey in the dead of winter and invites you to lose yourself in a moment of complete wonder. With performers at the peak of their art and outstanding visual poetry, “Blizzard” promises to blow away everything in its path.

What if winter has taken over?

Not just outside, in the streets and in the fields,

But also in the houses, in the bedrooms,

Underneath our clothes, and even right into our hearts.

Everything, absolutely everything, buried under the snow,

Obliterated by a white-out.

The north wind freezes time as it flows over us.

Would it be a catastrophe?

Or a chance to start over,

To fix our mistakes?

A new blank page

In the shape of a blizzard.

“Blizzard” pays homage to Québec winters in an acrobatic, poetic and humorous way. The idea for a show about winter came to director Olivier Normand during a tour abroad. It was then that he realized that he missed winter and that despite the harshness of this season in Québec, it is very important in his life.

“Blizzard” approaches winter in several vignettes, each with a different aspect. The beauty of winter, a snowball fight, the snowflakes flying in the wind, the introspection allowed by winter’s calmness, the joy of children learning that their school is closed because of a snowstorm are all facets that are displayed in the show. The various numbers are interspersed with messages from the Canadian ministry of cold and brrrr. These humorous vignettes strike the perfect balance between laughter and poetry throughout the show.

Much like an animated film, the show is designed to appeal on many levels. Acrobatics and comedy that will please everyone are superimposed on more mature themes that will move adults. The music is performed entirely live by musician composer Ben Nesrallah. He plays a futuristic piano custom-designed for the show. It has all kinds of drawers and hiding spots that houses a synthesizer, console rhythm machine and other sound effects.

75 minutes, no intermission, recommended age 6+

OVERTURE CENTER FOR THE ARTS in Madison, Wis., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts organization that features seven state-of-the-art performance spaces and four galleries where national and international touring artists, nine resident companies and hundreds of local artists engage people in nearly 700,000 educational and artistic experiences each year. With the vision to “create extraordinary experiences through the arts,” Overture’s mission is to support and elevate our community’s creative culture, economy and quality of life through the arts. overture.org