Fairfield University's Young Audience Series presents the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company - December 2 | Press Releases

"Helium light and hilarious" - The New York Times

Expect the unexpected with the Fred Garbo Inflatable Theater Company. Children of all ages are in for a treat when pneumatic wizard Fred Garbo and the lively and graceful ballerina, Krista Paulsen - who has joined the company while Brazilian ballerina Daielma Santos is on maternity leave - come to Fairfield University's Quick Center for the Arts with a program that includes physical comedy, dance, juggling and most importantly, their own creative inventions that INFLATE, Sunday, Dec. 2 for two shows at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

The fantastically inventive duo has performed around the world, transcending barriers of age, language and gravity in a seamless program that begins when a ten-foot cylinder slithers onto the stage and implodes creating a collection of gigantic inflatable props. And that's just the beginning....

In every show, there is audience interaction and before long, the entire audience is playing catch with gigantic inflatable props.

The lithe and beautiful ballerina leaps gracefully in the air and in a flash she becomes an inflated woman. She dances the can-can, but her skirt starts to grow longer and longer, becoming first, a ball gown, then a balloon that engulfs her and finally spirits her away. Then, there is a globulating red cube that takes on a life of its own - rolling, gliding and tumbling in synch to the music, right up to the edge of the stage. It teeters dramatically on the brink...will it fall...or...won't it fall? It quakes and bulges changing shape before it makes its amazingly hilarious exit.

Garbo and Paulsen mesmerize audiences with their artistic imagery and creative foolishness. They perform fast-paced, energetic, clever and universally engaging theatrical pieces that earn them the laughter and delight they always receive.

Paulsen is a native of Seoul, South Korea and was raised in the American south. Her training includes scholarship study at Virginia School of the Arts, Northern Illinois University and Lou Conte Dance Studio. She has danced with the Pittsburgh Ballet Theater and with Chicago's Luna Negra Dance Theater. She has continued her creative exploration with new works at the Fisher Dance Project and Chicago's Looptopia Festival before embarking on - to her delight - this memorable journey with Fred Garbo's Inflatable Theater Company.

Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for children. They are available online at www.quickcenter.com or by calling the Quick Center Box Office at (203) 254-4010; the toll free number is 1-877-ARTS-396. For more information, visit the Quick Center website at www.quickcenter.com.