First up was Chieko Ito’s production of “The Kiosk,” based on Latvian animator and illustrator Anete Melece’s work. Her 2013 video of the same name won numerous awards leading to a popular children’s book, later translated into Japanese. 

Ito, who directed and choreographed the production, enjoys a reputation for quirky, uplifting dance storytelling after helming the avant garde company, Strange Kinoko (mushroom), for thirty years. In “The Kiosk,” Ito also starred as Olga, the owner of a small kiosk who finds freedom from the boundaries of her life through creativity. 

Two other dancers, Nagisa Yamaguchi and Memi Shinozaki, take on all other roles. Their lively energy and humorous quick changes as the regular customers Olga meets, from a local jogger to dog walker, to eventually the two sneaky thieves who try to steal her merchandise, kept the young children in the audience delighted. Inventive props—colorful cars, a barking dog, the river at the side of the town that transforms to an ocean, the morphing kiosk itself—kept the action moving for adults as well.