Conjunction Junction? Get ready for "Expectation Station"
DanceCo and the Roe Family Singers' Expectation Station is an adorable train-themed ride kids are sure to love. With live music, games, jokes, and especially dancing, the performers have created a delightful show specifically designed for families and their kids.
Expectation Station is both a history and singular story about trains. Told by a performative narrator, the show follows a young girl who leaves her small town to go to the big city so she can dance. She takes a train and along the way meets a variety of dancing strangers. While following her journey, we hear all about the history of trains through creative dance numbers and folk music. Through trains, we learn about the history of the United States, hobos, the tale of John Henry, and more, including the particularly strange method trains used to deliver bags of mail.
This show is designed to give kids an idea of why trains are so important, interesting, and relevant. While we see them less and less they haven’t stopped being a fundamental part of our collective history and culture. With music and dance, kids learn all about the wonderful powers trains have.
The performance is primarily dance-based. The dancers put on a show with technical grace and silliness. They pantomime the world the narrator illustrates while simultaneously arabesque-ing (a word I made up) and wearing overalls. Collectively they tell a variety of stories to the upbeat music thanks to the folk band in the corner of the stage.
Along with the narrator, the small band tucked on the left-wing of the stage plays well-known classics everybody knows. These songs are fun to sing along with, but they’re also great to dance too. Kids have a blast singing I’ve been working on the railroad as the dancers mime actual railroad work in perfect time. There is even a fun time to be had when kids are invited on stage to dance to music with the help of the dancers.
All in all, Expectation Station is a delightful way to introduce tykes to the history and power of trains. Kids of all ages are sure to learn so much through the choreography of the cast’s local dancers and musicians. You should see this show before the trains leave the station.
