Home

Photo Gallery

Strings Music Festival Youth Concert Series: Peter Davison

Steamboat Springs — After the conclusion of Tuesday’s Strings Music Festival Youth Concert, 6-year-old Max Hamilton approached the performer, Peter Davison, with one question.

“How do you do all that stuff?” Max asked.

Davison, a Boulder-based one-man show of performance art, wasn’t born with the ability to juggle two sticks, a hoop and a red ball, or ride a 6-foot-tall unicycle around a stage.

“I practiced a lot,” he told Max. “Just like if you play an instrument, you practice.”

Davison entertained a crowd of more than 500 on Tuesday morning at Strings Music Pa­­vilion, capturing audience members young and old with acrobatic antics as he danced, juggled and joked his way across the stage.

A second performance followed at 5:30 p.m.

The show, part of the Strings Music Festival Youth Concert Series, featured storytelling, dance and several opportunities for audience participation.

In less than an hour, Dav­ison took the crowd, comprising mostly young children from local day care centers and summer camps, on a journey to new heights on his giant unicycle.

He took them to France, where he painted on a mustache and flipped kitchenware from his feet onto his head as the audience shrieked in amazement.

Davison, now an artistic director with the Boulder Ballet, also incorporated interludes of contemporary dance coupled with visual arts.

He said the fast pace and bright visuals keep children interested for the duration of the show.

“I think it’s because I’m a childlike person that I can relate to that pace,” Davison said. “I don’t think I ever grew up.”

He began juggling at 12 and incorporates juggling objects into several of his acts. He managed to juggle under one of his legs while on top of the unicycle.

“I take up a lot more of the space than a storyteller,” he said. “I fill that space with things.”

Among those things was a large lasso, into which he invited six children.

Hunter Thatcher, 9, was one of the children on stage who was told to act like a cow as Davison roped them in and then let them go.

“I liked escaping,” Hunter said, “because we got to run around a lot.”

And the children stayed in character, mooing as they scampered around the stage.

“You guys must have gone to theater camp,” Davison told them.

Although Davison will pack up his engaging objects and return to Boulder, there will be more interactive theater opportunities this summer at Strings Music Pavilion.

The Strings youth concerts will take place at 11 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Aug. 17. Tickets are $10 for adults and $1 for children.

Jennifer Shea, Strings Music Festival marketing and development director, said although many 11 a.m. performances sell out, seats often become available at showtime.

“It’s a multigenerational experience, with grandparents coming with their families,” Shea said. “And it’s great for visitors, as well.”

Future youth concerts will feature a tap and stomp dance troupe, a children’s musical group and an acclaimed African drumming ensemble.

“We try to have interactive and engaging things,” Shea said. “We want to keep kids interested in music and keep them coming back.”

Strings' full summer schedule is available here.

— To reach Nicole Inglis, call 871-4204 or e-mail ninglis@steamboatpilot.com