When audience members enter a Minneapolis storefront at the edge of Loring Park for Strange Loop Projects’ “Bazaar Bizarre,” they are invited to step inside a theatrical dance performance that puts them directly in the action.
The immersive production uses a steampunk aesthetic, pairing a soundtrack of industrial sounds and creepy circus music with stylized choreography that elevates burlesque moves with sharp ballet technique. Audience members become passengers on a train trip, navigating a multi-room environment defined by striking visuals and a dark, atmospheric theme.
Strange Loops owner Zhauna Franks had spent years looking for a place where she could develop ambitious projects. “Whenever I do something, it’s kind of a big project, and finding a space to work out of is a little bit complicated,” she said. “If I want to make something immersive, I’m going to need it for maybe a few months, and it just doesn’t work like that in this town for venues.”
After looking off and on, Franks found most locations to be cost prohibitive. Then, she learned about the city of Minneapolis’ Vibrant Storefronts program. It provides $50,000 a year toward rent for two years, and recipients have the option to apply for an additional two years at the end of the first term. In the case of Strange Loop Projects, the subsidy covers over 95% of the rent.
“When the Vibrant Storefronts program opened up, I saw something in Loring Park that seemed like the perfect opportunity,” she said.
Strange Loop Projects marks a return for Franks, who remembers rehearsing upstairs at the old Ballet of the Dolls studios for many years. She spent decades with the irreverent contemporary dance company led by artistic director Myron Johnson. Franks is perhaps best known for her turn as Barbie in Johnson’s “Nutcracker (not so) Suite.”
“It’s wild,” Franks said, noting that she now enters through the same door she used when Ballet of the Dolls occupied two floors of the building. “It’s definitely interesting to come back to the block,” she said.
These days, the neighborhood has less arts activity, she observed. During the years before Ballet of the Dolls moved to Northeast Minneapolis in 2006 (at the Ritz, now owned by Theatre Latte Da), “it got so cool that we all got priced out,” Franks said. “Now it’s kind of way quieter, which is why they’re offering these spaces in that building to artists — to bring it kind of back to that vibrancy.”
Franks hopes to help bring energy back to the area. “I think this program helps us a lot, but then after that, it’s up to people if they want dance to thrive in this community to show up,” she said.
Beyond rent, Franks has had to navigate a complex system to get the venue fully up and running. “It took me until March to get my theater license, and it took me until September to get my wine and beer license,” she said. “It’s a lot more red tape with the city opening a venue and getting it secured than we all imagine.”
The licenses have helped the venue financially. “Even a couple hundred on a night is really helpful,” Franks said, especially with the small audiences she wants for “a more intimate experience.” The venue typically accommodates about 60 people for “Bazaar Bizarre” and up to 80 for seated shows.
“Bazaar Bizarre” opened at Strange Loop Projects a year ago on Halloween in an earlier iteration. This year’s edition opened Oct. 16 and runs through this weekend. It expands on last year’s event and retains some elements of the original piece — including massive set pieces and choreography created by Franks and Johnson.
“When I did the original event last year, Myron helped me out a lot with getting some choreography done while I was going back and forth doing every other piece of the puzzle,” Franks said. “So that was really awesome to have him as an assistant when I used to be his assistant for years and years.”
Last year, “Bazaar Bizarre” “was really more of an event,” Franks said. The new production, by contrast, is a “theatrical journey rather than a spectacle.” Yet as in the first iteration, the audience never sits down. The action unfolds all around them.
The new iteration divides audience members into two tracks. When I arrived with my partner, the box office attendant gave us each a card indicating which color we were supposed to follow. I got gray, so I followed dancer Stephanie Fellner Grey (another former dancer from Ballet of the Dolls), who carried a gray parasol, while my partner got white, so he followed Franks and her white parasol.
Both routes began in a speakeasy bar before the dancers, some dressed as train conductors, guided us on our journey.
When we compared notes afterward, my partner and I discovered that the two tracks differed significantly, though we encountered some of the same elements, including robotic clowns, Charleston moves, silhouette teases, erotic chair dances and throbbing industrial music. My track, for instance, featured a lengthy aerial duet, which my partner only saw in passing. At times, the two groups converged briefly before splitting up again.
Daron Walker’s sound design helped establish the eerie atmosphere, mixing noise music with carnival sounds and old-time influences. Meanwhile, Josh Sundby’s textured video design and Mike Grogan’s lighting design, with its saturated colors in low light, added to the dramatic feeling.
The venue also hosts “Fresh Baked,” a 24-hour choreographers’ challenge that has taken place every two months. After four episodes, Franks plans to shift the series to a quarterly schedule next year.
She is also planning a return to performing next spring in a new work developed from “Swan Song Studies,” a piece she created with Stephanie Fellner Grey. The original work, performed seven years ago for the “Right Here Showcase” at the former Art Box venue in South Minneapolis, explored the idea of a final performance and what it means to look back on a life in art. Franks is now shaping it into a full production.
“I’m still gonna be building it and rewriting it to make it an immersive full show,” she said.
“Bazaar Bizarre” has two more performances — both at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 30, and Saturday, Oct. 31. The Saturday show includes a Halloween DJ dance party that starts at 9:30 p.m. and costs $25. The performances and party are at 1629 Hennepin Ave. Ste. 100, Minneapolis. More information here.
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