Movement, Mental Health, and Meaning: Collide’s “Wonderland” Show Reaches 1,100+ Students
This November, the Project Success Theater team partnered once again with Compañía de danza teatral Collide to bring their groundbreaking production Mundo maravilloso to four of our partner schools—Olson and Justice Page Middle Schools, FAIR School for the Arts, and Thomas Edison High School. With these performances, more than 1,100 students experienced the Mundo maravilloso residency this year.
Through engaging choreography and storytelling, Mundo maravilloso explores mental health with clarity and compassion. Themes such as anxiety, OCD, and self-identity take center stage as dancers bring each character’s inner world to life. Mental health is a very broad subject that is brought up in our world every day. It has many definitions and meanings, but most can agree that it is very meaningful to our students. The past month at these residencies, we saw how they are not afraid to engage in discussions regarding mental health, even if it can be vulnerable, complex, and challenging. With the power of dance and storytelling, students were able to learn more about mental health, which can lead to more compassion for people in our community.
In the performance, “the Doctor”, who runs the fictional mental health institution where the story takes place, guides the audience through each character’s backstory. As the show unfolds, the audience sees the struggles beneath the surface, the impact of shame and stigma, the message that everyone carries something, and that our imperfections make us who we are. In the end, the Doctor understands that he has things that he struggles with, and the audience watches as all the characters find beauty in their imperfections and empathy for others.
The show’s accessible dance-theater format opened the door for meaningful conversations. After each 45-minute performance, students participated in a Q&A with the cast, asking questions about the characters and the mental health issues represented on stage. When dancers asked if students had personal experience with the challenges portrayed—or knew someone who did—nearly every hand in the room went up.
Those moments of honesty sparked reflections where students shared personal stories and expressed how validating it was to see their experiences acknowledged on stage. The Mundo maravilloso performances encouraged students to see that they are not alone, and that seeking help is an act of strength, not weakness.
“We loved having the Collide Dance Group [perform Mundo maravilloso] and they did an amazing job! I was impressed by how well the performance communicated to middle school students.”
— PS Assistant Principal
We are grateful to Collide Theatrical Dance Company for their partnership, and for bringing Mundo maravilloso and its powerful message to our students. Through these performances, they helped create space for vulnerability, and connection amongst our students, reminding everyone of the power and importance of the arts.
This activity is made possible, in part, by the voters of Minnesota through a grant from the Minnesota State Arts Board, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund.
