"Swiper, no swiping!" is the first phrase that pops into my head when I think about Dora the Explorer. Artes de la Rosa brought this fun loving little girl to stage along with all of her friends. This show was a showcase of the talent of the children in the Artes Academy Youth Program. Receiving many awards, including the Coming Up Taller Award in 2006 from the White House, this program strives to encourage children to learn about how to put a production on from the ground up.

Along with the children from the program, the main actors were all college aged students who brought lots of energy and kept the audience involved in the performance.

Lorens Portalatin played the young adventurer Dora. She fit right in with the children, making me believe this young lady had the heart and spirit of a five year old girl. She captured the laugh of Dora very well and led the crowd in helping her find her way to Treasure Island. Eduardo Aguilar played alongside Portalatin as Dora's cousin Diego. Unfortunately, his few solo moments were drowned out by the music, along with mic problems he and his fellow cast experienced. Prior to the show starting, Aguilar led a few children around the stage on a special tour, waving and high-fiving kids in the audience along the way.

Puppet Designer Oliver Luke brought the characters of Boot and Swiper to life. Spencer Baker operated the lanky orange fox, tiptoeing around the stage while all the kids in the audience yelled out to Dora to stop him. "Swiper no swiping!" Dora and Diego led the children in unison to stop him from taking their treasures.

Costumes were kept simple amongst the children. Most wore all white and added small accents according to their parts throughout the show. Footie pajama costumes were made for a few young performers including Karina Franklin-Portalatin who played Isa the Lizard. This young girl stood out among the others with high energy and a big smile. Being the younger sister of Dora, you could tell that talent ran in the family.

The stage was set simply with a giant pirate ship as the main focus. Scenic Designer Oliver Luke created large rocks and a bridge with faces and interactive mouths to bring them to life. When the rocks became a part of the show, the children, unfortunately, did not have mics and it was hard to hear them over all of the music and chaos on stage while the pirate ship was steering clear to the rocks in their way.

Lights in many colors set the stage to transform to the many locations on Dora's adventure. Lighting Designer Will Sancen filled the walls with blue as the pirate ship sailed the seas and the whole room filled with dazzling lights as the treasure chest became the focus on stage. At times during the show, many spotlights flashed into the audience, creating some confusion as to whether entrances were going to be made from the back of the theater.

Choreographed by Rebekah Ruiz, the children danced through the aisles, really bringing the audience into the show.

The show closed with Dora leading the kids in the audience in a final reprise of the popular Dora Theme Song. Everyone waved their pirate flags high in the air and danced along with the cast.

Dora the Explorer Live! showcased all the effort that these young children have worked towards and created a fun show for little children to fall in love with the girl they first met on TV. The Artes Academy Youth Program provides a great service for the young talent in the area and creates a fun product that would make all of their parents proud to see.

DORA THE EXPLORER LIVE!
Dora's Pirate Adventure

Artes de la Rosa
Rose Marine Theater
1440 N. Main St.
Fort Worth, TX 76164

This show will run through August 5th.

Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 pm
Saturday and Sunday performances at 2:30 pm

Tickets are $15 for adults and $10 for seniors and students.
Special Backstage Passes can be purchased for $20.

For tickets or more information, call the Rose Marine Theater Box Office at 817-624-8333 or visit www.rosemarinet