18 dance and theater events to catch outdoors in Minnesota this summer

Who says you can’t have your cake and eat it too?

As Minnesotans flock outside in the summertime, soaking up time at parks, lakes and waterways, they can take fanciful flights with dance and theater shows. Here’s a list of shows and performances to sate artistic appetites in the great outdoors.

The five-member ensemble takes its circus arts and dance into the park in a piece that meditates on the relationship between humans and the natural environment. Drawing on theater, contemporary dance, acrobatics and aerial arts, the show invites audiences to bring a blanket or chairs and take a walk into the forest, where “Lines in the Dark” awaits. Guest performances by aerialist Josie Hoffman and Krump dancer Cecil “Virgo” Neal will supplement the main event. (7 p.m. June 7; 2:30 p.m. June 8, Caponi Art Park, 1220 Diffley Road, Eagan. $20, caponiartpark.org)

For its outdoor presentation this summer, DanceCo performs a new piece called “The People I See Are a Part of Me: A Dance Adventure in Poetry.” The professional troupe whose mission is to create dances geared toward young audiences has put together a story about a young protagonist named Alra, who learns about life and friendship in a piece created by choreographer Karla Nweje. (10 & 11:30 a.m. June 21, Minnehaha Falls Park Pavilion, 4825 Minnehaha Av. S., Mpls. June 28, Capri Theater, Paradise Hall, 2027 W. Broadway, Mpls. July 5 Father Hennepin Bluffs Park Bandshell, 420 SE. Main St., Mpls. Free, dancecomn.com)

Lake Harriet becomes the backdrop for a performance by Anda Flamenco at the Lake Harriet Band Shell. Showcasing flamenco tradition in bold costumes, the troupe blends fiery rhythms and fancy footwork in this outdoor experience. (2 p.m. June 25, Lake Harriet Band Shell, 4135 W. Lake Harriet Pkwy., Mpls. Free, andaflamenco.com)

The Bloomington-based company gives a behind-the-scenes look at a typical ballet class for its performance at Normandale Lake Bandshell, while instructor Michelle Vagi narrates what’s happening. Then the troupe mixes ballet and story with excerpts from the classic show “Sleeping Beauty,” with both group dances and solos as part of the mix. (7 p.m. July 15, Normandale Lake Bandshell, 5901 W. 84th St., Bloomington. Free, bloomingtonmn.gov)

Freshwater Dance Collective organizes an outdoor showcase of dance companies, with Twin Cities choreographers like Sarah LaRose and Sarah Hauss performing in a shared bill with Duluth companies. Performed on the shores of Lake Superior, it’s an event that mixes vista with movement vibrancy. (7 p.m. July 11 & 12, Rose Garden near Leif Erikson Park, 15 S. 13th Av. E., Duluth. Free, facebook.com)

You couldn’t ask for a more idyllic venue for a dance performance than the Lyndale Park Rose Garden, aka Lake Harriet Rose Garden, a picturesque Minneapolis park with flowers, water fountains and beautiful trees. That’s where Ray Terrill Dance Group returns for the annual Dances at the Lake Festival. Adult and youth troupes will perform in the grassy area between the two water features. Watch out for Alys Ayumi Ogura, Christopher Watson Dance Company, Flamenco X, Sansei Yonsei Kai, Corpus Dance Works and more. (7 p.m. July 18 & 19, Lyndale Park Gardens, 4124 Roseway Road, Mpls. Free, dancesatthelakefestival.com)

As part of Bloomington’s “Sunday Funday” series, Ballet Folklorico Mexico Azteca teams up with Mariachi Son de Morelos for a performance celebrating Mexican culture through dance, music and community with vibrant colors, energetic footwork and elegance. (5-7 p.m. July 27, Normandale Lake Bandshell, 5901 W. 84th St., Bloomington. Free, bloomingtonmn.gov)

Located on 22 acres of namesake lakefront in Alexandria, Minn., Theatre L’Homme Dieu has been offering music, theater and other summer entertainment since 1961. Jack Reuler, founder and retired artistic director of Mixed Blood Theatre, is the company’s interim executive and artistic director. The company kicks off its 65th season with David Auburn’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Proof,” about a female math genius who cared for her ailing father. The production is being transferred from St. Paul’s Gremlin Theatre, where it played in March under the direction of Craig Johnson. (7:30 p.m. June 24-28, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, 1875 County Road 120, Alexandria. $44. 320-846-3150, tlhd.org)

Kim Schultz’s solo show about indefatigable outdoorswoman Dorothy Molter has become a popular title at the History Theatre, where it originated. Molter was the last non-native person to live in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area and was famous to campers and hikers alike because of her hospitality and her vim. (7:30 p.m. July 15-19, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, 1875 County Road 120, Alexandria. $44. 320-846-3150, tlhd.org)

Each summer, Minneapolis’ Open Eye Theatre takes family shows that use puppetry, music and humor to driveways, garages and other outdoor-ish spaces across Minnesota. The company typically performs these for community gatherings of about 50 people. This year, the company has two offerings. “The Adventures of Katie Tomatie” is about about a bored gardening girl who, after watching her tomatoes grow, digs up a skeleton in her plot. “Katie Tomatie” is playing at 26 ad-hoc and outdoor Minnesota venues, with free admission, through July 13.

Open Eye also has “The Adventures of Juan Bobo/Las Adventuras de Juan Bobo,” about a bilingual hero who wants to right a world turned upside down. Anyone can call the theater to host a performance. “Juan Bobo” is playing at 21 venues from the Gammelgården Museum of Scandia, Minn., to the home of Jean Abbott in Lakeville, with free admission, through Aug. 24. While admission is free, sometimes performers may pass a hat.

Jerry Montoya’s romantic comedy, “Love and Baseball,” is a transfer from B Street Theatre in Sacramento, Calif. The story draws parallels between the heart and the diamond, with metaphors about swinging and missing, and getting “another shot at the plate.” (7:30 p.m. July 22-26, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, 1875 County Road 120, Alexandria. $44. 320-846-3150, tlhd.org)

Kevin Kling’s “Scarecrow on Fire,” which had a successful run this spring at Minneapolis’ Illusion Theatre, is transferring outdoors for a quick spell this summer. The radio play about what happens to Dorothy and her friends after their return from Oz closes Theatre L’Homme Dieu’s four-play theatrical season. Theater major domo Stephen Yoakam returns to play the Lion alongside piano dynamo Dan Chouinard as the Tin Man, Simone Perrin as Dorothy and Kling himself as the Scarecrow. The inventive show is staged by Illusion Theater co-founder Michael Robins with the House of Mercy Band providing musical interludes and amplitude. (7:30 p.m. Aug. 12-15, Theatre L’Homme Dieu, 1875 County Road 120, Alexandria. $44. 320-846-3150, tlhd.org)

For its 22nd season, the Winona fest has “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Comedy of Errors” on tap as mainstage productions and a tour of “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.”

“R&J” is staged by Minnesota actor and director H. Adam Harris. He interprets the tragedy from the Nurse’s perspective as a story of loss and grief. Australian actor Stephanie Lambourn plays the Nurse while Italian-born Alessandro Yokoyama and NYU graduate Serena Phillip play the title characters.

“Errors” is headlined by Guthrie Theater star Will Sturdivant, who will depict twin brothers Antipholus of Syracuse and Antipholus of Ephesus. Chicago-based performer Emily Fury Daly plays both Dromio of Syracuse and Dromio of Ephesus. “We’re premising it on a lot of madcap physical comedy,” said artistic director Doug Scholz-Carlson. “We’ve set it in the ′80s with costumes and music that reflect that era.”

Graduate students from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, play all the principals in “Verona.” Katie Lupica, associate artistic director at Clarence Brown Theatre and a directing professor at the university, stages the classic.

(“Verona” will be performed for $10 or free at four discrete locations in Minnesota and Wisconsin July 15-23. “R&J” and “Errors” run Wed.-Sun. at various times, June 26-July 27, 450 Johnson St., Winona. $30-$54. grsf.org, 507-474-7900)

Classical Actors Ensemble, which has presented free Shakespeare in Twin Cities parks for the past decade, is back for its 11th season. This year’s show is about Helena, whose father has died and who falls for a man above her station. Joseph Papke directs the two-hour production that runs free in makeshift settings such as Lake of the Isles June 13–July 13.

Founded by Amanda Fuller, the Gray Mallard Theater Company presents Shakespeare in a pub in the parking lot of Sociable Cider Werks in northeast Minneapolis. Fuller has enlisted her parents and stage veterans Nathaniel and Cathy Fuller in Shakespeare’s battle of the sexes tale with Beatrice and Benedick going toe-to-toe and tete-a-tete as a prelude to love. (7 p.m. Thu., Sat. & Sun., July 17-Aug. 3, 1500 NE. Fillmore St., Mpls. Free. thegraymallardtheater.org)