Kidfest director Paula Maguire has pulled off something of a theatrical coup in inviting Robert Desrosiers to present his acclaimed version of `Pinocchio' at her annual children's theatre festival.

Described by The New York Times as "a great entertainer who reaches deep'' and his work by Toronto's Globe and Mail as "a dream, like the company that dances it'', Desrosiers is one of the brightest figures on the contemporary Canadian dance scene.

Now, his company of five dancers will be joined by 20 local students for this production.

"We held auditions for the chorus on Sunday,'' explains former professional dancer Mrs. Maguire, "and he chose dancers from the Jackson School, The School of Russian Ballet and from United Productions. Mr. Desrosiers worked them half to death and they were terrific!'' Children in the younger group (seven to nine year-olds) will appear as fish and bees, while the older students, aged from around 13 to 16, will appear as puppets.

Like many of the best creative talents, Desrosiers has remained fascinated by the world of children. For those who are familiar with the beguiling invention of his work, it comes as no surprise to learn that he was thrilled by the opportunity to create a children's ballet for his company, Desrosiers Dance Theatre. He freely admits that one of the most significant experiences of his life was kindergarten -- and that his dances are all about recapturing lost innocence.

His hour-long work tells the story of the wooden puppet who is turned into a human boy by his maker, Gepetto. A mischievous personality, and an unfortunate inability to tell the truth, not only gets him into constant trouble but also has the decidedly inconvenient effect of making his nose grow longer and longer with each lie told. Eventually, of course, and through the help of his guardian Blue Fairy, Pinocchio learns the great lesson of being true to others, and to himself -- and thus becoming a real boy.

Children of all ages love this often comic story and Eric Cadesky's original score should also please them, with its mix of jazz, orchestral and digitised sound as the characters dance in a variety of styles that range from ballet to modern, and even hip-hop.

Born in Montreal in 1953, Robert Desrosiers grew up speaking French and learned most of his English as a student with the National Ballet School in Toronto. At 19 he went off to study mime in Europe and when he returned home in 1980, he formed the Desrosier Dance Theatre.

Commissioned by the late -- and great -- Danish dancer/director Erik Bruhn, Desrosiers went on to create `Blue Snake' for The National Ballet of Canada, which was premiered for their season at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York. He was the first recipient of the Jacqueline Lemieux Prinze for choreography and in 1985, was given one of Canada's most prestigious awards, the Jean A Chalmers Award for Choreography.

Kidfest's `Pinocchio' will be presented at the City Hall Theatre on Saturday, March 1 at 7 p.m. and on Sunday, March 2 at 1 and 3 p.m. Sponsors for this year's Kidfest are CAT Limited, X.L. Insurance Company Ltd. and Renaissance Reinsurance. Tickets ($15) are on sale at The Bookmart at the Phoenix Centre on Reid Street.

KIDFEST'S PINOCCHIO -- This popular fairy tale, as presented by Desrosiers Dance Theatre, is sure to win new, young fans when it is presented by Kidfest at City Hall this weekend. Pictured in this acclaimed production are Rudolfo Rivas Franco and Learie McNicolls.