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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS Laura Kolisnyk, left, and Lois Brothers, directors of AIM 4 ALL, an inclusive, integrated, and reciprocal musical theatre group where artists of all abilities learn, train, create and perform, with Brothers\u2019 son and local actor Joshia Brothers are photographed in Fisher Park in Winnipeg, Tuesday, September 23, 2026. reporter: janine<\/p>\n
The goal of the new musical theatre company is to produce fully inclusive productions and give performance opportunities to their ensemble throughout the training season. By fostering a safe, creative, and diverse environment, AIM 4 ALL empowers participants of all abilities to share their talents and flourish together.<\/p>\n
Co-founders Brenda Gorlick, Lois Brothers and Laura Kolisnyk bring wide-ranging expertise to performing arts education and production with neurodivergent and neurotypical individuals \u2014 people with disabilities and without.<\/p>\n
The collective successfully launched its seasonal program last fall, partnering with community organizations \u2014 including Manitoba Possible and DASCH \u2014 to ensure broad accessibility and community engagement.<\/p>\n
On a mission to create a platform that celebrates diversity, Brothers says inclusivity is at the heart of everything they do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love seeing the joy and confidence that comes from the participants when they actually see \u2018I can do this,\u2019\u201d said Brothers, a teacher, actor, and advocate who works with Inclusion Winnipeg, helping children and families navigate the school system.<\/p>\n
AIM 4 ALL began with a weeklong pilot project in 2025 to see if there was interest. It\u2019s been growing ever since.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had five shows at the University of Winnipeg, all sold out,\u201d Brothers said. \u201cThe reaction of people leaving was amazing. Everyone was so happy and felt so good because of what we did in that show,\u201d she said, noting the performance featured a 28-member cast.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, we found out participant talents, we found out their dreams. We are incorporating that in a talent showcase beginning in December,\u201d she said, about the expanded cast.<\/p>\n
Brothers, who has a son with Down syndrome, remembers how much he loved being in a musical while in high school. He continued to talk about the experience years later.<\/p>\n
The determined mother couldn\u2019t stop thinking about her son\u2019s passion for the stage, which became the catalyst to start AIM 4 ALL.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was teaching acting classes. I had neurodiverse students, and asked them, \u2018Would you be interested in a musical?\u2019 The response was, \u2018That would be fun.\u2019 I thought, I don\u2019t know how to do this. I started to talk to Brenda. She does more teaching with the physically disabled. Laura teaches with a lot of neurodiverse classes and has a wealth of experience in that. I have a lot of experience with the intellectually disabled. The three of us came together.\u201d<\/p>\n
AIM 4 ALL has quickly become known as a place to be accepted for who you are no matter what kind of abilities or disabilities, strengths or limitations you may have.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s lovely, watching it. We have people of all levels, people in wheelchairs, some who cannot speak, some autistic, on the spectrum, with Down\u2019s Syndrome, and from the neurotypical world,\u201d she explained, noting that performers range in age from 16 to 50.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe impact is huge. The people who come who are neurodiverse\u2014 they\u2019re sitting there saying wow, if they can be there, I can. Everyone is working together, it\u2019s very powerful. I\u2019m really happy, when we get to a point where everybody is accepting each other, when you start to see that they know they belong there. The parents are so happy we are doing this. Their child has talent. Our parents are fabulous \u2014 they volunteer and contribute. They\u2019re so grateful this is happening for their child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Brothers said the group would love to have more neurotypical people who love all aspects of musical theatre, whether it be song, dance or instruments.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re learning all the skills that make people such better humans by being involved. They practise compassion and empathy. They are having to be patient. They\u2019re learning these skills, doing a musical, and having fun.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to take the individual and place them where they\u2019re going to thrive,\u201d she added, about the unique program that welcomes both the neurodivergent and the neurotypical.<\/p>\n
Brenda Gorlick, administrator for AIM 4 ALL, has always worked inside the arts world. She\u2019s fully immersed in creative projects, including overseeing a 55-plus dance team.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s thankful to have found a way to create fully integrated musical theatre, which had been missing from the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s my passion \u2014 it\u2019s my joy,\u201d said the multi-faceted performing arts specialist, about AIM 4 ALL\u2019s stage performances.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year, we\u2019ve got different streams, and a new group of 11 members. Almost everybody came back from last year\u2019s impactful season.<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the fact that arts passion is something that is immeasurable: the more you share it, the more you get back. I love the community we are working with, to see everybody help each other on stage. It\u2019s not a cakewalk but the beautiful thing about it is that we are mindful of the needs of the individuals. We set a bar that\u2019s really high. You have to have expectations \u2014 sometimes they\u2019re more easily met than other times,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWinnipeg Free Press | Newsletter\n\t<\/p>\n
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As the new kid on the block, AIM 4 ALL is working towards getting charitable status. With an operating budget of $85,000 \u2014 half of that from registration fees \u2014 the trio has received funding from the Manitoba Arts Council, Inclusion Manitoba and the Gail Asper Foundation, among others. DASCH, which supports people with intellectual disabilities, has shared their rehearsal and performance space free of charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s dance and music and theatre that should be experienced by everybody, no matter where they come from or what their capacities are,\u201d Gorlick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt truly does change lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
Donations, sponsorships, and volunteers are appreciated. Visit aim4all.ca to learn more.<\/p>\n
fpcity@freepress.mb.ca<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Imagine a world where people work together to celebrate differences, learn from each other, build empathy and understanding.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":910356,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194296],"tags":[49,48,22073],"class_list":["post-910355","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-winnipeg","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-winnipeg"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910355","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910355"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910355\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910355"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910355"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910355"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}