Wonderland Project is the only project of its kind in the world. Children who begin seated in the audience are invited to actively participate in the show. The choreographic concept has been developed to stimulate and release the young viewers’ natural expression as well as to enable their individual explorations of movement and unrestrained activity. The artists who share the stage with the young audience members wish to provide them with conditions to build their own world in which they can play with movement. This is also a unique experience for parents who can see their children in a completely new situation as they progress from viewer to creator. In “Wonderland Project” the Dutch artists aim at developing an alternative to the common forms of entertainment and focus on children’s creativity. Hence they oppose the regarding of children as passive art consumers.

The “Wonderland” method is based on the opening of all the artists’ senses to children, on the ability to capture the feeling of this special encounter and on releasing reciprocal spontaneity. The sharing of their emotions with children is an impulse to improvise the subsequent dance and music sequences. The artists develop their own movements in ways that provide the children with as many chances as possible to surpass the limits of the world they are creating. This is aimed at stimulating the children’s physical activity, their perception of the world with their bodies and their eagerness to play.

The “Wonderland Workshop” is a family proposal. Japanese choreographer Makiko Ono, the “Wonderland Project” curator, as well as the musicians and dancers taking part in the show, invite children aged from 3 to 6 years and their parents to play with dance and movement, to discover new possibilities of spending time together through physical activity and to get to know one another in completely new circumstances. To end the workshops the artists and project participants will create a small show together to which the families can invite their own guests.

Surprising, dynamic and mysterious, AB3 shows dedication to the detail in communicating with children through dance. A performance about the number 3 and the difficulty of being fourth; about the things that surround us, how they astonish us and why they are there. Fact and fiction, real and pretend, the very very fast and the infinitely slow. All this in an intensive encounter lasting barely thirty minutes filled with unexpected twists and reversals.

AB3 develops from a linear and systematic choreography to a chaotic and wild dance flickering with many shades. The mysterious set design and costumes contradict the common notion of children’s theatre being excitingly disturbing and accurately arranged. Combined with a choreography that features ballet figures, early dances and completely contemporary ones, they create a visually beautiful, melancholic, mysterious and funny performance. A real challenge for children’s imagination which the young viewers greatly enjoy in many different ways.

“…Children will love the visually beautiful, melancholic, mysterious and funny choreography created by Martin Forsberg. AB3 has so much desire for movement and the discovery of personal movement, however weird it may be, that children love to be absorbed by it.”

Lars Landström, Allehanda, 16 October 2009

Our new Old Brewery New Dance for Children proposal is a very special performance and the first time ever we are inviting our audience to see a show created by adolescents. By staging the Polish/German project Der kleine Prinz – Mały Książę (The Little Prince) in Poznań we wish to show the interesting effects of choreographic work and creative experiments with young people. The ingenious flexibility of movement and the surprising form and content of an encounter between young actors from Germany and Poland create the essence of captivating theatre and its explorations – also in the field of contemporary dance. The great inventiveness of the Polish and German artists involved in the project, their extremely professional approach to young people and people with disabilities, as well as the inclusion in the show of issues pertaining to being different, has produced a beautiful and profound performance for young viewers. Its aesthetics can be compared to the theatre of the brilliant director and genius of artistic images, Robert Wilson.

Der kleine Prinz – the Little Prince: German/Polish integration project

Am I a prince or a fox? Who am I important to? How do I want to live? What is important to me? Where is my planet? In an attempt to find answers to these questions, a group of young people from the Polish town of Zbąszyń and members of the youth ensemble spinaTheater of Solingen, Germany (under the professional artistic supervision of Polish-born, Berlin-based director Olek Witt, in collaboration with choreographers Ewa Świtoń of Ruda Śląska, Poland and Julia Anne Steinhardt of Solingen, supported by several other artists) spent the summer of 2011 working on a project based on Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s novel, The Little Prince. spinaTheater is known for its critical and involved expression of political and social opinions on issues pertaining to the scope of interest of young people. The group’s productions never avail of static or closed texts. Instead, the young actors, based on a specific theme, create their own plays using their own points of view. The same approach is used in relation to the subject matter and concepts included in The Little Prince. The young members of spinaTheater, together with their colleagues from Poland, wanted to find answers to questions they find important. What ‘planet’ does today’s youth live on? Who is the fox they can tame? For which Rose will they be forever? The effect is an intriguing image of contemporary adolescents’ needs and doubts, in addition to being an interesting interpretation of Saint-Exupéry’s text that appeals to viewers of all ages.

How the performance was produced

In the first stage of production young people from Poland and Germany, including a group of disabled persons, met in Zbąszyń where they spent two weeks in a workshop investigating the space of expression for their interests and aptitudes, in addition to studying the subject matter of the performance through discussions, role playing and improvisation. The diversity of perceptions, stances and dramatic skills served as a starting point for working together. As the project progressed, language, life standard and nationality became rather an enhancement than an obstacle. Apart from rehearsing, the young actors saw the local sites and attended events organised for them to get to know one another better. After a week’s interval the workshop was continued in Solingen where, until the night of the première, they rehearsed intensively to build specific scenes upon initial ideas and improvisation. This was also the stage when costumes, props, lighting and sound were designed to create a backdrop for a show developed according to the young artists’ ideas.

A family dance performance inspired by the laws o physics. A piece named after the well-known Newton law of universal gravitation:

Fg = G x (m1 x m2)
r2

Explanatory
Fg = a force functioning between two material entities
m1 = the weight of the first entity
m2 = the weight of the second entity
r = the distance between entities
G = gravitational constant, approx. G = 6.67 × 10－11m2 kg-2

Don’t be scared! Phisics is fascinating, especially when transformed into a piece of art – dance art.

“I recently opened my old physics exercise book and read in it: “An induction coil is an induction coil and there is nothing that can be done about it. Even the radio would not work if it weren’t for induction coils.” I do not remember anything from the subject, unfortunately, only the fact that I am fascinated by terminology that can describe every moment around us and make it into a law. To many, physics remains a subject that is abstract and difficult to grasp. Equally so, to many viewers dance may difficult to grasp and very abstract too. I am asking then: might dance be defined as a simple movement here and there in the gravitational field? The performance is intended for all age groups without an exception.”
Bára Látalová

In her work with young people the choreographer emphasises each participant’s individuality and creativity. She expertly communicates with them and helps them overcome the natural barriers of being in a group and working with one’s body as she creates a sense of openness that stimulates youthful imaginativeness. Already during warm-up she abolishes the boundaries between contemporary dance and the choreographies and music that young people are familiar with from video clips. This contributes to an energising mixture of fun and body improvement. The second part of her workshop always focuses on creating a choreography. The artist elicits the young people’s ideas, stories and problems and together they choose a theme. Working and improvising on this material they create a composition of movements.

“A person can learn everything they have created”, the catchphrase of the extremely dynamic classes led by Senegalese choreographer Mamadou M’Baye will be interpreted and transformed in ways that are amusing and not necessarily obvious. The basic goal of Mamadou’s encounter with children is to convey to them the joy found in movement and in synchronicity with drum music. Movement and rhythm release the body from its everyday limitations and allow a person to fill it with some fantastic energy. The children will find out what a wonderful time they can have when they dance in addition to naturally learning about the uniqueness of African culture.

Open Classes with Nadja Puttner will be held under the theme „contemporary flow”. This class wants to make the participants dance with their whole bodies and souls and provides them with tools to improve their technique, movement quality and expressivity.
We start out with an energizing warm up containing elements from release, yoga and modern technique, designed to warm up the joints and muscles and get us deep into our bodies. In the following combinations and diagonals we start to explore the space, the floor and the dynamics of movement. We finish the class with an original, expressive piece of choreography, focusing on finding and enjoying our own personal way of dancing.

The Open Classes with African Dance will focus on finding joy in movement and in becoming one with the rhythm of African drums. Mamadou teaches the choreography and meaning of original African dances not only from Senegal, but also from West Africa. The catchphrase of his classes is: “If you can walk you can dance”.