The Place’s Euston home will be taken over with a day of dance, performances, workshops, activities and surprises in its annual Something Happening for Kids Festival this July.
The programme includes workshops in street dance, yoga, and sound games for children as young as two. Children will learn to dance with animated characters in Danceoke, see the video installation Weighting and go on an audio adventure into the past around the building in Hidden Traces.
Performances include Camper Van of Love, New Art Club’s retelling of the myth of Cupid and Psyche as a funny, musical, dancing road trip. In The Magic Fish, ATMA Dance presents an Indian myth through traditional dance, singing and craft activities and, in Figurines, a dancer sets off on a spinning journey, shaping and reshaping herself as she goes.
All activities are designed for parents and carers to do with their children. There are free activities, workshops from £3 and family tickets for the New Art Club and ATMA Dance performances with under-2s going free.
Theatre director Eddie Nixon said, "myself and some of our team have kids of our own so we always look to programme events that we'd want to take them to. It's really important to us to give children good experiences in dance and, especially with Something Happening for Kids, we want to give children a wide range of performances, of getting involved, of seeing, touching and throwing themselves around. We hope to show children and their families that dance is for everyone."
The Place is hosting family friendly performances and activities throughout the year, including Fagin’s Twist, a contemporary, hip-hop inspired imagining of the notorious Dickens villain’s youth, dance classes for 5- to 15-year-olds, and Joseph Kids, a sole performer and his virtual self in an unexpected world where everything is possible.