The Sticky Dance | (3-7) & (3-5)

Three dancers weave their way through the audience, creating a web of sticky tape in this tactile dance performance for young children. They invite the audience to stick, cling and groove, to see and feel sounds, or simply to stand still, watch and listen. The audience is encouraged to explore the space freely, turn the rules on their head and create their very own experience.

“The Sticky Dance – for early years” was developed jointly by Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto for family audiences and children aged 3 to 5. This production has also been adapted for “Sensory Groovers” aged 3 to 7.

Second Hand Dance was founded in 2013 and is led by co-directors Rosie Heafford and Claire Summerfield – one disabled and one non-disabled artist – who share the leadership role in a flexible manner. They work at (inter)national level, whilst making a local and regional impact by creating cheerful and inspiring stage performances and digital dance films for children and adults.

Second Hand Dance collaborates with dancers, filmmakers, animators, musicians and its audience in a co-creation process. This process is accessible, welcomes all bodies and places the audience’s experience at the centre.

Their work has been presented at venues and festivals across three continents: at Lincoln Centre (NY), the Edinburgh International Children’s Festival, Sadler’s Wells, the Dublin Theatre Festival, the Esplanade Theatre (Singapore), the Cheers! Festival (Hong Kong) and the Ricca Ricca Festival (Japan). In 2016, Rosie was awarded the ‘Arts Foundation Children’s Theatre Shortlist Award’.

The Sticky Dance for Sensory Groovers:

Saturday, 10 October, 10 am–11 am, 12 noon–1 pm & 3 pm–4 pm – Junges Tanzhaus (Berlin Neukölln)

This performance format has been developed exclusively for neurodivergent*, movement-loving children aged between 3 and 7 and will take place with a significantly reduced audience capacity. Please only book these tickets if your children belong to the target group and bring a maximum of two accompanying adults.

The Sticky Dance for the very youngest: Sunday, 11 October, 10 am–12 noon, Junges Tanzhaus (Berlin Neukölln)

This performance has been developed for families with children aged between 3 and 5. It lasts two hours, and you book a specific time slot. Once you’re at the performance, you can stay for as long as you like. We recommend staying for around 45–60 minutes. If you arrive a little earlier, you’ll have a slightly gentler introduction to the show.

You may leave and re-enter the performance space during the show. A quiet room is available.