Family Weekend, Sadler’s Wells theatre’s annual two-day festival of family friendly events, returns for 25 and 26 March 2016. Family Weekend will take over the building, with the shows on the Sadler’s Wells and Lilian Baylis Studio stages – Snow White and Digitopia – being complemented by fun activities for all ages.
Following its award winning Rapunzel, balletLORENT brings its latest dance theatre fairytale production, Snow White, to Sadler’s Wells. This production takes inspiration from the original Brothers Grimm fairytale, where Snow White’s real mother, rather than her stepmother, becomes consumed by jealousy for her beautiful daughter. balletLORENT’s 11 professional dancers will be joined by a cast of 12 local children from the Islington borough, aged 6-9 years old.
At the Lilian Baylis studio, Tom Dale Company has partnered with MOKO Dance to present Digitopia – a dancing digital wonderland inspired by two dimensional lines, curves and three dimensions. Using and testing the boundaries of contemporary dance, Tom Dale Company’s collaborative practice focuses on the synergy between urban contemporary dance, electronic music and digital art, all for young children. Digitopia integrates live dance and digital technology to create an abstract world that defies the usual rules of gravity and physics, using a sci-fi-like environment full of digital animations and brightly coloured patterns alongside the movement of dancers.
The work has been specifically programmed for children and their families to enjoy together, with the same high production values that audiences experience at Sadler’s Wells throughout the year. These memorable theatrical experiences aim to capture children’s imaginations and inspire an interest in live performance from a young age. In addition to performances, a Creative Dance Workshop by MOKO Dance will explore themes from Digitopia with an emphasis on fun, musicality and creativity, aimed at children aged 5-8 years and parents.