Dance for young souls

„Close your eyes ... Let's count to 1, 2, 3!“ Sitting in the back row of Uferstudio 1, I hear children can’t help giggling. The warm lights slowly dim and shift into cool tones, the stage transforms into a night garden: grass, flowers, soccer balls, a scooter and a tall wooden tree. The secret garden softly draws the young audience’s attention toward curiosity. This is „Klein, klein vogeltje“, presented by the Netherlands' Lloydscompany for audiences aged six and above, invited by the Purple International Dance Festival for young audiences.

I have a new friend

The tree's backside utilizes wooden branches functioning as stairs. A boy dressed in dark denim lies casually on the hollowed-out trunk, he is the „boy who wants to be a bird.“ Contrasting him are two brothers in bright purple and orange beanie hats. The three dancers transform breaking rhythm into vibrant colors, bold physical language and cheerful interaction with their young audience, presenting this novel story of meeting a new friend.

In the dark, the red electronic lights become „flames“ dancing between the hands, creating an atmosphere both slightly tense and joyful. During solo dances, several children stand to mimic the arm movements and gestures. After the performance, children applaud continuously like a breeze, calling „Zugabe“ (encore). Clearly, the work conquered its little friends.

I can feel big

„WUW – Wind und Wand“ has a beautiful origin: In 2021, while leading an improvisation workshop about „fire“ at Potsdam AWO Grundschule, choreographer Jin Lee received a note from a child with the words „Wind und Wand“. Wind and wall – one moving, one static, suddenly reopened her own childhood sense of storm-like emotions. 

Onstage, a self-made wall becomes an installation. The mattress‘ exterior and the male dancer’s clothing feature street-graffiti style painting. Jin wears orange, Jihun wears deep blue with a black hood covering his head. Through chase sequences and physical confrontation, the choreography presents inner tension. At the work's conclusion, both dancers face away from the audience, collectively pushing down the wall. „Wind“ is never physically present but suggested as an invisible energy storm through dancers' movements. In the post-performance workshop, children are excited to share what they saw and explore their emotional vocabulary through group movements.

I am empowered

As the opening work, Anne Nguyen's „Witch Hunting“ demonstrates how Purple Festival uses age-grading to allow works to carry more complex issues. Six dancers from different cultural backgrounds bring krumping, popping, urban and traditional African dance styles to explore systemic exclusion through the body. 

Creating spaces of understanding for young bodies means believing they deserve the best art. From childhood magical narratives to inner storms to social mechanisms, Purple understands and protects the sensitive, self-discovering period from childhood through adolescence. When you hear the children's jubilant cheers for „Zugabe“, when you see everyone experiencing dance's purity together, when artists create for the child within themselves, it is a place where many beautiful encounters happen.

Dance's power never originates from classrooms. It enables understanding between souls to happen naturally through the body, no matter how young.