We Touch, We Play, We Dance For Ages: 0-3

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  • Created in October 2019 - currently touring
  • Running Time: 45 mins

The four dancers in We Touch, We Play, We Dance weave around the space, inviting babies and children to join them in a warm hearted and playful performance.  

With music mixed live by a DJ, the dancers respond to the children, guiding them through a series of exchanges and encounters, with high fives, hugs  and dancing.   

Created by Second Hand Dance,  We Touch, We Play, We Dance is a mesmerising, engaging and fun performance for children under 3. It’s a show filled with surprises and joys where you and your child can listen and watch or let loose and join in, either way,  you'll have a wonderful time. 

 

“Watching other bodies move makes something move inside you” Exeunt Magazine 

 

Please contact claire@tandemworks.uk for bookings and information.

Photos: Zoe Manders

Creative Team
Rosie Heafford - Concept & Artistic Direction
Keir Patrick - Deputy Director/
Amarnah Amulundun - Dancer & Rehearsal Director (Krokus/Barcelona)
Mariana Camiloti - Dancer
Marc Stevenson - Dancer
Miles  Kearley - Dancer
Paolo Pisarra - Dancer
Takeshi Matsumoto - Dancer
Alice Shepperson - Dancer 
Lesley Howard - Dancer (Sadler's Wells/Brighton Festival/Belfast) & Facilitator (adapted version)
Froud - Sound Designer and Production Manager
Mat Larimer - Technical Manager & DJ
PJ Davy - Touring Production Manager & DJ
Ben Pacey - Costume, Set & Lighting Designer
Katherine Morley - Dramaturg

Claire Summerfield - Executive Producer
Emily Jameson - Participation & Engagement Producer
Thanks to Amarnah Amulundun, Mariana Camiloti, Takeshi Matsumoto & Michael Sherin who devised and performed the show in 2019.
Thanks to Amarnah Amulundun, Mariana Camiloti, Takeshi Matsumoto, Michael Sherin & Helena Webb who was part of the Research & Development in 2017.
Previous Performances

2019

  • The Egg, Theatre Royal
  • The Place
  • Gulbenkian
  • Deda
  • Chapter Arts

2022

  • Quarterhouse
  • The Lowry
  • Edinburgh International Children's Festival
  • Theatre Hullabaloo
  • Cambridge Junction
  • Southbank Centre
  • Pavilion Dance South West
  • Chats Palace
  • The Mill Arts Centre
  • Think Big! Festival, Munich
  • Polka Theatre
  • ROHM Theatre Kyoto
  • Southern Kus Chikugo
  • Ricca Ricca Festa, Naha Cultural Arts Theatre NAHArt
  • Kawasaki Arts Centre

2023

  • Cambridge Junction
  • Krokus Festival
  • The Albany
  • Belfast Children's Festival
  • Esplanade Theatre Studio, Singapore
  • OYAP Trust
  • Sadler's Wells
  • Brighton Festival
  • Warwick Arts Centre
  • The Egg, Theatre Royal
  • MAC

2024

  • Opening Doors Festival
  • ARKO Arts Theatre
  • Gwangjin Children's Theatre
Reviews

I like that dance is inherently sensory – watching other bodies move makes something move inside you – and Touch takes this one step further, inviting physical contact between performers and audience. For the little ones, it encourages play, curiosity, exploration. For me, I come out feeling looser, more alert.

Exuent Magazine

I loved being able to watch a piece of dance, enjoy it and see my children learn to love it too. I hope this is the start of us being able to enjoy dance together more often. I have said in my blogs in the past that I have found it hard to engage with arts activities like I used to but after this performance I feel like I have found something that has been missing from my life for a while and it is lovely to have it back.

Greatest Showmum

Wonderful cast, and generous engagement in a relaxed environment

Audience member

A widely diverse cast of 4 who were fluid, engaging and captivating. A great show for active babies and toddlers to explore movement

Audience Member

Engaging and incredibly valuable children’s dance performance. It was such a beautiful way for the youngest ones to experience art, diversity of humans and communication

Audience Member

Fantastic performance of Touch at The Gulbenkian this morning. Beautiful dancers who listened and responded to the babies sensitively but inquisitively. A real uplifting morning – thank you!

Audience member
Partners

Commissioned by The Place, Pavilion Dance South West and supported by The Egg, Gulbenkian, Bath Spa University andusing public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England. 

Research and development of Touch was supported by Polka Theatre, developed through the Hopper Early Years scheme with the support of Take Art, Surrey Arts, China Plate, Arts Partnership Surrey, and Paul Hamlyn Foundation.