Child’s play gets a little silly

Chunky Move and City of Melbourne’s Signal will come together to explore the world through children’s eyes with It Sounds Silly this month.

Described as a ‘performance for the inner child in all of us’, the production brings together 24 young pe

rformers aged 13-20, working with four of Melbourne’s most talented young contemporary dancers to celebrate the magic and absurdity of childhood.

The program is designed to bridge the divide between young choreographers making small independent work and more established choreographers running their own organisations or engaged with larger commissions.

Director and choreographer Adam Wheeler – the artistic associate of Stompin, a dance company based in Tasmania, and of 2ndToe Dance Collective, based in Melbourne – is a passionate advocate of dance and performance by young people.

“It Sounds Silly will enter the world as we saw it as children,” Wheeler said.

“Through dance, sound and video, the performance will look at childhood memories and first time experiences such as things we feared like swallowing a watermelon seed and growing an enormous melon in our stomach.”

For the work, the young performers shared stories and experiences from their childhoods which were workshopped in rehearsal with Wheeler and the professional dancers.

INFO: It Sounds Silly is at Signal (Flinders Walk) on August 19 and 20. Find out more at www.chunkymove.com