Books, songs and shows for kids are nothing new. So too advertising and online strategies aimed at them. But contemporary dance?
Although not unknown, it is passingly rare. As the creator of Dream Swamp, Melbourne-based choreographer Melanie Lane observes, “[Making work for kids] is not really embedded in our sector.”
Thus, when approached in 2024 to fashion a piece suitable for audiences 4-10, the Keir Choreographic Award winner dived in. “It came a little from leftfield for me because it was something that was proposed to me by the Melbourne Fringe Festival…and I thought, ‘Well, yeah, that’s so fun.’ It’s a different way of working and watching and participating, so I was really up for it.”
As someone known for densely conceptual works, often channelling tropes from sci-fi and mining the various seams of the subconscious, Lane’s creative instincts were quickly engaged. She thought, “What am I going to do here?” and the idea of animation came quickly to mind, especially since she had used it in previous works like Arkadia and Into The Woods. “I think there’s something really relevant [about it] in terms of kids when you think of all the animated films that are massive blockbusters,” she reasons.
Together with Tokyo-based animation artist Tianyi Liao, she created a multi-layered, cartoon reality. “It’s a whole dream which allows us to get transported into all these different universes in a very direct and visceral way,” she explains. “So yeah, that was the world-building part of it.”
The next challenge was the content. Having noted the near ubiquity of “moral stories” in work for children, she elected to depart from the pedagogic norm. As Lane recalls, “I was leaning it away from that, thinking more about imagination and dreaming, which was such a huge part of my childhood. We were thinking more about how we could build worlds where we could transport kids and let them imagine, not just through visuals but through the body.”
Dream Swamp emerged as an adventure story with an Odyssian quality, as the two characters embark on a winding journey. However, in a nod to Lane’s adult works, there is a dose of the hallucinatory and surreal. “It’s basically about a dream,” she elaborates. “They start off falling asleep, and then everything just kicks off and they travel through these different realms. They wake up in the swamp and then travel from there to these parallel worlds.”
However, as any early learning or primary teacher will attest, young audiences love to jump out of their chairs and get involved. Hence, the active elements weaved into the Dream Swamp universe.
For Lane, this was the cue to break the fourth wall. “We get the kids up and they travel behind the big animation screen, and behind there is a whole other universe,” she reveals. “So yeah, sort of multi-dimensional with a bit of hands-on fun. You know, a bit tactile.”
When it premiered at Substation in Melbourne’s west in late 2024, its blend of dance, puppetry and animation went on to win the Fringe’s Best In Kids award. The following year, it was restaged as part of The Australian Ballet curated DanceX program. This July, it will enjoy a third incarnation at Monash University’s Family Fiesta event.
Although Family Fiesta has an overarching forest theme, it is easy to imagine how a swamp might sit beneath such an umbrella. Moreover, the work’s participatory element fits neatly into the fiesta’s desire to engage kids directly (and physically).
When asked whether she will tweak Dream Swamp specifically for Family Fiesta, Lane suggests not. That said, 2026’s version has learned from its previous outings.
“It’s so funny because it’s just a half-hour work, which is pretty short in terms of what we regularly do, but the physical effort of the piece, so the dancers tell me, is one of the hardest works they’ve ever performed,” she says. “And so, yeah, that’s one of the things we kept in mind; because they were doing two shows a day and they were just absolutely smashed.”
And, of course, the team has finessed the way the participatory moments work. Again, as any parent or teacher will tell you, kids will test the limits of any plan you come up with.
Lane chuckles to herself when she thinks back to previous performances. Children, she admits, “are such a different audience.” Expanding on this, she adds, “Some of them were heckling. It was so good. Just like, kids saying stuff out loud, either to their family or just yelling it out to the performers. It’s such a delight because you can hear their reactions in real time.”
On the difference between making work for ‘regular’ audiences and kids, her thoughts are: “When you make a work for kids, you really do want to give them so much energy because they really play on that. You know, they can feel it. So that was really interesting to learn.”
Having made the departure, Lane now ponders if anything has made it back from swamp and into the stream of her adult-oriented practise. “Good question,” she muses. “Not sure. Maybe subconsciously. You never know.”
Here perhaps, something fundamental about the intent of both Dream Swamp and Family Fiesta. Not knowing, we are left with more room to dream, to explore. Remind you of childhood?
Family Fiesta will be presented from 1 – 4 July, at Monash University Performing Arts Centres, with a series of free and low-cost events. For more information, visit mpac.monash.edu.
By Paul Ransom of Dance Informa.
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