Pavilion Dance South West invites audiences on a living room woodland adventure with NIGHT TREE

Photo credit: Foteini Christofilopoulou

In a co-commission between Pavilion Dance South West and Second Hand Dance, a film based on Eve Bunting’s Night Tree has been created for families to enjoy this half term.

This magical film, directed and choreographed by Rosie Heafford, tells the story of one very special tree and a family’s gift to all the creatures in the wintry woods. The wonderfully endearing story encourages generosity in caring for nature and each other in a gentle sensory journey to explore from home.  

The 25-minute film, designed for 3-7 year olds, will be available for stream on a pay-what-you-can basis on PDSW’s website from Friday 19 February and is accompanied by a free print-at-home activity pack.

On Saturday 20 and Sunday 21 February, there will also be a chance to learn to Ceilidh with the team from Second Hand Dance in a Zoom workshop inspired by the Night Tree.

As one of the nations' leading dance venues outside London, PDSW have pushed the boundaries  of what’s possible in the digital sphere. They have explored new ways to give audiences an opportunity to engage with dance at home, to connect to new communities and to beat online fatigue.

Artistic Director and CEO of Pavilion Dance South West, Zannah Chisholm, said: “Despite the  building being closed since March, we have been working on developing and refining our digital output. We have responded to our audience’s online needs during lockdown by creating a digital  programme that can reach all ages and interests, and included closed captions and audio  descriptions to make our online presence accessible to everyone. We intend to continue our  digital programming alongside our live programming and aim for it to become a sustainable income stream for us and professional artists.” 

For more information and to book, please click here.