Pynių pynė: A Movement Performance for Babies Aged 6–18 Months

With the performance “Pynių pynė” (“A Tangle of Braids”), LNDT opens its doors to its youngest audience. Bringing together best practices from a range of performing arts, the theatre presents a performance for babies aged 6–18 months. It is directed by Birutė Banevičiūtė, who has inspired theatre for babies in Lithuania. Her performances for babies and children are appreciated not only by their audiences and parents, but also by professionals. Having presented works based on dance and movement practices around the world, the choreographer has also begun applying her creative principles in collaboration with drama theatres. Drawing on the motif of weaving, the choreographer will work with LNDT actors and her long-standing creative team to combine the light, abstract movement characteristic of her work with the discovery of the shapes and colours of objects chosen for weaving, right before the young audience’s eyes. The performance will also involve the little audience members in a tactile experience, allowing them to take in the work with all their senses and become familiar with the stage as a sensory space open to everyone. “Pynių pynė” brings together abstract motifs from Lithuanian folk art that are also recognisable. The act of weaving may evoke a braid from a fairy tale, the making of a flower wreath, or associations with expressions particular to Lithuanian, such as “legs got tangled,” and so on. The performance will open both theatre and its newest audience to one another, inviting children to visit the theatre from the earliest years of life and to experience it as a place for discovery and learning. Birutė Banevičiūtė’s children’s performance “Spalvoti žaidimai” (“Colourful Games”) received the Golden Stage Cross in 2016, and five of her other performances have been nominated for the award. B. Banevičiūtė tours extensively with her children’s performances, both in Lithuania and abroad. Tickets must be purchased for both adults and babies.