Barrowland Ballet and The Three Tiger TOUR

Barrowland Ballet is pleased to announce the forthcoming tour of Tiger, Tiger Tale and Playful Tiger in September and October this year.

Thrilling and dynamic dance, music and theatre combine to create a moving, intimate performance of a dysfunctional family whose worlds are turned upside down when a tiger invades. A family suffocated by the relentlessness of their everyday routine have forgotten what it is that they love about each another. It’s chaotic, it’s dangerous but brilliantly funny as the tiger reunites them as a loving family once again.

Up close to the action the audience embark on a sensory adventure as it is transformed from a sterile space into a shifting world of colour, scent and explosive movement. With the impressive set unleashing the chaos of the tiger in thrilling and unexpected ways.

Tiger Tale tells the story from the perspective of the child whilst Tiger has been created for adult audiences and has the parental relationships as its focus.

Tiger Tale (7+) A troubled family’s world turns upside down when a tiger pays a visit. It’s chaotic, it’s dangerous but brilliantly fun. With captivating dancers and music, enjoy the thrill of sitting right up close to the action with the chance to explore the set at the end.

Tiger (adults and young people 14+) When a tiger invades, a troubled family’s world is launched into chaos. This insightful story of family relationships is emotionally charged but brilliantly comic. The thrilling dancing, evocative live music and impressive set unleashes the tiger in exciting and unexpected ways.

The new tiger to join the fold, Playful Tiger, is an adaptation of Tiger Tale, created specifically for children and young people who are profoundly autistic and mainly non-verbal.

Playful Tiger (7+) tells the story of the tiger’s visit to the rigid family home through the eyes of the child, with a focus on sensory engagement.  Playfulness within the work creates opportunities for the audience to interact and improvise with the performers, making each performance unique. The capacity for the show is 6 to 8 young people with their families and carers.

In collaboration with Ellie Griffiths and with funding from Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Barrowland Ballet explored how improvisation and sensory approaches can provide an artistic collaboration with this audience. They developed methods of devising work informed by the children’s own impulses and responses as well as the artists’ observations.

This funding is also supporting the team to research and develop the most effective approaches to training and supporting venues to welcome and engage children and young people who are profoundly autistic and mainly non-verbal and their families.

Underpinned by an extensive research and audience development programme, including sensory auditing carried out at our venues by Ellie Griffiths and a young person on the autistic spectrum, the funding will also contribute to the creation of Venue and Audience Support packs and Visual Story resources to support venues and their audiences in preparation for the performances.

Ellie Griffiths says “Working with Barrowland Ballet and using dance to communicate with a mainly non-verbal audience has so far been a rich creative exploration. For me it has been really exciting to see sensory performance work for diverse audiences pushed to new levels of artistic quality. I have enjoyed the curiosity and rigour of approach that the whole team on this project has displayed. I personally can’t wait for young people with profound autism and their families to experience what I have no doubt will be a wild and beautiful theatrical adventure!”