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Today-tomorrow, 5pm, 7.30pm, Sat, 2.30pm, 5pm, 7.30pm, Aug 5, 2.30pm, 5pm, HK City Hall

Children Cheer Carpet - the Japanese Garden  has abandoned both tradition and the stage to reach

its audience by taking place in the midst of the young viewers.

Developed by Italian theatre company Teatro di Piazza o d'Occasione,  the children's show tells of a boy's journey in a Japanese garden, using animated visuals of meadows, stones, flowers and streams projected on to a white carpet-screen from above.

'There's not much to do with traditional [literary] narration in our performances,' says Andreas Froeba,  sound designer of the show.

The performance is more than a visual feast: Japanese Garden aims to achieve interaction with its audience. Placed beneath the carpet are 32 sensors that produce different sounds and images in response to the pressure generated  by the performers' movements.

The company began to develop the interactive Children Cheer Carpet system six years ago,  and Japanese Garden is its first production.  By using digital images and sensory devices as a means of interaction  'the show will never be the same and thus never be boring', says Froeba.

A Children Cheer Carpet show is always  unique because its audience is drawn into the performance.  First, two dancers demonstrate  the moves, then  members of the audience are invited to create their own garden.  They're guided, sometimes even blindfolded, as they move across the carpet to interact with the images and sounds on it. They may catch water lilies floating on a  river, or step on a keyboard-like bridge to create melodies of their own. By moving their bodies, the audience becomes part of the show.

'Any moment of any one of our shows is different, because of the different characters of  the children,' says dancer Bianca Papafava,  who considers the audience an important part of the performance. 'Sometimes the show  may not work at all because we don't find a dialogue with the children,' she says.

But it's not the result that matters.  'After all it's not just a game. We hope the show can  engage  the attention of the children, develop their senses such as  seeing and hearing, and make them more sensitive to the reality of the environment around them,  says Papafava.

Although children are the main target  of the show, adults aren't excluded. Japanese Garden  has featured in children's festivals, of course, but also in dance and visual arts events, where visitors are mostly adults.

In an age when interactive elements are  more often found in visual artworks than in performances, Japanese Garden is a hybrid that  proves it's possible to merge the two disciplines, and reach out to all age groups, in a sensory theatrical environment.

5 Edinburgh Place, Central, HK$180 Urbtix. Inquiries: 2370 1044



Children Cheer Carpet - the Japanese Garden