On Saturday 6th May, 10.30am at Redland Park United Reformed Church there will be a magical new Tiny Steps Performance especially for children and families.

The performance will feature singing, music and dancing from professional performers, and children will be actively encouraged to take part in the show and learn a few dance steps!

Tiny Steps Performances were created by mum, professional dancer and founder of OvDa Dance Company, Svetlana Ovsyannikova, who lives in Bristol with her husband Ben and her little girl, Amaya and baby boy, Rupert.

Many Bristol Mum readers will also know Svetlana through Dance Mums: classes for mums and toddlers at  The Elephant House on Thursday mornings.

Svetlana created Tiny Steps performances to inspire, share passion for dance and to merge the gap between performers and the audience at performances which is why all Tiny Steps performances are interactive and encourage children to join in with the music and dancing!

In today’s post I interview Svetlana to find out more about the latest Tiny Steps Performance…

I am really pleased to hear that Tiny Steps is back again, Svetlana! What have you prepared for our Bristol audience this time?

Thank you Hilary. Our last show, with Southwest Dance Theatre and Ben Nash as a producer, fused a variety of dance styles yet proved to be one of our most successful yet.

So now I am really excited to offer a show featuring Bob Fosse Jazz with lots of theatrical elements like drama, singing and dancing in our usual relaxed setting of the Redland United Reformed church.

What is the new Tiny Steps Performance called and what’s it about?

It is called ” Magic to do” – The highlights from the musical Pippin. The show focuses on our young audience, with a shorter attention span, and that is why it lasts 25-30 minutes. Only the most suitable songs and dance routines will be featured in our show in order to fully captivate the children.

The show is about a young boy, Pippin, who is facing a lot of issues as all children do while they are growing up such as figuring out the meaning of life, conflicts, belonging to the society, love, father and son relationship.

The aim of the performance is to engage, inspire and entertain children and to spend a lovely Saturday morning being absorbed in the world of dance, this time Jazz and Theatre.

What format will the performance follow?

The performance will follow the same format as other Tiny Steps performances: introduction and welcome, performance, the interactive part where children can join in with the performers and learn some simple dance steps,  all followed by tea and coffee with homemade cakes!

What ages is the performance aimed at?

0-12 years old but older siblings and parents will surely enjoy it as well.

Will there be singing as well as dancing and acting?

Yes, it is basically a shortened version of a wonderful musical for them to enjoy.

Have you produced this show again? Who will be performing in it?

No, this time it is not me producing the show, Penny Caffrey – the artistic director of Movema – is the one to blame for it!

Penny works with students from South Gloucester and Stroud College in Bristol on different productions, so this is one of them. The students are all talented individuals who are excited to share this performance with our audience.

How do you know Penny? What is Movema?

I met Penny about four years ago after my husband and I moved here from London. We were a part of Bristol Dance Hub originally. Penny is working on a variety of things which has to do with dance. She is teaching and performing quite a lot in Bristol, and Liverpool as well.

Movema is an exciting and dynamic company specialising in world dance. Their expert team delivers quality workshops, events, projects and professional performances by using dance from around the globe to engage, educate and entertain. More info here: http://www.movema.co.uk

Svetlana, you always come up with new ideas for exciting shows for children, what drives you?

I love Dance and performance it is a part of me, even though my own dance company OvDa is a contemporary Dance company, Tiny Steps is an important production for me.

I have two children now and being a parent does shift your perspective on a lot of things. One of the issues I found for myself and my children is lack of accessible and affordable dance and theatre productions.

Also, I would like local dance artists and companies to be get involved and to share their skills and work with us.

What else is Tiny Steps bringing us in the near future?

We have a lot planned, all of which will be revealed nearer to the time of each performance. However, I can tell you that one of the shows I am very excited about is our performance of The Ugly Duckling on the 10th of June.

Some of the key dates for the future are:

• 6th May 2017 with Movema and SGAS college, “Magic to Do”
• 10th June 2017 with SouthWest Dance Theatre “Ugly Darkling”
• 9th September 2017 with OvDa. Production to be confirmed
• 28th October 2017 with OvDa “Hansel and Gretel”. Halloween party theme for the children
• 2nd December 2017 with OvDa Production to be confirmed

Tiny Steps Performances is a very promising and exciting company in Bristol. I know the last two shows were sold out, do you think your success will continue?

I sure hope so, we work really hard for it to carry on. At the moment it has its ups and downs as any beginning enterprise, sadly we can’t commit to monthly performances, but we would really like to in the future!

We are learning from our audience as well as educating them at the same time, somethings work and some don’t. Of course the main thing for us to exist is Bristol families’ support and desire to attend the shows. So if anyone has any ideas for a captivating show I would love to hear them.

There are so many positive and pretty amazing testimonials of Tiny Steps, do you mind if I share some here?

Not at all, Thank you Bristol Mum for your support. We hope to see lots of Bristol families and happy children’s faces at our upcoming shows, please remember to buy tickets in advance as it helps us know how many cakes to bake and teas to make!

“What a lovely event! My daughters were mesmerised by the dancing and could have watched it all day. It was lovely to see a genuinely family friendly event, with colourful costumes, interesting music and joyful performing. We are looking forward to coming again! – Jenna”

“I took my children to see The Enormous Turnip performed by Tiny Steps Performances and it was fantastic! It was entertaining, funny and the dancers are amazing, plus my little girl loved being able to join in at the end 🙂 Would definitely recommend seeing a Tiny Steps performance if you have young children. -Hilary”

“It was amazing. Very well done. Perfect length of time as well to keep the interest of a 2 and 4-year-old. I love that the kids could come on stage after the show to try some of the moves. Looking forward to more performances. thank you! – Emily”

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For tickets to the Tiny Steps Performance, Magic To Do and to find out more, please visit: http://www.ovsyannikovadance.com/store/c1/Featured_Products.html

Music to listen from the musical, Pippin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j97_y_z0jmU