IT seems you’re never too young to appreciate the arts.
So much so that the target audience for a weekend spectacular in the stunning Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival was youngsters aged under three.
The toddlers, of course, were allowed to bring along a grown-up or two to the “baby opera” at the University of Huddersfield.
Click below to see our pictures from the event.
And all were entranced by the music and dance featuring bizarre creatures from deep beneath the sea.
Perhaps some of the young audience didn’t quite know what to make of the performers in Korrall Koral, but it was certainly a novel way of keeping them entertained on a cold Saturday morning.
Especially after the 20-minute show, when the young audience members got the chance to stage their own impromptu performance with the sea creature instruments.
The action all took place in a giant tent shaped like a seashell and was a complete sell-out in Huddersfield. The show was also repeated twice yesterday at Dewsbury Town Hall.
Sara McWatt, a spokesman for the Festival, said: “It was amazing to see how the youngsters took to the show.
“They were mainly silent throughout the performance itself, looking enraptured as the performers went through their paces. But once it was over and they had the chance to explore the tent and the props themselves, they really went for it.
“It was wonderful to see the looks on their faces. It is a great opportunity to bring the arts to such a young audience but we at the Festival do try to include education as well as entertainment.
“We have a deliberate policy of targeting young people at each festival and the reaction from the Korrall Korral show was certainly very positive.”
The project was a co-production between designer, Christina Lindgren, performer Hanne Dieserud, The Norwegian Opera and Ballet and The Norwegian Touring Theatre.
The music was scored by the festival’s Composer in Residence, Maja S K Ratkje.
The seashell tent housed creatures from the depths of the Arctic Ocean, which on closer inspection from the audience revealed themselves as instruments specially crafted for the undersea world.
There were weird creatures such as the sea horse harp, a bagpipe creature, glass chime jellyfish and a flute made from two creatures.
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