Der Regenbogenfisch

"Stunningly danced: In the children's ballet by Josef Vesely and Kate Watson, it bubbled, splashed, undulated, and swayed in all rhythms. In feather-light movements, the little ones experienced how dance can tell stories." - Traunsteiner Tagblatt

Toni, a small girl fish, more precisely a bluestreak cleaner wrasse, attends the great sea party “Deep Sea Dance” for the first time. Excited and happy, she is moving through the dancing crowd lighted by flashing jellyfish. The sea creatures are celebrating and dancing to music played by bands with funny names like “The Blues Mussels”, “Shaking Skates” or “Synthesizing Seahorses”. Suddenly, the crowd parts to make way for the star of the evening: the Rainbow Fish.

The elegant and graceful Rainbow Fish enters the dance floor. His scales are shining in the light of the jellyfish, glowing in all the colours of the rainbow. He spins across the dance floor in swirling movements – nobody can compete with him. The other sea creatures would love to learn from him, dance with him and have just a tiny bit of his beauty. If only he would share his shiny scales with them! But the exquisite Rainbow Fish only has eyes for his own reflection. Becka alone is undaunted. She is mesmerised by the beauty of the Rainbow Fish. With a simple flutter of his fin, however, the Rainbow Fish rejects Becka’s attempts to make friends with him. The party is over.

When the Rainbow Fish unexpectedly finds himself in a dangerous situation, it seems that the tide is turning. Will he wake up and realise that beauty isn’t everything? And will the others be able to help him?

We are celebrating the anniversary of “The Rainbow Fish”. The story of the vain fish written by Swiss author Marcus Pfister (*1960) is known around the globe. The classic illustrated children’s book was published in more than 50 languages, even in sign language. It is loved and admired not only by children: Michelle and Barack Obama read out the story at the 2016 “White House Easter Egg Roll”.

The timeless story is brought to the stage as a spectacular underwater dance by Kate Watson and Josef Vesely. As they did with their successful production of “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, they open up the manifold world of dance to the youngest theatre audiences. The stage set and costumes designed by Eva Musil bring the infinite depths of the sea to life.

Duration: 45 min / no break
Note: Strobe light is used in parts of the play