A publicity image for Company T.P.O.

If you’re looking for a new and different experience for your kids, look no further than Company T.P.O.’s “The Butterfly Garden,” part of the Ann Arbor Summer Festival’s mainstage season.

T.P.O., an Italian performance company, aims to combine contemporary art with theater by using innovative, interactive digital graphics and dance to tell a story.

Artists featured in “Garden,” for instance, invite a handful of children from the audience to become part of the show, which focuses on a caterpillar's transformation into a butterfly.

"The intent is to give the children the opportunity to experience something that makes them feel the emotion and the feeling of being a butterfly, in all of its phases: from the egg, to caterpillar, (to) entering a cocoon until the birth of the butterfly," T.P.O. lead crew member and operator Niccolo Gallio wrote in an e-mail interview. "Every phase has its own beauty but also dangers and difficulties. Every phase has also its own rhythm and time to develop. Therefore another aim of the show is to communicate the concept of the value of waiting. That everything has its own time to develop and grow."

Because of the nature of the show, "Garden" will be staged in the small Power Center rehearsal space.

“It’s a very intimate experience, because each show only seats 100 people, so audience members truly feel a part of the production,” said AASF executive director Robb Woulfe. “Because the show uses motion-capture technology, children in the audience are encouraged to interact with the actors on stage, so each show becomes it’s own unique experience for that particular audience. I love that aspect — the audience themselves as artists.”

Indeed, according to the show description, some young patrons get the chance to virtually paint with their arms, compose lullabies with their feet, and chase caterpillars on all fours. (Gallio describes the "children cheering carpet," a technological tool developed and used by T.P.O., as "a mat specially fitted with sensors that produce sounds and images projected from above.")

Botanical images, paired with an appropriate soundtrack, place two dancers and the audience squarely within the world of butterflies.

“I thought this would be a good fit for our festival, given that family-friendly shows are always a very popular attraction with our audiences,” said Woulfe. “Also, given the unique interactive nature of this production, I knew both the young and young at heart would really love the whole concept.”

T.P.O. has performed at several high-profile international festivals in Europe, Asia, the Americas, and Australia, as well as contemporary art museums and Broadway.

"In every show and in every country, children surprise us in many different ways," said Gallio, who noted that European children generally have few inhibitions about coming on stage, while Israeli children respond particularly strongly to sound effects. " … From our experience in (the) U.S., we noticed that American children don’t like to be held by (the) hand when the dancers invite them to enter into the space; but as soon as they interact with the scene, they are quickly drawn into the atmosphere."

To get a taste of "Garden," check out this video:

Jenn McKee is the entertainment digital journalist for AnnArbor.com. Reach her at jennmckee@annarbor.com or 734-623-2546, and follow her on Twitter @jennmckee.