The Butterfly Garden

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Photograph: Courtesy of T.P.O. Company

Each year, schoolchildren across the nation carefully feed caterpillars in vivariums, then squint to glimpse them form chrysalises and slowly emerge as butterflies. The latest production at the New Victory Theater’s New 42nd Street Studios magnifies and hastens this miracle: In The Butterfly Garden, two dancers from Italian theater company Teatro di Piazza d’Occasione depict the insect’s metamorphosis with help from a new, high-tech device called the children’s cheering carpet. The set piece is a white mat covered with sensors that produce sounds and images when touched; as performers move across it, they act as artists and musicians, igniting vibrant pictures and tones that help illustrate the butterfly’s life cycle and botanical habitat.

At the start of the show, both dancers lie curled on virtual leaves, listening to crickets and passing a mysterious sphere back and forth between them. Soon, images of eggs appear on the carpet. Each dancer plays a long, curled flute, and the almost hypnotic music seems to awaken the eggs (in reality, the ova turn into caterpillars when the dancers step on specific areas of the carpet). If you graduated from elementary school, you can probably guess what happens to the caterpillars next.

The show culminates in the births of the butterflies, but for kids, the thrills are constant. Throughout the performance, the dancers wordlessly invite members of the shoeless audience to stomp on the carpet and produce their own swirls of color and symphonies of sound. By performance’s end, the butterflies won’t be the only creatures to have undergone a major transformation. Your tot will have also changed, from passive theatergoer to spontaneous performer.—Eileen Clarke

The Butterfly Garden plays at the New 42nd Street Studios May 14–23, however as of May 13, tickets are completely sold out. You can call 646-223-3010 to add your name to the wait list.

Spot butterflies all over NYC

Seeing The Butterfly Garden is likely to spawn a lepidoptera obsession. Sate your kids’ curiosity with trips to venues that abound with the pretty insects.

American Museum of Natural History Butterflies fly free and even land on visitors in the 1,200-square-foot vivarium. You’ll also find exhibits depicting the critters’ life cycle and efforts to protect their habitats. Central Park West at 79th St (212-769-5100, amnh.org).

New York Botanical Garden In the Everett Children’s Adventure Garden, snap a photo of your tyke with a supersized sculpture of a red monarch. Then head to the Seasonal Walk, where fragrant plants attract fluttering pollinators. Kazimiroff Blvd at Fordham Rd, Bronx (718-817-8700, nybg.org).

FREE Prospect Park Thanks to plenty of direct sunlight and lots of flowers, the garden behind the Audubon Center and the meadow on Lookout Hill lure scores of painted ladies and delicate angel wings. Enter from Flatbush Ave at Empire Blvd, Brooklyn (718-965-8954, prospectpark.org).

Bronx Zoo The Butterfly Garden features a wild meadow and greenhouse stocked with monarchs, julias and other winged beauties. On your way in, pick up a pamphlet to help your crew identify all the butterflies you encounter. Bronx River Pkwy at Fordham Rd, Bronx (718-367-1010, bronxzoo.org).

Staten Island Museum Butterflies make up a fairly significant chunk of the museum’s entomology exhibition, which includes 500,000 specimens. 75 Stuyvesant Pl at Hamilton Ave, Staten Island (718-727-1135, statenislandmuseum.org).—Thomas Sullivan

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