Attention!
The dance performance “Panama Is Very Beautiful,” scheduled for December 12 and 13, has been canceled and replaced with the musical fairy tale “The Carnival of the Animals.”
days of the date of the canceled event.
The children’s dance performance “Panama Is Very Beautiful” is based on the beloved children’s book by Janosch (Horst Eckert). Told through the language of dance and music, the story allows even the youngest children to recognize timeless values—happiness, friendship, and the ability to find beauty and joy in every moment.
The creative team—composer Silvija Miliūnaitė, librettist Sondra Simana, choreographer Daria Verovka, music director and conductor Giedrius Vaznys, set designer Sigita Šimkūnaitė, costume designer Sandra Straukaitė, and lighting designer Andrius Stasiulis—worked hard to ensure that art merges with meaning and that visual beauty transforms into a story.
A member of the KVMT ballet troupe, the young choreographer Daria Verovka, says that “Panama Is Very Beautiful” uses the language of dance to tell children about timeless values—friendship, happiness, the joy of discovery, and many other wonderful things. Audiences will follow the journey of the familiar characters—Bear, Tiger, and Duck—and see what unexpected discoveries await them.
Set designer Sigita Šimkūnaitė subtly incorporated plastic objects into the production’s set design, using them to create a stream, fish, flying objects, and other important details. In this way, the play invites us to reflect on whether we consume responsibly and whether we think about future generations. This fairy-tale world is complemented by composer Silvija Miliūnaitė’s music, which, according to conductor Giedrius Vaznys, “seems to tell the story of the piece itself.” The costumes designed by Sandra Straukaitė and the lighting by Andrius Stasiulis lend the production a joyful magic.
The book *Panama Is Very Beautiful*, written in 1978, is one of the most beloved children’s books in Germany and has been honored with the German Youth Literature Prize. An opera based on this story was staged in Berlin, and entire generations of theater lovers have grown up with this story and continue to cherish it to this day.
Don’t miss the opportunity to immerse your whole family in a bright, sensitive, and inspiring world of fairy tales, where Panama is truly very beautiful.
In 2026, the production was nominated for Best Children’s and Youth Production of the Year at the “Golden Stage Crosses” Awards. Costume designer Sandra Straukaitė won a Golden Stage Cross at these awards for her costume design.
