BARE Toed dancers know all about little people and what rocks their boats. So it was with great delight that my two rapscallions came across a big mattress on the floor at Dance City that they could bounce on.

Not only that, but Bare Toed’s Jo Templey came along and put on a special song featuring the refrain Bounce on the Bed.

It was a good start to the show Fly By Night where we were all invited on to the stage at Dance City within touching distance of Bare Toed performers.

Fly by Night is more physical theatre than aerial or dance and is inspired by bedtime routines, sleep and dreams.

Lynn Campbell and Rachel Kurtz set the scene by reading from children’s books The Gruffalo and Where The Wild Things Are.

The idea of monsters recurs later with Lynn and Rachel clambering on to each other to make monster shapes. Strangely enough this section was probably my four-year-old daughter’s favourite bit, while she was genuinely scared when Rachel tucked herself up into a duvet cover and pretended to be a dog.

Both my kids loved the upside- down (‘like a bat’) sections and music provided by Ged Camille was excellent.

Fly by Night is clearly based on research, but is utterly untaxing; it’s a kind of gentle half-hour introduction for young children to the wonders of physical theatre.

Look out for performances of Fly by Night at children’s centres in Newcastle during the winter and check www.baretoed.co.uk for details.