HANSEL AND GRETEL, Dance, Music and More Set for Arts Centre Melbourne's Winter 2013 Season, Now thru 18 Aug

Arts Centre Melbourne will be snowed under with a flurry of family-friendly entertainment this Winter. From a retelling of The Brothers Grimm's Hansel and Gretel to a lavish dance spectacle inspired by flowers and insects, Arts Centre Melbourne has something for the whole family to enjoy during its inaugural Winter season from today 31 July - Sunday 18 August.

Kids will love Miss Ophelia by Dutch children's theatre company, Het Filiaal. Based on the bestselling novel by Michael Ende, who also wrote the much-loved classic The Neverending Story, Miss Ophelia tells the story of a failed actress who begins collecting and looking after stray shadows. Forging strong friendships with her shadowy companions, Ophelia opens a shadow puppet theatre with her friends and becomes the successful entertainer she always dreamed of being. Told through a mixture of real-life actors, shadow puppetry and live music, Miss Ophelia will warm the coldest heart this Winter fromWednesday 31 July - Sunday 4 August.

From blooming flowers to creeping insects, Mother Nature's four seasons are brought to life on stage by award-winning Dance Company Momix's new production Botanica from Wednesday 7 - Sunday 11 August. Inspired by the patterns of nature and the science of plants and flowers, Botanica follows the rhythms of the seasons, the changing shape of life on earth and the passing of a day. Set to an eclectic score ranging from birdsong to Vivaldi, nature's changing imagery is revealed through MOMIX's talented dancers, who embody everything from falling petals to buzzing dragonflies to fossilised dinosaurs.

Inspired by Hansel and Gretel, Swiss company Trickster-p reimagines the fairy tale in their walk-through, contemporary haunted house .h.g. from Thursday 8 - Sunday 11 August. Armed with a set of earphones, an iPod and a torch, the audience - one by one - will walk into the very heart of the story, guided through a series of rooms and passageways, each a bone-chilling world of its own.

In a highly imaginative fusion of animation, mime, puppetry, projections and live music, actor Sam Longley tells the tale of Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer in this production by Perth Theatre Company and Weeping Spoon Productions. The seas have risen and many have died and now, in a last-ditch effort to save the human race, Alvin must venture down into the mysterious depths of the deep blue sea to find a new place for everyone to live. In the Fairfax Studio from Wednesday 14 - Saturday 18 August, Alvin Sputnik: Deep Sea Explorer has won a slew of awards world-wide, including Outstanding Solo Show at the New York International Fringe Festival, and has two productions touring simultaneously around the globe.

Families will love The Extraordinary Shapes of Geoffrey Rush, an exclusive exhibition to Arts Centre Melbourne. Featuring costumes, photographs, moving image and personal items, the free exhibition in Gallery 1 from Saturday 6 July - Sunday 29 September explores Goeffrey Rush's ability to create iconic characters, including Captain Barbosa from The Pirates of the Caribbean films.

With an international selection of the world's leading innovators in children's entertainment and home-grown creations by Australia's favourite family-friendly theatre companies, Arts Centre Melbourne's year-round Families and Youth program is designed to offer enriching performing arts experiences for audiences of all ages.

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