Messy, With a Message : Blue Palm’s ‘The Five Senses’ mixes kid-friendly ballet, burlesque and wordplay with learning.

With Jackie Planeix and Tom Crocker as a young person’s guide to “The Five Senses,” two things are necessary: a sense of humor and, if you’re in the front row, a towel or maybe a raincoat--the tomatoes squirt.

No, this is not the usual educational kids’ show, although real information is imparted. But then, nothing is quite usual where husband-and-wife performers Planeix and Crocker, otherwise known as the offbeat dance-theater duo Blue Palm, are involved.

These former soloists with Maurice Bejart’s acclaimed Ballet of the 20th Century are best known for their satiric, sensual works for adults, but they added children’s movement-based theater pieces to their repertoire a few years ago, with an exceedingly wicked fairy tale takeoff: “Blue Palm Startles Little Red Riding Hood, Eats Hansel and Gretel, Then Dances With the Sleeping Beauty.”

“The Five Senses” is Blue Palm’s latest touring mix of kid-friendly ballet, burlesque and wordplay. It played last Saturday at Occidental College’s Keck Theatre and will play twice on Sunday at the Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts in Rolling Hills Estates.

While not as tightly crafted, nor as lengthily titled, as its first children’s show, this five-part sensory exploration is sparked by moments of inventive hilarity.

In “Smell,” Princess Aroma (Planeix), guided by her very large nose, is seeking a husband. She doesn’t know who he’ll be, but she’ll know him when she smells him. None of the suitors (all played by Crocker) have fetching fragrances--the Duke of Sniff’s overtones of peppermint and lavender are bland, and Lord Snout cheats with Obsession. But just wait till she gets a nostalgia-inspiring whiff of the peasant Malador, her childhood chum. . . .

Other segments are uneven. In “Eyes,” the movement is clever, but the piece has a sketchy feel, while “Hearing,” a ‘40s detective story spoof, tries too hard to be witty and gets bogged down in a muddle of dance, sound and not particularly well-delivered or well-timed puns and jokes.

The couple perform an evocative, balletic illustration of “Touch,” however, and the show ends on a zany high note in “Taste,” a piece that shifts from a moderately amusing visit with two hungry, rather dimwitted adolescents into a madcap frenzy of clown artistry and flying food.

* “The Five Senses,” Norris Theatre for the Performing Arts, 27570 Crossfield Drive, Rolling Hills Estates, Sunday, 1 and 4 p.m. $13. (310) 544-0403.

Feel-Good Vibes: With a capacity crowd of teachers, parents and kids, the first annual “Marcia Berman Day of Music for Young Children,” held Saturday at the Jazz Bakery, was a notable, feel-good event.

Rooted deeply in folk music traditions, this warm, familial tribute to children’s music pioneer Berman, interspersed with her own commentary, turned out to be a children’s music mini-Woodstock: A large, multicultural gathering of dozens of singers and musicians in the field--from Dave and Patty Zeitlin, Dan Crow, Pam Nightingale, Jackie Breger, John Wood and Uncle Ruthie Buell, to Evo and Jemmy Bluestein, Conjunto Hueyapan and members of the Peace Camp Chorus--celebrating Berman’s gentle, child-respecting songs and spirit.

If you missed it, or would like to add it to your family’s music library, video and audio recordings of the event will be available in November.

* “Tribute Concert,” video: $15.98; CD: $14.98; cassette: $10.98. In November, at Children’s Book World, 10580 1/2 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles, (310) 559-2665. Proceeds will go to the nonprofit Marcia Berman Fund for Music and Young Children. Information: (310) 828-6378.