"At the beginning it looked like something on Animal Plant," 8-year-old Almahn Wilson said of the show. "It was weird."

I’m taking a videography class at Central Piedmont Community College. On the first day of class my professor said our first assignment would be to do a story about a lemon.

I thought he was crazy,of course. Then I saw the “The Aluminum Show,” and I understood my professor’s goal.

He wants us to learn how to tell stories regardless of the subject. “The Aluminum Show” tells the story of an alternate world in which aluminum has life. It sings, dances and has a personality. “The Aluminum Show” has been compared to “The Blue Man Group” and “Stomp.” It plays at the Knight Theater until January 31.

The performance combines recycled garbage and custom-made aluminum with puppetry, choreography and special effects. Foil is more than a tomb for leftovers or material in a science project; it is a puppet singing “Staying Alive.” Mylar balloons aren’t last-minute gift ideas; they are a walking structure like the Iron Giant. Remember Slinkys? The ones in this show can swallow you.

“The Aluminum Show” requires audiences to suspend belief, and in doing so it allows us to recapture our youthful imaginations. The same imagination I need to complete my lemon assignment.

Stephon Fonseca, 22, watched “The Aluminum Show” with his mother. He was one of many people I heard saying “Oh my God” throughout the performance.

Fonseca said the show was engaging and intriguing.

“We were like what is going on?” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. I was surprised.”

Almahn Wilson, 8, put it bluntly, “It was weird.”

Israeli-born show creator and dancer Ilan Azriel would probably take Almahn’s comments as a compliment, considering that in the beginning of the show two giant Slinky-like structures mate. They give birth to a baby Slinky. It joins a cast of singing aluminum puppets.

Weird is definitely a compliment.

Azriel, 41, has said in interviews that a piece of aluminum pipe inspired the show. He was walking through a store when an aluminum air-conditioning pipe fell at his feet. The flexibility, color and movement of the pipe fascinated him. He bought 10 yards and teamed with Yuval Kedem, a special-effects expert.

That was more than six years ago. Today that piece of pipe has spawned an alternate aluminum universe. In this world, aluminum structures writhed and moved across the floor. At other times, performers manipulated them into formations. They executed dance routines. There was even a fashion show.

The universe extended beyond the stage. Aluminum tentacles stretched into the audience. Mylar balloons were batted around the theater like beach balls. Aluminum creatures walked through aisles. Children in the audience squealed. They crawled over parents and edged closer to the aisles. They reached out their small hands to touch any piece of aluminum that drifted their way.

I wonder how many of the kids who see this show will go home and ravage a box of foil to make their own aluminum shows. I also wonder if Azriel ever had a teacher who asked him to write a story about a lemon.

“The Aluminum Show” runs through Jan. 31. There is currently a special ticket offer for children ages 14 and under. Details: www.BlumenthalCenter.org/Aluminum

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