Company Chameleon presents ‘Obscura’
Obscura, a double bill from Company Chameleon, dances between light and darkness, exposing the shadow lives of self and society.
Inspired by Géricault’s iconic painting The Raft of the Medusa, Refuse exposes the harsh realities faced by asylum seekers and displaced people – those forgotten, powerless, refused entry, and treated like refuse – while companion piece Umbra (Latin for shadow) explores the challenging places within ourselves we feel we cannot share, along with the universal search for understanding and acceptance.
In a first for the Manchester company, director Kevin Edward Turner MBE has reimagined two celebrated outdoor works for the indoor stage, marking Company Chameleon’s first theatre tour since 2019. Performed together for the first time, the pieces are natural bedfellows: Umbra through an individual, internal lens; Refuse through an external, societal one.
Both are danced in Chameleon’s trademark style, blending contemporary, breakin’, hip hop, house, capoeira, circus, and African influences with theatrical sensibilities.
Refuse features five dancers and was choreographed by Turner, premiering in Manchester in 2023. As a mixed-heritage artist, Turner has long been drawn to human movement, migration, desperation, and the enduring spirit, exploring the human condition, exclusion, exploitation, and survival at all costs.
Umbra, choreographed in 2022 by co-founder and former Chameleon co-artistic director Anthony Missen, is danced by a trio and spotlights exclusion, repression, self-denial, and what we hide or reveal. Umbra is an overdue invitation to pause and understand ourselves better.
Two new works from the Chameleon Youth dance company (ages 11-22) will open the show.
Artistic director Kevin Edward Turner MBE said: “Obscura is about bringing what we hide into the light; the shadows within ourselves, and the lives society would rather not see. Umbra looks inward at the parts of ourselves we deny, while Refuse looks outward at exclusion. Together the two works explore different aspects of the human experience and share stories relevant to the world we’re living in right now.”
Turner says that reimagining the two works for the theatre has been incredibly exciting. “The indoor space allows us to work with time, tension and atmosphere in a much more detailed way, and lighting becomes almost like another performer. It’s given the pieces a new depth, while still keeping the raw, physical energy that defines the company’s performance style,” he said.
“If you want to be moved by evocative and deeply meaningful art, then Obscura is for you. Both works will move you and invite you to engage in storytelling around relevant issues that are often simplified or dehumanised in the media and public debate.”
Obscura tours to HOME in Manchester on Friday 6 February at 7.30pm, The Arts Centre at Edge Hill University on Wednesday 11 February at 7.30pm, and Pegasus Theatre in Oxford on Friday 6 March at 7.30pm. Visit https://www.companychameleon.com/ to book now.
Obscura directed by Kevin Edward Turner MBE (portrait), Company Chameleon, credit Joel Chester Fildes