Following the critically-acclaimed 2016 premiere of Fagin’s Twist and last year’s tour, Avant Garde Dance and The Place are collaborating again to present the 2018 UK autumn tour. The story reveals a captivating performance and ambitious dance show, based on Charles Dickens’ much-loved classic. Fagin’s Twist is the untold story of a notorious and complex villain with a mischievous twist.
This retelling throws a less sympathetic spotlight on orphan Oliver. Fagin’s Twist follows the gang leader in his youth, driven by greed and ambition in the face of poverty. The dark Victorian streets are a place of little comfort and fairy-tale endings are hard to find in this poignant coming-of-age tale.
Tony Adigun’s choreography uses dance motifs taken from the streets to bring to life this adaptation set on the streets themselves, flipping the audience’s expectations of the five familiar characters – Oliver, Fagin, Nancy, Bill Sykes and the Artful Dodger – with an unmatched hip-hop contemporary style, paired with physical theatre.
Fagin’s Twist was originally commissioned by Theatre Bristol, East London Dance, Pavilion Dance South West, DanceEast and The Place, and is co-produced by The Place. Fagin’s Twist has already performed around the country to critical and audience acclaim, including a run at leading London contemporary dance venue The Place, and it was performed in August 2017 at Edinburgh Fringe as part of the British Council Showcase.
Avant Garde Dance is a London-based company pushing the boundaries of hip-hop and contemporary dance. The dynamic performances have musicality at their core, and explore a myriad of styles, themes and media. Led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun, the company is committed to producing work that is entertaining and challenging. The company was formed by Tony in 2001 as a creative release from the world of commercial dance that he was working in. Avant Garde Dance pioneered the confluence of contemporary and hip-hop dance and has created a new style, and unique movement vocabulary.