A powerful dance production inspired by the experiences of displaced people around the world is coming to Oxford this spring, as Company Chameleon brings its acclaimed double bill Obscura to Pegasus Theatre.
Performing on Friday 06 March at 7.00pm, the Manchester-based dance company will present Refuse, a striking work that explores themes of displacement, survival and the enduring human spirit. The piece opens with a stark image: five people adrift on a makeshift raft, facing an uncertain future.
Refuse reflects on the realities faced by people who make the difficult decision to leave their homes in search of safety and a better life. Featuring five international dancers, the work blends contemporary dance, hip hop and capoeira to create a physically demanding and emotionally resonant performance.
Company Chameleon’s artistic director, Kevin Edward Turner MBE, says the work draws on his own background and long-standing interest in global migration.
As a mixed heritage artist, he has been fascinated by the motivations behind human movement and the forces that compel people to undertake perilous journeys. Investigating ideas of desperation and resilience, Refuse examines how people navigate exclusion and exploitation, and what they are prepared to do to survive.
The piece is partly inspired by The Raft of the Medusa, a monumental nineteenth-century painting by French artist Théodore Géricault, now housed in the Louvre in Paris. The painting depicts the aftermath of an 1816 naval disaster in which 150 servicemen were abandoned on a crudely built raft off the coast of Mauritania. After 13 days adrift, only 15 survived.
Refuse will be presented alongside Umbra, a more introspective work that explores the universal search for understanding and acceptance. Together, the two pieces form Obscura, performed as a double bill for the first time.
Turner describes them as natural companions, with Umbra examining lived experience from an internal perspective and Refuse addressing exclusion through a broader societal lens.
The Oxford performance also marks a first for Company Chameleon, as Turner has reimagined two celebrated outdoor works for the indoor stage. This theatre tour is the company’s first since 2019.
Refuse was choreographed by Turner and premiered in Manchester in 2023. Umbra was choreographed in 2022 by Chameleon co-founder and former co-artistic director Anthony Missen and first performed at the Chemnitz Festival in Germany.
Turner 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.”
He added that adapting the works for the theatre had opened up new creative possibilities.
He said: “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.
“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 by Company Chameleon will be performed at Pegasus Theatre, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE, on Friday 06 March 2026 at 7.00pm.
