Small boats inspire stirring dance show heading to Ormskirk

Five people, adrift on a makeshift raft, what will become of them?

A dance piece coming to Ormskirk highlights the harsh realities faced by displaced people all over the world.

Refuse, by Company Chameleon, reflects on the experiences of people who have made the difficult decision to leave their homes behind, seeking safety and a better life.

Featuring five international dancers, the work showcases a range of movement styles, including contemporary dance, hip hop and capoeira.

Chameleon’s artistic director, Kevin Edward Turner MBE, says that as a mixed heritage person, he has always been interested in the global movements of people and the motivations behind the journeys they take.

Investigating ideas of desperation and the enduring human spirit, he says Refuse explores how we navigate exclusion and exploitation and what we will do to survive at all costs.

The piece is partly inspired by a larger than life sized nineteenth century French painting of a shipwreck, which now hangs in the Louvre museum in Paris.

Called The Raft of the Medusa, the work, by Géricault, depicts the aftermath of a 1816 naval disaster. One hundred and fifty servicemen were left clinging to a crudely constructed raft off the coast of Mauritania. When rescue finally came after 13 days, only 15 were still alive.

Refuse will be presented as part of a double bill called Obscura. It has been paired alongside a more introspective piece called Umbra, which explores the universal search for understanding and acceptance.

Performed together for the first time, Turner says the pair of works are natural bedfellows, Umbra exploring challenging lived experiences from an individual perspective and Refuse, through an external, societal lens.

In another first for the Manchester dance company, Turner has taken two celebrated pieces of outdoor work and reimagined them for an indoor stage, on what will be Company Chameleon’s first theatre tour since 2019.

Refuse is choreographed by Turner and premiered in Manchester in 2023, whilst Umbra was choreographed in 2022 by Chameleon co-founder and former co-artistic director Anthony Missen. It was first performed at the Chemnitz Festival, in Germany. Missen left the company after 18 years in 2025.

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.”

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, Company Chameleon plays at The Arts Centre, Ormskirk on Wednesday 11 February 2026. Tickets are available here.