Moving dance showcase, Autin Dance Theatre’s Parade – The Giant Wheel does so much more than what it says on the tin. It blends interpretive dance, impressive engineering, and striking musical composition in a visual celebration of the tension between individual identity and community experience. Of course, the showcase also includes a 12-foot wooden wheel, which cast members incorporate into their dance. With a charismatic spirit and great attention to detail, Creative Director Johnny Autin creates not only a striking visual performance of community spirit but one that is accessible to all.

The 50-minute-long UK debut of Parade – The Giant Wheel, which took place on 24^th June in Walsall Arboretum, followed the storyline of five individuals – professional dancers – and their journey through the arboretum on a giant wheel. Their journey was marred by interruptions in the form of three static pauses, capturing moments of individual struggle and community support. There to guide them was a large community cast, an amalgamation of different groups in the Walsall community of all ages and backgrounds.

As the performance began the wheel lay on its side, while the professional cast danced around it in a circus-like fashion. Live music composed by Birmingham Royal Conservatoire’s Richard Shrewsbury gradually filled the gardens, drawing a substantial crowd. The music suddenly ground to a halt as the five dancers struggled to hoist up the giant wheel. Calling upon the community cast to aid them, through teamwork they were able to hoist it and begin their journey around the park balancing atop the wheel. The community cast followed, marching to the rhythm of the music. I found myself and other audience members were naturally starting to do the same. The line between audience and cast was ever-blurring, unfolding to create one large community.

When asked about his inspiration for creating Parade, Johnny Autin discussed how his desire to “harness the power” of the processional element was inspired by his work on other professional performances such as the famous Little Amal walk. The idea of getting a community cast and audience to walk behind the wheel to the rhythm of the music enabled Autin to succeed in his desire to make the community cast “feel like an integral part of the show”.

The attention to detail in Autin’s choreography is breathtaking and it is this detail which allows the performance to truly convey its exploration of the tension between togetherness and individuality. The professional dancers, each wearing different costumes to suggest distinct personalities, switched between synchronised group routines and sections which showcased their own individual strengths. They aided each other in their navigation of the precarious wheel, hoisting each other up, or being there to catch each other when they fell. The community cast’s choreography also highlighted Autin’s desire for diversity and inclusion in the arts, epitomised by the presence of a British Sign Language translator communicating the rhythm of the music to deaf cast members. Even the wheel itself is a symbol of community work. As Johnny Autin discussed, “It can be a windmill, it can be a water mill…it’s labour…”.

What makes Parade – The Giant Wheel distinct is its lasting impact on the local community. When speaking to Johnny Autin, he noted that Parade is not simply a “parachute” performance, where the cast descends on a space for a fleeting moment, but a two-month-long community outreach programme. “We really focused on Walsall communities”, he said. The giant wheel and its cast travelled to various primary schools, colleges, and older people’s groups, amassing a diverse community cast. Starting their UK tour at Basingstoke Festival on 1^st July, Autin Dance Theatre hopes to reproduce the model of community engagement developed in Walsall, spending three to four days in each tour location.

On attending both the dress rehearsal and the UK debut, it is clear to me that Johnny Autin and his team have created something incredibly special. It became clear that the individual and community growth depicted in the performance was organically reproduced in the cast’s day-to-day lives. They created a sense of community pride that both cast and audience will take with them, even as the music dies down and the wheel stops turning.

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