ZOIELOGIC RETURN TO SOMERSET WITH HYPERLOCAL TOUR

ZoieLogic Dance Company recently secured support from Arts Council England National Lottery Project Grants to tour its outdoor dance production RIDE to five areas across the South West, using a model that puts community decision-making at its heart. Unlike traditional touring, where venues are selected by producers, this approach invites communities and partners to decide where performances will take place and which audiences to engage.

ZoieLogic Dance Company return to Somerset in September, where in partnership with The Octagon Theatre & Westlands Entertainment Venue, the company will tour its show Ride to 5 community locations. Performances and related activities will be hosted in community settings not typically associated with the arts, such as high streets, school playgrounds, day services and farms. The project is designed to deepen audience engagement and expand access to high-quality arts experiences, especially in areas where cultural participation is limited.

The tour will see the show Ride performed at Wadham School in Crewkerne, Ark at Egwood in Merriott, The Maker’s Place in Ash, Pyrland School in Taunton, and as part of Super Saturday in Yeovil Town Centre. Invited communities will have the opportunity to experience incredible live dance theatre on their doorsteps, and seek to engage, change perceptions and inspire veterans, young people in alternative provision, adults facing challenges with their mental health, secondary school students and the general public in high-quality exciting art.

The week-long Somerset tour will culminate in open outdoor public performances at Yeovil’s Super Saturday event, where audiences can discover and watch performances by the company for free at 11.30am and 2pm.

The production at the centre of this tour is Ride, a playful and physically daring reimagining of the classic summer road trip, featuring three men and a full-sized Ford Orion.

Three men, bound by chance, find their paths converging around a curious thing: a 1980s Ford Orion that appears to have a life of its own. As they embark on an exciting journey, they are made to confront the blurring line between man and machine - and the shifting identities within themselves.

Ride is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with an ‘80s vibe, with tons of athletic physicality and daring stunts. It features a real car which rotates and spins to provide the performance playground.

Led by Artistic Director Zoie Golding MBE, ZoieLogic Dance Theatre has over 25 years’ experience in challenging perceptions of dance, who it is for and how it is experienced. The company creates bold, accessible and high-quality dance, alongside ambitious community and talent development programmes. Its mission is to enable more people to see, take part in and shape dance, with a particular focus on those least likely to engage, including men, boys and underrepresented communities.

Zoie Golding MBE, Artistic Director at ZoieLogic, said: "Receiving this funding is a significant achievement and recognition of the importance of finding new ways to connect people with the arts. This project allows us to explore how touring can be more responsive to communities, creating opportunities for cultural engagement in places and with people who are often overlooked by traditional touring models.”

Katherine Beverley, Arts Engagement & Outreach Manager, said "We are delighted to be bringing ZoieLogic back to Somerset and excited to be working with them to bring their show, RIDE, to communities in the area. This is an incredible opportunity for local residents to watch, be inspired by and engage with live performance on their doorsteps. We are extremely proud and excited to be a partner involved in this ambitious project, where we will support ZoieLogic to bring RIDE directly to audiences where they live. Funding received has presented an incredible opportunity for this hyperlocal tour to engage residents, young people, veterans, shoppers, teachers and support workers, in dance theatre in non-traditional performance spaces from schools, wellbeing facilities, car parks and the high street. By presenting these amazing performances in community settings it enables us to connect, support and entertain audiences, and introduce people to dance theatre with stories that connect, resonate and relate."

The tour has been made possible thanks to support received from Arts Council England. The tour of RIDE will begin in Somerset on 15 September, each performance will be FREE to attend, bringing live dance theatre into communities across the county.

ZoieLogic Dance Theatre is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation, alongside the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Paul Hamlyn Foundation.

The Octagon Theatre became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation to support arts and cultural activities in Somerset. The Octagon’s Arts Engagement and Outreach team are striving to provide affordable, accessible arts activities and experiences in the heart of local communities and supporting the delivery of ZoieLogic’s RIDE tour is just part of their work.