Amici Dance Theatre Company are preparing for an extraordinary season that both looks back on 45 years of pioneering work and steps boldly into the future. This autumn, the company will present Amici: Our History, a new exhibition celebrating their journey, alongside a major full-company production, Our Time.
Both projects are produced by Turtle Key Arts and together honour the late Wolfgang Stange, Amici’s founder and artistic director, who passed away in December 2024. Stange’s influence on inclusive dance theatre was profound, and these tributes capture both his artistry and his belief in the creative potential of every individual.
Amici: Our History is a living retrospective. Through the candid photography of Sheila Burnett and Shane Aurousseau, visitors are given an intimate glimpse of Wolfgang and the company over the decades. The exhibition also features a series of audio interviews produced by Primo Digital Film Productions, in which 20 Amici members share their own experiences. An audio booth invites audiences to contribute their stories too, continuing Stange’s ethos of collaboration and shared expression.
For many, the impact of Amici is deeply personal. Company member and associate artist Gurpreet Dosanjh reflects: “He’s given us this gift, this story, and he’s gone ‘this is for you and it’s going to bring you all together and it’s going to get you to do something together.’ And, so, the spirit lives on.” Fellow member Ebony Rose Dark adds: “The magic of Amici is the people that come together to make Amici happen. That togetherness and the energy that each individual has for Amici.”
Running alongside the exhibition is Our Time, the final work conceived by Wolfgang himself. Inspired by his lifelong relationship with Sri Lankan artist George Beven, the piece journeys through moments of personal and global history: the Cold War, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the legalisation of same-sex marriage, and the current struggles of displacement and division. It is a meditation on love, identity and belonging across generations.
Our Time brings together a distinguished creative team. Directed by Michael Vale (Macbeth, RSC; Bent, National Theatre) and choreographed by Amici’s Interim Artistic Director Elaine Thomas, it features costumes by Tina Bicat (Critics’ Circle Award for Punchdrunk’s Faust), lighting by Phil Supple (Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, Tower of London), and original live music by long-time collaborator Nao Masuda. The result is a production that blends dance, theatre, circus and music with Amici’s characteristic vibrancy.
As Amici step into their next chapter, both Amici: Our History and Our Time stand as a celebration of what has been achieved and a promise of what is still to come. Together, they affirm Wolfgang Stange’s extraordinary legacy — a legacy built on inclusion, creativity and the belief that art has the power to transform lives.
About the Author
