Parade • Autin Dance Theatre

Parade – The Giant Wheel is a moving performance inspired by the beauty, power, and impact of people from different walks of life coming together, featuring a 12-foot tall Giant Wheel powered by 5 street artists and accompanied by music and a large community cast of local groups and individual performers.

Autin Dance Theatre uses their unique blend of contemporary storytelling, striking physicality and innovative large designs to transport audiences and communities along a carefully choreographed procession. 

The 50-minute itinerant act is punctuated by 3 static moments that celebrate the tension and fracture between our individual identities and our shared collective humanity. Ultimately, Parade is about celebrating different journeys whilst honouring our shared life struggles.  

The Giant Wheel carries the performers high above the streets, spins them around ferociously, turning their worlds upside down, at times giving them momentum and speed, and at others rocking them gently back and forth imitating the laborious and repetitive cycle of life. 

Parade is an ambitious and scalable street performance that has inclusivity and accessibility at its heart. Local participants can join Parade’s community engagement plans including opportunities for groups to perform alongside the procession and for individuals to join the large-scale movement of mass participation.

Developed in 2023, Parade – The Giant Wheel has toured and continues to tour extensively across the UK. The show has visited 10 festivals so far, performing to more than 16,000 live audiences.

Audience Comments

Totally brilliant for our Basingstoke audiences and the community element is possibly the best participatory element to a show we have had during the 12 years of the Basingstoke Festival

Ross Harvie Arts and Events Manager, Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council

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.

Serena Murphy Redbrick

Happy, Joyful, Included, I felt part of the community

Participant Saint Giles Church of England Primary School

Accessibility

Please note that the show doesn’t contain any text or spoken word. All the storytelling is expressed through movement and physicality.

Touch Tours prior to the live performances are available (to be organised in advance between promoter and show director.

For any enquiries regarding accessibility, please contact us via email

Email Us

Schools & Community Outreach

Autin Dance Theatre invites and calls upon individuals, community groups, educational establishments to take part in a live performance of Parade - the Giant Wheel. The opportunity will engage, inspire and upskill local participants, residents and creatives in the region with of artistic and social impact for the community and beyond.

The community sessions will be open to all and highly accessible, and movement content will be suitable for those with reduced mobility, offering differentiation options to cater to all abilities. The workshops are specifically aimed at intergenerational communities including young people aged 6+, young people and their families and adults from local communities & school groups, including young people with physical or learning disabilities, those with challenging behaviour, groups in areas of social deprivation and all local residents.

Email our Learning & Participation manager Kirsten for more information and to request a booking form.

Email Us

Upcoming Tour Dates

Use the filter to select Parade

Tour Dates

Sponsors & Supporters

Autin Dance Theatre presents ‘Parade’ with the support of Arts Council England, MAC – Midlands Arts Centre, 101 Outdoor Arts, Black Country Dance Hub, Without Walls – Blueprint, Black Country Touring, Out There Arts and The National Lottery Community Fund.