Community Cast power 12-foot Giant Wheel through Yeovil’s Town Centre

A giant wheel measuring a whopping 12-feet in height is set to wow audiences in Yeovil at the town’s Super Saturday event on Saturday 21 September.

The company behind The Giant Wheel, Autin Dance Theatre Company, will be performing alongside a community cast of local residents, as the community comes together in a display of unity at this event.

The Giant Wheel will carry it’s performers high above the streets, spin 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. 

It will be 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 6 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. 

After the successful performance of ‘Out of the Deep Blue’ The Octagon Theatre and Westlands Entertainment Venue in Yeovil are, once again, working in partnership with Autin Dance Theatre for their performance of ‘Parade - The Giant Wheel’ at Yeovil’s Super Saturday on 21st September 2024 in the town centre which has been organised by Yeovil Town Council.

In the days leading up to Super Saturday, A Community Guardian of the company, Darcy Berkley, will be working with lots of local community organisations and youth groups teaching them various wellbeing and movement techniques. There will be two FREE community workshops being held at Westlands Entertainment Venue which are open for anyone to attend who wishes to take part in the event. These will be held Monday 9th September 1:30pm-3:30pm and Friday 13th September 6pm-8pm.  Anyone who attends the workshops will then be invited to attend the tech rehearsal in Yeovil Town Centre from 3pm – 6pm on Friday 20th September before the main event the next day. The workshops and event are fully inclusive and accessible, and no previous experience is required.

Johnny Autin, Artistic Director of Autin Dance Theatre, said “We are thrilled to be bringing our sensational outdoor performance Parade – The Giant Wheel to Yeovil. We can’t wait for hundreds of local residents to meet our cast and the Giant Wheel! Thank you to the organisers for making this happen and supporting us to deliver what promises to be an exciting and engaging cultural event for all.” 

Katherine Hoskins, Arts Engagement Manager for The Octagon Theatre and Westlands Entertainment Venue, said: “We are delighted to be bringing Autin Dance Theatre back to Somerset and excited to be working with them on their new show, Parade: The Giant Wheel. The opportunity for the community to work alongside a world-class company and professional dancers is particularly exciting. It is such a wonderful opportunity for us to bring the community of Yeovil together, with local residents able to take part as participants, performers and as audience members, and connect with one-another where they live. By presenting these amazing performances outside of our venues it enables us to find new ways to entertain and connect with our audiences and introduce new people to our work.”

David Woan, chair of Yeovil Town Council Promotions & Activities Committee, said:  “I am thrilled to welcome Autin and Parade: The Giant Wheel show to Yeovil.  As well as being a spectacular must-see attraction, The Giant Wheel will feature performances by home-grown talent from our Yeovil community; bringing people together and giving artistic opportunity for our local residents to shine alongside world-class professional performers, on the streets of Yeovil.  As a performing artist myself, I know how performance art is part of the glue which connects and brings the community together, and on Super Saturday 21st September, The Giant Wheel will give people another great reason to visit Yeovil.”

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 movement of mass participation. 

Ultimately, Parade is about celebrating different journeys whilst honouring our shared life struggles and collective journeys. 

Autin Dance Theatre will be performing Parade: The Giant Wheel two times throughout the day at 12pm and 3pm at The Quedam Shopping Centre.

This project has been made possible thanks to The Octagon Theatre becoming an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) and being awarded an investment of £760,000 to support arts and cultural activities in Somerset from 2023-2026. Each workshop and the performance will be FREE to attend. The Arts Engagement and Outreach Team are striving to provide affordable, accessible arts activities and experiences in the heart of local communities and this project with Autin Dance Theatre is just part of their work.