SEE Dickens’ Oliver Twist in a new light next week at Lighthouse, Poole as Tony Adigun’s Avant Garde Dance Company flips your expectations of five familiar characters, with their unmatched contemporary hip hop style.

Fagin’s Twist tells the story of Fagin and Bill Sykes’ childhood, imagining how it may have resembled Oliver’s.

They are corrupted by greed and worn down by poverty. When the audience meets Oliver – a vulnerable child – it seems impossible that he will be able to break out of this cycle, and indeed in Avant Garde Dance’s version there is no fairy tale ending. Oliver is heir to Fagin and Bill’s criminal enterprise, and it is ambiguous whether Oliver is more victim or victor.

Avant Garde Dance Company is at the forefront of London’s innovative hip hop/contemporary dance scene. The company was founded in 2001 and is led by Artistic Director Tony Adigun.

Having gained extensive experience in the world of commercial dance, Tony set out to transform a group of hip hop dancers into a unique company that could also explore contemporary influences and create a more unusual, abstract and artistic practice.

The company’s dynamic performances explore a myriad of styles, themes and media, whilst embracing different genres and forms of music, dance, literature, circus and digital work.

Fagin’s Twist is commissioned by Theatre Bristol, East London Dance, Pavilion Dance South West, Dance East and The Place, and co-produced by The Place.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.

Fagin's Twist is from Tuesday, October 9 to Wednesday October 10 at 7.45pm. Call the box office for tickets.