In V4: The Seasons/White Space, choreography by H. Oguike. Oguike has a Welsh mother and a Nigerian father and was born in Swansea. He was 18 months old when the family moved to Nigeria. His mother soon returned to Wales and, at the age of 10, Oguike followed. In unemployment-riven Port Talbot, he drifted through his teens and bunked off school, but also got into breakdancing.

His teachers at Swansea College encouraged him to audition for the London Contemporary Dance School and he succeeded. Oguike became a founder member of the Richard Alston Dance Company in 1994, where he was a striking, charismatic dancer. A serious injury led him to try his hand at choreography, and he founded the Henri Oguike Dance Company in 1999 and began touring with productions. His fiercely musical choreography and skilled troupe of dancers continues to attract attention.  

White Space, created in 2004, is light, bright and outrageous. In it Oguike has blended clean modernist lines, with an archaic theatricality. V4: The Seasons is Oguike’s latest work, performed for the first time in February this year. It is also his most significant commission since collaborating with Rambert Dance Company in 2009. Teatro Comunale, tel. 0471053800, www.teatro-bolzano.it.