There is a fragrant scent when you walk in the room, all senses tickled in this show that has a bit of everything: dance, theatre, comedy, music, travelogue. It is gently political, unexpectedly stirring, easy viewing.
We are greeted in a blend of Farsi and English by the British-Iranian dance artist Bobak Champion and one of his various alter egos. They are warm company, like the family that greets Champion on his first visit from Bristol to Tehran as a child, with abundant food and hospitality (stay after the show and there is cardamom tea and Persian biscuits to enjoy in that same spirit).
Champion has a mixed CV of hip-hop and contemporary dance, including a schools’ show about water and a Romeo and Juliet that played in Turkish hotels, but this is a more personal piece. He has a bunch of skills: b-boying, beatboxing, playing saxophone, a bit of clowning, but when he addresses us as his real self, he is an honest, straightforward, unaffected storyteller.
Champion dances back and forth between the various characters of his tale, from a Bristol pub to the streets of Tehran, as he outlines some of his experiences moving between cultures. As he takes us with him on his trips to Iran, we get windows into the world of 90s hip-hop fanatics (joined by the dancers Iti Fresh and Shazad), and women having their freedoms curtailed by an oppressive regime. He does well to illustrate the contradictions of a country where he experiences such gracious friendship alongside such heavy-handed government.
Much of what is here – such as making links between unemployment and poverty among white working-class men and the appeal of racist groups such as the English Defence League – is familiar. But there are personal recollections that reveal moments of humanity behind the headlines.
Dramatically speaking, there is a feeling of waiting for some transformation or coup de theatre that never quite comes. But then this show is firmly about real life, and that is not how most of real life works. We have our own small journeys that sometimes touch on global events, but really hinge on personal connections, something that is demonstrated in a show so warmhearted that it is impossible not to enjoy.
At Assembly @ Dance Base, Edinburgh, until 27 August. Then touring.
