Show focus: CAGED by Linden Dance Company

Linden Dance Company tackle the UK’s loneliness epidemic with explosive new outdoor production CAGED.

“Created in response to the UK’s growing loneliness crisis, CAGED blends high-impact physicality with real-life stories of isolation. Set in and around a striking 3-metre-high birdcage, the piece follows four characters on a journey from solitude to connection.

Through daring movement and a punchy soundtrack, CAGEDexplores the delicate balance between entrapment and safety, culminating in a message of hope and reconciliation.”

Where and when: WOW! Fest (Walsall, 18–19 July), Refract Festival at Waterside Arts Centre (Manchester, 27 July), and The Big Feast (Stoke-on-Trent, 23 August).

I asked co-directors Christopher Radford and Sara Macqueen to tell me more about CAGED.

Where did the inspiration for this new outdoor dance production come from?

This new outdoor dance production shines a light on the loneliness epidemic in the UK, which has had a particular impact on young people.

This theme felt particularly relevant to us at Linden DC as we engage children and young people nationally through our projects as well as working regularly with our company for younger dancers Linden Youth in the Midlands.

With this, we began working closely with our partners including academic consultant Dr. Robert Dean (University of Lincoln), who is conducting research on loneliness and real-life stories of the benefits that social prescribing* can have on individuals’ lives.

These quotes and accounts directly fed into the creation of the work,  ensuring that those real-life stories were being presented in the most authentic and honest way.

We also engaged with charities such as Kissing it Better, who delivers on intergenerational creative activity nationally, and the Centre for Social Justice’s 2025 report on loneliness.

We then combined these learnings in the design and delivery of Togetherness, an intergenerational creative project bringing together school children and care home residents; collecting more first-hand experiences of the emotions and narratives of people who have experienced loneliness.

The inspiration behind CAGED continued to evolve informed by all of these: our youth work, extensive research on ‘loneliness’ in the UK and through co-creation workshops bringing communities together to share and explore their experiences in a creative and supportive setting.

*  Social Prescribing is the prescription of creative and community activity rather than medication.

What are the main issues in setting up a production like this for difference open-air venues?

As a independent dance company, the challenges are multiple particularly in the current cultural ecology in the U.K. that has been strongly impacted by reduced investment in arts and culture alongside rising costs, an extremely competitive fundraising landscape and with several councils, venues and festivals facing extremely difficult financial challenges.

These wider sector challenges can be tricky to navigate but they only reaffirm how important it is for us to continue engaging people in meaningful and creative dance engagement.

Within the outdoor context in the UK, the weather has always a big presence in our minds! Some bookers provide alternate performance spaces and the company has developed a version of the work that is safer to perform in case the weather is not on our side.

Touring dance outdoor is very different from doing it in indoor theatre settings but after touring UNBOXED extensively over the past years, the company has developed several ways of doing so safely and efficiently.

We are also very lucky to be working with an amazing cast of dance artists who already had experience of performing dance in outdoor or unconventional venues, and have been performing CAGED brilliantly in a wide range of both indoor and outdoor settings.

I love the idea of using a birdcage as a metaphor for loneliness. Has this been well-received on the tour so far by audiences?

We developed the concept of the birdcage set alongside our Set Designer Simon Doorman, which was really exciting for us as it was our biggest piece of set to date!

We have noticed how much the birdcage has resonated with audiences who often linked it to the idea of being ‘trapped’ or ‘isolated’, which offers a very clear way into engaging with the dance work.

Through our partnership with Pavilion Dance South West (PDSW), we have toured CAGED to several schools in Bournemouth and the children and young people were also super enthusiastic about the birdcage and the high-physicality of the dancers when working with it too.

Can you speak a bit about your style of dance and movement in CAGED?

Our movement style of Afro-fusion and Contemporary is a unique blend of authentic physicality and musicality which is both accessible and allows audiences to engage with the movement beyond seeing “dance”.

Combined with the bespoke musical score (created by Azizi Cole and EIF), this taps into audience’s own lived experiences and allows them to connect to the work in a wholly individual way.

This is supported by the fact the piece is nonverbal, thus removing any barriers of language or cognition and allows a more open, subjective viewing experience.

The movement language for CAGED was also informed by the dance artists’ own physicality and way of moving, which brings an additional layer to the Linden’s signature movement language.

What’s next for the company after this tour?

Well, we are continuing to book more performances of CAGED and UNBOXED beyond the current tour so keep your eyes peeled for these!

 

We are currently planning some strategic development time for the company, to allow us to take stock of the journey and the learning so far while developing our strategic approach and delivery for the next few years.

 

We are also going to be continuing the work with Linden Youth, who continue to surprise us with their maturity, commitment and generosity.