Deborah Baddoo: It's a humorous, entertaining and thought-provoking look at men and their relationships, both with their peers, their fathers and sons, and how men act generally and emotionally.

Arts production company State of Emergency launched its Mission National Showcase Tour for 2009 with Mission Possible - Dads and Lads Move. The dynamic new three-part show takes an explorative look at the male psyche through contemporary dance. The tour will visit numerous United Kingdom cities and started in Wolverhampton on February 6, then moves to London on March 3 and Manchester on March 19.

Leading black British choreographers Jeanefer Jean-Charles, Kwesi Johnson and Colin Poole have each created brand-new pieces of dance theatre, which explore male relationships and study classic role models. From the emotional bond between father and son to the solidarity and relaxed approach of friendship, five spectacular male dancers present snapshots of young men in the 21st Century.

Thought-provoking look

"It's a humorous, entertaining, and thought-provoking look at men and their relationships, both with their peers, their fathers and sons, and how men act generally and emotionally," said State of Emergency's director, Deborah Baddoo. "It's been interesting for the choreographers to work with all-male groups. There are two male choreographers and one female, and the female choreographer found a very different relationship with the five guys than the male choreographer did. So even within the group, the choreographers learned a lot about male behaviour from the way the group responded to the male and female choreographers."

A production of this nature seems quite timely, with British mainstream media in recent times having churned out countless stories about young black men - often related to crime and gang culture. Baddoo agrees.

"I think the show will hit a lot of buttons in terms of what is going on socially," she said. "One particular piece is all about peer pressure, and how dares can escalate and have life-changing consequences. I think that will bring a lot of debate and discussion to light. Another piece looks at how father and son relationships develop. Two brothers and their father go on a camping trip, and at first it's quite humorous, but quickly it becomes quite dark.

"The programme notes will also enlighten a lot of people on various issues. I know that very often people find it hard to 'read' dance, because it can be quite abstract. But I think that our show, along with the programme notes, is very accessible."

Women will be entertained

So is this piece strictly for the fellas or will women enjoy it too?

"I think women will laugh a lot. Mothers will see their sons in this piece, and there are a lot of issues that women will be entertained by."

Having been in existence for over two decades, State of Emergency arts company is committed to the support, development and profiling of black choreographic work and working with a variety of dance styles.

"We set up the company in 1986 and things have improved since then," Baddoo pointed out. "We have an umbrella programme called The Mission, and the whole mission is to change the face of dance in Britain. We work long and hard with venues, particularly outside of London and Birmingham, to get black dance on the agenda.

"Things have changed over the years, but there's still a lot to do. Some venues still think that if they host one black company, then they've done it; they've ticked their box for the arts council and done their bit for diversity, so that's it. They lump all black dance theatre together and they don't see the subtlety and the quality of each different work. So it's our mission to try and change their minds."

Black dance

Baddoo continued: "We want to elevate black dance to the same kind of level as other European dance forms. We really want to break down barriers. Every couple of years we do a mission tour, which showcases emerging and established black choreographers. We also do regional platforms of work for up-and-coming artistes and established choreographers. And every three years we do the big mission, which is a three-day festival showcase where we have debates, discussions and performances. So we really do try and highlight black British dance."

The Voice newspaper is a subsidiary of The Gleaner Company and is Britain's number-one black tabloid.

Male relationships are put under the microscope in an innovative new dance-theatre production - contributed