ZoieLogic Dance Theatre celebrates 25 years of getting guys dancing and turning anything into a dance floor

Watching four lads backflipping off a bench in 2000 was the moment that sparked an idea for choreographer Zoie Golding MBE. She formed FuzzyLogic Youth Dance Company, a company driven to increase access to dance experiences for boys. This year, the company now known as ZoieLogic Dance Theatre will celebrate 25 years of helping guys move for their mental health, of connecting people through dance, and of bringing communities together through dance participation and mass dance events.

The proudly Southampton-based yet nationally recognised company has spent the last quarter-century challenging norms, breaking barriers and fulfilling its mission to prove that dance is for everyone and that anywhere can be a dance floor. ZoieLogic has supported over 20,000 people, many of them first-time dancers, worked in countless communities, and delivered game-changing dance and movement projects in schools, estates, businesses and public spaces.

Artistic Director Zoie Golding, who was awarded an MBE in 2022 for her services to dance, says, “I started ZoieLogic to challenge who dance is for and how it’s experienced. When I began this journey, I had no idea that 25 years later it would become the career that brings me so much joy and pride. It all started with a few conversations with young men flipping off a bench at my local school.

“I knew I wanted to reach people through the power of dance, especially those who might never have thought it was for them. Dance builds confidence, creates connections and brings pure delight to participants. This journey has been incredible, made possible by everyone who’s joined us along the way. As we celebrate this milestone with reflection on where we have come, we are also looking ahead to how we can continue to use dance as a mechanism to help make people’s lives happier, healthier and more creative,” Golding says.

Of the company’s many milestones across the last 25 years, the We Are Holyrood programme is a standout. The flagship ZoieLogic project brings together the community of an inner-city council estate in Southampton, made up of over 2,500 residents who speak more than 25 different languages between them, to dance, in many different ways. Increasingly surrounded by gentrification, We Are Holyrood was born as an opportunity for the community to increase residents’ sense of belonging by uniting through dance. Since securing long term investment for the project in 2021, ZoieLogic has established free accessible regular activities for young people and adults in the area, engaged over 500 residents as participants and delivered over 600 hours of activity to over 1000 audience members.

Timmy, a young participant from the long-standing We Are Holyrood project said, "ZoieLogic makes Holyrood a happy place, it's better than just having the park.” The annual We are Holyrood Hub - a week-long programme of events facilitated by ZoieLogic in collaboration with residents - takes place next week, 15-20 July.

Another milestone programme is ZoieLogic’s The Big Movement - a three-year dance-based initiative targeting men's mental health. The Big Movement aims to raise awareness, reduce loneliness and combat stigma by connecting men through movement. The initiative has already engaged hundreds of men, including many first-time dancers, in workshops, social events, public activations and performances, with many more activities planned in the future.

To celebrate the 25^th anniversary, 9 August sees a Jane Austen-themed mass community dance event - the Austentatious Ball - take place at Southampton’s Mayflower Studios, of which Golding says, “This unique and playful community event is an open invitation for people to get on their best threads and be part of an unforgettable mass participation spectacle 250^th years after Austen’s birth.”

Also part of the 25th celebrations, ZoieLogic has launched “£25 for 25”, inviting people to donate to and support their work as an arts-based social enterprise. Golding says, “Funding in the arts is an ongoing challenge. We are boldly asking anyone who supports our vision to unite people through dance to donate £25 to help us celebrate our birthday. Our goal is 250 people with the funds planned to go to programmes for young people, men’s mental health and communities.”

People can get more information or get involved at www.zoielogic.co.uk.