TRANSFORMING PERSONAL STORIES INTO EXTRAORDINARY PERFORMANCE.
SADIQ ALI COMPANY CREATES BOLD, VISUALLY STRIKING CONTEMPORARY CIRCUS THAT COMBINES CHINESE POLE, DANCE AND PHYSICAL THEATRE WITH DEEPLY PERSONAL STORYTELLING.
Produced by Turtle Key Arts, the company has quickly established a reputation for creating ambitious, socially engaged work that explores themes of identity, belonging, faith and resilience through powerful circus performance.
Led by artistic director Sadiq Ali, the company's productions are rooted in lived experience, using physicality and emotionally honest storytelling to connect with audiences. Through an inventive fusion of circus and theatre, each production explores contemporary issues with compassion, humanity and hope, inviting audiences to see familiar stories from new perspectives.
The company's debut production, The Chosen Haram, received multiple five-star reviews, won the Summerhall Lustrum Award for Unforgettable Performance at the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe and toured extensively across the UK and internationally.
Tell Me continued that success at the 2026 Edinburgh Fringe, also receiving five-star reviews and winning the Bragi Award. Combining Chinese pole, aerial artistry and dance, the production explores HIV through a contemporary and compassionate lens, challenging stigma and celebrating resilience.
“It’s impossible not to be in awe of Tell Me. Masterful physical storytelling that explodes with energy and draws audiences into parallel worlds of the past and the present with style and verve.” Bragi Award Judge (TELL ME)
“one of the best meditations on all the moods of the hiv crisis that i have ever seen” - Plays to See (TELL ME) ★★★★★
Turtle Key Arts works closely with Sadiq Ali to develop, produce and tour the company's work, bringing bold new circus to audiences across the UK and beyond while championing stories rarely seen on stage.
“An astonishing fusion of circus and storytelling” - Fest Mag (THE CHOSEN HARAM) ★★★★★
