Jasmin Vardimon has been in this country since she founded her company in 1997. They have appeared several times in Oxfordshire over the past few years, during which time her work has proved to be grippingly spiky, with powerful themes unflinchingly, dramatically put over: urban misery in Park, the holocaust in 7734, and a sort of ‘whodunnit’ in Justitia. Her new piece, Freedom was premiered at Sadlers Wells at the end of last year. I asked her what aspects of freedom she has explored.

“My new work explores what freedom actually means to us as a concept and as a reality. During the research period, I found, for most of us, freedom is defined by what it is actually not. We looked at restrictions and ties in current behaviours and also in history. “And also things we are aware of that got into our existence and that we can never let go of because they are part of who we are. So we are looking at what’s been done before us, where are we coming from, where are our roots. For example, my piece 7734 is based on part of my history, the Holocaust. It’s something I can’t let go of, something that happened to my parents and grandparents that will always be there, something that I can’t get free from. So there are different sorts of freedom that we explored, freedoms that can be restricted in various ways. For instance we’re not free to fly, because of gravity.”

Freedom is a vast subject, and I wondered how Vardimon had been able to marshal her ideas into a dance-work to be performed on the stage.

“Well, you know my work. You know I like to work with different elements, so it’s not just movement; there is a lot of theatricality, and visual elements I’m using to convey a story, from video animation to other layers of information that form part of the whole production. I am actually trying to tell a story. How do you tell a story, what are the restrictions to that? So all that is in the piece as well. There is more conceptual exploration of what freedom means.”

All this sounds a bit intellectualised, but I can vouch that Vardimon’s work is always fascinating and gripping to watch. However, I wondered whether what we will see is a series of unconnected episodes, or a coherent flow of ideas.

“One might see it as a series of episodes, but they are interlinked. I don’t want to say too much in advance, but, for example, when you read a book, some will just see the simple story, some will read the references between the lines and would find other connections. “I think it’s the same with any art, and with my work there are always a lot of references I use, from history, from ecology, from psychotherapy. So, if you see those links, you can make the links. I guess every audience member will read the work in a different way. “That’s what excites me — how many different interpretations can there be?”

This particular work is performed by just six of Jasmin Vardimon’s dancers, and there are animated performers as well. In her work you are always aware of a tightly connected and usually quite disparate group of performers, and as usual they have contributed a lot to the finished product.

“My dancers contribute a huge amount. The whole process requires involvement in research into what each aspect means to them, interpreting and responding. The way I work is task-orientated, so there are a lot of tasks I give them. They bring something and then I take what they bring and throw it back at them in a different way. It’s a long process that goes backwards and forwards.”

As in nearly all dance, music is of great importance, and in Freedom, Vardimon’s choices have been quite eclectic.

“As in most of my work, the music comes in very late when I’m creating a piece, almost like in films, and I use it to create a certain atmosphere or a certain effect I Freedom: Jasmin Vardimon’s Dance Company n Oxford Playhouse Monday, March 11, 7.30pm Tickets £12.50-£19.50. Visit oxfordplayhouse.com