In a back room at Bernie Grant Arts Centre, some dancers are taking a break. As they take on water and chat I can pick out an Eastern European accent, something Greek sounding too, and some exchanges with a South American flavour.

I’m here to speak to Mimmo Miccolis, an Italian choreographer, who has assembled this international troupe for his ambitious new work Rights(?). There is a multitude of nationalities to be found at the Tottenham venue today, the dancers hailing from Cuba, Switzerland, Australia, Finland, Cyprus, Italy, Poland, Brazil and Belgium.

It’s a fitting mix of cultures given the far reaching theme of the production, an exploration of human rights violations the world over.

“It was very important,“ says Mimmo, who won a BBC Performing Arts Fund fellowship to develop the piece in the UK, as the dancers disperse to continue rehearsals. “We are talking about rights around the whole world so the company needed to be multicultural.“

“Each dancer brings their own flavour to the group,“ continues Mimmo through an interpreter, dancer Debora Bonemei. “We wanted to maintain these different flavours and melt them together, find a meeting point. Before we’d even started the choreography we found we had different points of view on the rights themselves, like on the death penalty for example, we had divisions. But we’ve come together, we have to be unanimous.“

It may seem a cliché, but this band of performers has found a common language in dance.

“We have a lot of translation going on!“ says Debora. “We are all learning a bit of every language, it’s been a good influence. We all come together when we’re out on stage.“

The work is based on the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from which Mimmo took 13 specific rights which are each given a movement in the show.

Slavery, freedom of expression, right to protest, and issues of hunger, war and poverty are all touched upon, although this isn’t a depressing show. With Mimmo’s abstract, elegant style, combined with dramatic use of lighting, multimedia and otherworldly costumes, the result is something quite magical.

“I admit, it’s pretty ambitious,“ says Mimmo. “It’s a raw, yet sensitive, look at inequalities that plague the world.

“When you go to the theatre you’ve got to come out entertained, happy and thinking. Not sad, depressed, ’the world is terrible’ and wallowing in hopelessness. The production puts the audience in a dream, a visually entertaining spectacle. It looks like you’re seeing a painting coming alive.“

Mimmo hopes his original abstract style will surprise and win favour with British audiences.

“London is the launching place for choreographers,“ he says. “There’s such a huge understanding and openness in terms of artistic possibilities. To bring to London something that is new, a little untested, is exciting. It’s not an Italian style, it’s a mix of everything I’ve experienced - creating my own recipe.“

With its weighty subject matter, Rights(?) promises to be a thought-provoking piece.

“The production’s message is one of a global community’s responsibilities,“ adds Mimmo, “urging us to come together, transgressing language to say something words simply cannot.“

Rights(?) is at Bernie Grant Arts Centre on May 18 at 7.30pm. Details: 0208 365 5450