Language: Japanese, English (with Japanese closed captions)
*Please view with subtitles/closed captions turned on.
Stopgap Dance Company was founded in the UK in 1995. The company has gained an international reputation for its inclusive stage productions that bring out the individuality of disabled and non-disabled artists.
In this online forum organised by the British Council, artistic director, Lucy Bennett and choreographer, Chris Pavia from Stopgap Dance Company shared the company's vision, their programmes to nurture the next generation of disabled artists and their activities that engage with a wide range of communities.
Valuing the richness that comes from diversity
Lucy began her presentation by explaining the company's vision and how it was founded. As an organisation, Stopgap aims to "give attention to equity, social justice and diverse participation in order to realise equality". While many companies employ dancers who look similar and share similar perspectives, Stopgap believes that it is the differences that matter. The company values diversity in its members, working with both disabled and non-disabled dancers.
The company was founded in 1995 by artistic director and dancer Vicki Balaam with the philosophy of "valuing the richness that comes from diversity". In the beginning, Vicki worked as a choreographer in local community centres and schools, giving dance workshops and creating inclusive works, relying on small amounts of funding from local government, businesses and income from workshops. The company has since gained recognition and reputation and grown to receive support from the Arts Council England. In 2010, the company began to produce its own original works.
The company has trialled many different approaches to meet the challenges of creating inclusive theatre performances. A breakthrough moment came in 2013 when it staged Artificial Things. This play led to the establishment of the company’s own method of ‘translation’.
Finding a common language amidst differences
Translation is "the skill of finding a correlative version of movement by another dancer who has a different physicality to you." Lucy says she still remembers the moment when the process of movement translation first happened.
"One of our wheelchair dancers, Laura, wanted us to translate her movement. Laura sprinted in her wheelchair across the studio. The standing dancers immediately ran across the space, but it looked totally different to what Laura was doing.”
Lucy told other dancers, “You need to look at Laura more carefully. Look at the way she’s watching with her eyes, look at her shape.”
After that, the dancers got low to the ground and started to pump the floor with their hands, just as Laura was pumping the wheels. After an even closer inspection, they noticed that Laura was actually using her chin to shift around.
Thus,“translation”is the process of finding a common language in each other’s movements, rather than the traditional style of learning by imitating dance steps. In this way, Stopgap has succeeded in reinventing traditional dance movement and empowering non-classical dance movement.
When speaking about a method called ‘blend’, Lucy noted, “We start the process with a simple task of listening and observation. We try each other’s movement styles and do simple improvisation tasks while spending time listening to each other’s stories. It is important to be aware of each other's differences and similarities. Stopgap productions are not a lived experience of a single person, but a blend of many people's lived experiences, interpretations and fiction.”
Stopgap values diversity. It seeks out dancers who are open, loud, and fearless, but also dancers who are calm, quiet and tentative. As different types of dancers listen to each other’s approaches, their personalities are gradually assimilated until they find a balanced “blend".
A pioneer in inclusive dance education
Stopgap is also actively involved in training and education. “It is vital that we share our learnings with the wider dance sector, including young disabled dancers and their teachers" said Lucy. “Stopgap also provides support in terms of filming, studio bookings, scheduling and mentoring." Chris added.
Stopgap runs weekly sessions for adult community groups and has specific projects in place, such as an ongoing programme offering apprenticeships for disabled dancers. They also provide video content for disabled and non-disabled dancers so that they can take Stopgap lessons at home, whenever they want. This initiative, called Home Practice, includes captions and supplementary audio with a focus on inclusive language.
Stopgap also has a training syllabus for inclusive dance called IRIS (Inclusive Syllabus by Stopgap Dance Company). IRIS is the culmination of 25 years of work and is referred to as an equitable access resource for disabled and non-disabled dancers to support each other and find new solutions.
There is much to learn from Stopgap Dance Company’s approach and practice. Lucy and Chris concluded by reiterating that: "Stopgap is part of an inclusive movement — a group of organisations who are calling for systemic change in the performing arts industry and the wider world. All our learning and education work is about Stopgap actively speaking out and supporting hidden talent that is overlooked and underrepresented, particularly for disabled people."
Watch the recording of the forum to learn more.
Speaker Profiles
Lucy Bennett (Stopgap Dance Company Artistic Director)
Lucy has been working with Stopgap since 2003. In her role as a choreographer — in a company that has a diverse group of dancers — she continues to explore the expression of human stories through dance. She has worked with a wide range of choreographers including Maxine Doyle, Adam Benjamin, Filip Van Huffel, Hofesh Shechter, Gary Clarke, Rob Tannion, Carol Brown and Nathalie Pernette. Recent choreographic works include Chris et Lucy (2007), Tracking (2009), Extra-Ordinary (2010) and SPUN Productions (commissioned for the Cultural Olympiad, 2012). Since she became Artistic Director in 2012, she has been working to further develop original works and lead creative projects. Through her accumulated theoretical and practical knowledge, Lucy created the UK's first inclusive choreography at the University of Gloucestershire and also played a key role in a training course commissioned by the British Council's Creative Collaboration.
Chris Pavia (Stopgap Dance Company Senior Dance Artist)
Chris joined Stopgap in 1997. He has worked with choreographers Adam Benjamin, Hofesh Schechter, Thomas Mettler, Nathalie Pernette, Rob Tannion and Thomas Noone and has toured internationally with Stopgap (Sweden, Romania, Japan etc.) and extensively within the UK. He co-choreographed Chris et Lucy with Lucy Bennett, and in 2008 was the first learning disabled choreographer to be selected for Resolution! with his work Statues of Darkness. In 2014 and 2015 he choreographed The Awakening which toured at various festivals and outdoor spaces across the UK. Chris was chosen by Mencap, the UK's leading organisation for people with learning disabilities, as someone with Downs Syndrome achieving excellence in his career. He is eager to continue developing.
Stopgap Dance Company
Stopgap is a UK-based dance company where disabled and non-disabled artists work together to create productions. The company's artistic director, Lucy Bennett, and her diverse creative staff and dancers have created many new works. The company's poetic and emotional work, which explores the courage and fragility of people and the human condition, has taken the UK by storm. Their pioneering spirit in creating an environment where everyone can enjoy dance, and their work to break down stereotypes through training and outreach projects, has been highly praised in the field of social education.