Stopgap Dance Company

Beyond The Waves: Reflections on a Process | Signature Blog

Wednesday, 21 July, 2021

Tom Goodwin reflects on his role supporting Chris Pavia in his latest independent choreographic project…

'A Stunning Performance with a Message Of Hope' | Artificial Things Review

Tuesday, 20 July, 2021

Artificial Things: The Film, a review by Anne McCarthy

Back On The Road | Signature Blog

Wednesday, 23 June, 2021

Stopgap gets back on the road with outdoor arts, but can Dance really build back better for disabled artists?

Roadmap to Inclusion | Signature Blog

Thursday, 20 May, 2021

As theatres begin to reopen this week, Laura Jones talks to our Executive Producer Sho about the Access and Inclusion training she has been delivering for dance and other cultural venues and shares some top tips for welcoming back disabled audiences.

Improvisation is my superpower...

Lauren Trim, Stopgap's Access Worker, dives deeper into her love for improvisation...

An introduction to Deaf Culture and Community - Deaf Awareness Week 2021

Tuesday, 4 May, 2021

An introduction to the Deaf community and culture from our Projects Manager James Greenhalgh...

Autism Inclusion at work

Monday, 19 April, 2021

Lily, our content and access artist, shares Autistic Conversations, part 3...

The Infinite Diversity of Autism

Monday, 12 April, 2021

Lily, our content and access artist, shares Autistic Conversations, part 2...

Autism Acceptance starts with Understanding…

Monday, 5 April, 2021

Lily, our content and access artist, shares Autistic Conversations, part 1...

The Future of Inclusivity in Dance, post-pandemic || Signature Blog Series

Our Executive Producer, Sho Shibata, writes about what we learned from sustaining inclusive dance classes during a pandemic...

Hannah's Reflections || Shared Home Practice

Wednesday, 3 March, 2021

Hannah shares some insights from the shared Home Practice sessions we take together as a company...

Your Body, Your Instrument | Home Practice

Wednesday, 24 February, 2021

Check out the inspirations behind Amy's latest Home Practice workshops...

The evolution of Stopgap | Vicki Reflects Part 2

Thursday, 21 January, 2021

Founding Artistic Director Vicki Balaam continues to reflect on the origins of Stopgap and her personal journey with the company

Inclusive Contemporary Dance Fundamentals with Groundwork | Home Practice

Wednesday, 20 January, 2021

Get grounded with our Home Practice Groundwork series...

From a secret rebellion, to a public display of defiance... | Vicki Reflects

Thursday, 14 January, 2021

Vicki Balaam, Founder of Stopgap and current Chair of our board, reflects on humble beginnings and those that supported the company from it's inception...

Catch up with Chris | Unlimited Festival 2021

Wednesday, 13 January, 2021

We caught up with Chris ahead of the upcoming livestream of Artificial Things and accompanying Q&A as part of Unlimited Festival 2021…

Reflecting back & Looking Forward | Home Practice

Thursday, 7 January, 2021

Our new season of Home Practice starts 11 January, so we wanted to reflect back on when the pandemic began and how we evolved Home Practice.

Hannah’s Home Practice Diary | Weekly Home Practice

Wednesday, 6 January, 2021

Today Hannah shares with you her Home Practice diary and discusses a few of the key points from a selection of her favourite sessions from last year.

Christmas Break | Activity Timetable

Tuesday, 22 December, 2020

This year the holidays will be quite different for us all and we know how important routine can be, so Lauren, one of the newest members to our team, has created an activity timetable for over the break!

2020... a year in review

Friday, 18 December, 2020

2020 has been a challenging year for all of us, but there have been some triumphs against many a adversities... In this blog, Executive Producer Sho Shibata reflects on some of the achievements.

Coping with Change | Amy

Tuesday, 15 December, 2020

Amy reflects on this year full of change, with personal anecdotes from what has been a very strange and unpredictable year...

Dancing from the Centre | Home Practice

Wednesday, 9 December, 2020

Lucy introduces her latest Home Practice class...

Gradients of Thickness | Seed | Home Practice

Wednesday, 2 December, 2020

Dancer and teacher Christian explains the thinking behind his new 'Gradients of Thickness' Seed...

Creating my blended wheelchair practice… | Kat

Tuesday, 1 December, 2020

Kat Ball, longtime collaborator with Stopgap, and current Sg2 Apprentice Dancer, shares with us her personal journey to creating a blended practice of standing and wheelchair dancing...

A week in the life... | Sg2

Wednesday, 25 November, 2020

It's vlog time! ‘A Week in the Life of Sg2’ with SAND-R

The Role of an Understudy | Sg2

Wednesday, 11 November, 2020

Fin, one of our Sg2 apprentices, gives us an insight into his role as understudy for Christian in Chris Pavia's new choreography...

SG Troopers have returned!

Tuesday, 10 November, 2020

SG Troop is back! Christian catches us up with what's been going on in Troop...

Come work for us!

Friday, 6 November, 2020

Stopgap are currently looking for Communications Manager and Project Manager. We made some statements about inclusivity and career progression in our recruitment page, and Executive Producer Sho Shibata writes this blog to give potential candidates a deeper insight into what we mean.

Spontaneity | Home Practice

Wednesday, 4 November, 2020

Focussing on Lucy's latest Home Practice session all about finding spontaneity...

Translating Practice | How do you create a ballet class that is accessible?

Thursday, 29 October, 2020

Happy world ballet day 2020! Before access worker Millie left Stopgap, she was really interested in how we could translate classical ballet and make it accessible. This blog contains some of her research and ways to approach translating ballet.

Laban and Inclusive Approaches | Abbie's MA Research Project

Wednesday, 28 October, 2020

In this blog, Sg2 Apprentice Abbie Thompson discusses her fascinating MA Research Project...

Wheelchair Collaboration | Home Practice

Wednesday, 21 October, 2020

We share Nadenh's new Home Practice video on Collaborating with your wheelchair...

Hannah’s Home Practice Diary | Groundwork

Wednesday, 14 October, 2020

In this blog, Hannah takes us through some of her thoughts on our Groundwork Home Practice videos…

Getting to Grips with YouTube | Home Practice

Wednesday, 7 October, 2020

Anna has been one of the masterminds behind getting Home Practice online and out to the world. In this blog she talks all things YouTube, offering us an insight into the highs and lows of getting Home Practice out to you all!

All Things Access in a Pandemic

Sunday, 4 October, 2020

Access worker, understudy and Youth Company teacher Millie (Amelia Clarke) reflects on the evolution of her duties as an access worker in the pandemic…

Musings from Sir Dave

Thursday, 1 October, 2020

Last year Dave became very unwell, and now he’s back at home recovering, adjusting and coming to terms with some new ways of life (all whilst in the midst of this pandemic). We’re bringing you a few reflections from Dave, as he reflects back on his career highlights, dance and a little bit of politics.

A Trip with Translation

Wednesday, 30 September, 2020

Artistic Director Lucy Bennett explores the origins of 'translation' for Stopgap, and reflects on it's development and importance over the years...

Seed | Home Practice

Wednesday, 16 September, 2020

Welcome to the second week of Stopgap’s NEW online dance programme: HOME PRACTICE. In this blog Tom introduces our Home Practice Seeds...

Groundwork | Home Practice

Wednesday, 9 September, 2020

Welcome to Week One of Stopgap's NEW online dance programme

Launch Day Schedule | Home Practice

Tuesday, 1 September, 2020

A day full of live classes and exciting sessions to kick off our Home Practice program!

Keeping up with inclusive dance | Home Practice

Wednesday, 26 August, 2020

In this blog, Laura Jones outlines the aspirations of our new online dance programme Home Practice and the impact Covid-19 has had on disabled individuals.

Comfort Zones | Home Practice

Amy Butler re-examines the dancer’s comfort zone, the role Home Practice plays in learning at home and themes of exploration for future sessions...

Learning is unpredictable…| Home Practice

Wednesday, 12 August, 2020

Interim Assistant Artistic Director Tom Goodwin reflects on the process of designing Home Practice and the flexibility of learning…

It’s coming home... | Home Practice

Wednesday, 5 August, 2020

It’s coming home – dance practice is coming home, and it might just stay there too | Artistic Director Lucy Bennett introduces home practice...

Summer Experience Goes Online...

Tuesday, 4 August, 2020

Teacher and Dance artist Nicky Norton reflects on our annual Summer Experience…

Injury Prevention at Home with Alice

Wednesday, 29 July, 2020

Dancer and Teacher Alice Shepperson shares with us her top tips for preventing injuries whilst dancing and working at home…

PRIDE 2020: KJ & Frock

Friday, 24 July, 2020

In this blog, KJ reflects on her identity, being a Lesbian, and the experience of researching for, creating and performing Frock…

Increasing Accessibility for Professional Dance Practice online

Wednesday, 22 July, 2020

Our disabled dance artists share their top tips for creating accessible online dance classes…

Feed your Feed!

One of the newest members of our team, Anna, shares some suggestions to help you break up your algorithms and help Feed your Feed!

Translation Principles

Wednesday, 1 July, 2020

We share the fundamentals of the technique of Translation...

Tips on participating in online classes

Monday, 29 June, 2020

We follow up our top tips for teaching online class with tips for participating from home!

Tips on leading online classes

Wednesday, 24 June, 2020

The dancers of Frock give us some top tips for leading pro-class online…

Working at Home with Hannah

Wednesday, 10 June, 2020

Hannah gives us a look at what she's been up to during lockdown and the work she is doing at home. Check out her top tips to stay happy and well in lockdown...

Teaching Young People Online

Tuesday, 9 June, 2020

Here is a round up of some TOP TIPS for teaching young people online...

Tom's reflections so far...

Wednesday, 3 June, 2020

New Assistant Artistic Director (maternity cover) Thomas Goodwin reflects on his new role, the end of term for our apprentice company Sg2 and facilitating a professional development workshop online...

Our Evolution of Inclusion under Covid-19

Wednesday, 27 May, 2020

Artistic Director Lucy discusses where Stopgap is heading in these times of isolation and Covid-19

Teaching Tools - First up FOLDS...

Wednesday, 20 May, 2020

Christian talks you through Stopgap’s handy teaching tool F.O.L.D.S

Youth Company Online Classes

Wednesday, 22 April, 2020

Our Inclusive Youth Dance Sessions have all had an online makeover, and Cherie writes about how you can access these.

Finding the Balance

Thursday, 2 April, 2020

Artistic Director Lucy considers the balance inclusion needs to find; between dancers who need translation and dancers who need body specific clarity. Her blog is accompanied by a Q&A with Fin, our Sg2 Apprentice who describes himself as Autistic, and a response from Lily, our access worker for Sg2 who is also a neurodivergent artist.

Journey to Inclusion

Our Executive Producer Sho Shibata, sheds some light on Dancer Chris Pavia's dance journey and what he brings to the company as an artist, and more importantly, as an individual.

Performing Outside

Performing outside has its challenges, arguably one of the most daunting ones is performing in the heat! Here are my top tips and exercises you can try to help prepare you for such a time.

Seedbed - a pathway to teaching inclusively

Find out more about what to expect from our teacher training course and how it supports your journey to becomming a teacher of our inclusive syllabus, IRIS.

Why IRIS?

Artistic Director Lucy Bennett, tells us more about IRIS, Stopgap’s inclusive dance syllabus; how it started and what we hope it can achieve.

What The Frock Are These Costumes?!

Alice talks about her experience making a show where the costumes don't fit the norm, and what it's like to perform in an outdoor dance show. Photos by Chris Parkes

Dancing After Having a Baby

KJ gives her advice and experience of going back to work as a dancer after having a baby.

Looking back at Frippery

Hear from Yasmin about her favourite memories from our community show Frippery, from creative process to the exciting performance.

5 ways to stay fit and healthy over summer

Fin shares five ways to help any dancer stay strong and healthy during over the summer.

Sg2 Top Tips - Sander

Sander gives 3 top tips for starting your dance training

Jade's farewell

Tuesday, 4 June, 2019

Our University of Surrey placement student, Jade, summerises the last 9 months with the company...

Astrid's experience at Stopgap

Recently, we welcomed student Astrid for a week long work experience. Here she tells us what she got up to...

Jade's Placement Project

As part of her placement with us, Jade organised a performance for Guildford Youth Company. Here she explains what she's done and the process leading up to the big event...

Hannah's Japan Experience

Following their exciting trip to Japan touring The Enormous Room, Hannah shares her experience on a very busy few weeks...

Chris's New Duet!

Tuesday, 2 April, 2019

Chris has been working on creating a new duet, The Journey Between, with Christian & Nadenh! Here he shares details on the duet, his choreographic process and his aspirations for the piece...

Artificial Things comes to BBC iPlayer

We are very excited to announce that our Artificial Things film will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 31st March! Read the full announcement here...

The Arts and Social Impact - a view from Stopgap Dance Co

Monday, 21 January, 2019

Our Executive Producer Sho Shibata elaborates on how Stopgap's artistic and developmental work strategically align to make a difference in the wider world and the industry.

"We are putting the artistic vision at the heart and rethinking how we can build out from that to affect social change."

The Road to Becoming an IRIS Teacher

Our Interim Co-Artistic Director (Maternity Cover), Siobhan, outlines the 6 easy steps to becoming an IRIS teacher...

2018 - a year in review

Wednesday, 19 December, 2018

2018 has been a very productive year for Stopgap Dance Company despite the setback of our touring van being stolen mid tour at the start of the year and our office being burgled at the end of the year… Our team called on their grit and determination to get 2018 over the finish line!

Yasmin's First Blog

Tuesday, 16 October, 2018

Sg2 Support Worker, Yasmin, introduces herself and how she is looking forward to working with Stopgap & supporting Sg2 on their journey...

Jade Introduces Herself

Thursday, 11 October, 2018

Jade, our new student intern from the University of Surrey, introduces herself and talks about her first few weeks at Stopgap...

Introducing Sg2 Member - Sander!

Friday, 5 October, 2018

Sander, Sg2 dancer, talks about what inspires him most...

Introducing Sg2 Member - Fin!

Wednesday, 3 October, 2018

New Sg2 dancer Finlay, introduces himself; talking about how he got into dancing and shares some of his favourite past experiences...

Christian on Chris & his creative process

Christian gives us an insight into working with Chris and his creative process...

Introducing Sg2 Member - Kat!

Monday, 1 October, 2018

Sg2 member Kat writes her first blog about the change from associate to Sg2 apprentice with Stopgap and looking forward to the future...

Chris's Solo Inspiration

Ahead of his performance this weekend, Chris shares his inspiration behind the piece...

Monday Musing with Nicky

Monday, 10 September, 2018

Nicky updates us on her year with all of our lovely groups.

Hannah Talks About The Point Summer School

Monday, 27 August, 2018

Hannah talks about her experiences with choreographing during Summer School at The Point...

Hannah's Top Tips

Wednesday, 25 July, 2018

As the new Sg2 have their induction day Hannah offers some of her top tips...

Christian talks about the Seafarers

Christian writes up how the Seafarers project went and what it meant to him...

Summer Artists Lab

Thursday, 21 June, 2018

Christian updates us with what happened earlier this month at Stopgap's Summer Artists Lab...

Emily's goodbye

Thursday, 14 June, 2018

Emily writes her final blog as her time with the company comes to an end...

Anna's work experience with Stopgap

Wednesday, 11 April, 2018

Since Stopgap have become part of the AQA Dance anthology, there has been an increase in GCSE Dance students looking to spend time with Stopgap. Here, our most recent work experience student Anna, talks about her time with us.

Charlotte's last day!

Friday, 6 April, 2018

Charlotte joined Stopgap back in 2011 and today was her last day...! She first came to the company as the Administrator and worked her way up to becoming a wonderful producer. We are going to miss her very much and are wishing her all the best wishes for her new role as the producer at Nuffield Theatres in Southampton...

Monday blogging - More about Sg2

Monday, 19 March, 2018

With only just over a week to go before the Sg2 application deadline, here's your chance to learn more about the teacher training you will gain...

Monday blogging - Sg2

Monday, 5 March, 2018

With the Sg2 application deadline at the end of this month, here's a little more info about what the course involves...

Circus Skills with Hannah

Wednesday, 28 February, 2018

The team had a couple of days training with Mimbre - a London based acrobatic company - for some inspiration for the upcoming community outdoor project, The Seafarers. Hannah talks you through the two days...

Nadenh on fliming and editing for Replay

Monday, 19 February, 2018

Nadenh talks about composing music, filiming and editing for Stopgap's dance channel, Replay...

Hannah on Radio 5 Live

Wednesday, 15 November, 2017

Today is your last chance to catch Hannah’s interview on Radio 5 Live. Here is her blog about the interview...

Monday Musing with AAD - The Training Habit

Monday, 13 November, 2017

Siobhan talks about her year training as Franklin Method Educator and the benefits of learning a new skill..

Farnham Youth Companies busy schedule

Friday, 3 November, 2017

Cherie fills us in on what Farnham Youth Compnay have been up to so far this term...

Siobhan's new role

Wednesday, 1 November, 2017

Siobhan discusses her new role as Assistant Artistic Director for Stopgap...

Sg Troop dancer Dermot

Friday, 27 October, 2017

Dermot writes about his time with Sg Troop and where his future goals lie...

Exploring at The Point

Monday, 23 October, 2017

Following on from last weeks "All Change Please" Monday Musing, Lucy takes us through what the team have been up to over the last couple of weeks at The Point...

Monday Musings with AD - All Change Please

Monday, 9 October, 2017

Another Monday musing with Lucy Bennett, showing that sometimes everyone has to think on their feet and go with the unknown...

The GCSE journey of Artificial Things

Monday, 2 October, 2017

ArtsPool's Director Heather Worall talks about the journey to shape "Artificial Things" into an educational resource.

Monday Musings with AD - A Helping Hand

Monday, 25 September, 2017

This weeks musings with Lucy, focuses on the female dancer...

Emily introduces herself

Monday, 18 September, 2017

Stopgap's new student intern from GSA, University of Surrey, introduces herself and talks about her first week with Stopgap.

Cherie talks about Farnham Youth Company

Tuesday, 12 September, 2017

Access Officer, Creative Learning Associate and Teacher, Cherie, recalls her journey with Farnham Youth Company...

Christian talks to us about Replay

Thursday, 24 August, 2017

Christian explains the benefits of filming Stopgap's youtube channel, Replay...

Monday Musings with AD - Making a new piece of work

Monday, 21 August, 2017

This week's musings with Lucy answer a question we often get asked when making a new production.

Erasmus Project with Christian

Friday, 18 August, 2017

Christian talks us through his best moments of last months EU Project, Erasmus...

Hannah on The Awakening

Wednesday, 16 August, 2017

Hannah reflects on the journey of The Awakening and performing at The Funky Llama festival in June...

Monday Musings with AD - YouTube

Monday, 7 August, 2017

This weeks musings with Lucy Bennett show how platforms such as YouTube allow the opportunity to be constantly learning

Where we begin - by Hannah

Friday, 4 August, 2017

Hannah writes a poem, telling us the story behind the duet Where we begin which she performed with Chris Pavia...

Monday Musings with AD - 'Zeitgeist'

Monday, 24 July, 2017

Another Monday with Artistic Director, Lucy Bennett - today's musings focus on the similarities between choreographers ideas

Monday Musings with AD - The Awakening

Monday, 10 July, 2017

In our series of Artistic Director blogs, this Monday brings you The Awakening and behind the scenes of being a choregorapher

East African project - with Christian

Tuesday, 4 July, 2017

Following on from Lucy's blog about creating via Whatsapp, here's Christian's view on the 5 day project working with the 2 dancers from Kenya...

Monday musings with AD - Creating via Whatsapp

Monday, 19 June, 2017

Lucy writes about the new exciting creative process for Stopgap's collaboration with 2 East African companies

ISTD Springboard: Hannah's reflections

Tuesday, 13 June, 2017

We hear from Hannah as she talks about her experience of teaching rep from The Awakening as part of an ISTD Springboard workshop at Urdang Academy in April...

Athens Residency: Hannah's notes

Monday, 15 May, 2017

Hannah shares her experience at the Athens Residency in March...

Cairo Residency: part 2

Thursday, 27 April, 2017

See how the final days of the Cairo Residency unravelled in Christian's eyes...

Cairo Residency: part 1

Tuesday, 25 April, 2017

Read Christian's day-by-day record of the workshop residency the team led out in Cairo...

An Assistant Stage Manager's blog

Thursday, 23 March, 2017

Cherie reveals the exciting duties as an Assistant Stage Manager on tour with The Enormous Room...

Abi, on Apart

Monday, 27 February, 2017

Abigail Mortimer reflects on her experience working with Laura Jones and Suzie Birchwood...

Hannah talks about Sam

Friday, 20 January, 2017

Hannah talks about how her character, Sam, in The Enormous Room came to life...

Christian talks about The Enormous Room

Monday, 16 January, 2017

Christian brings us his thoughts and feelings of The Enormous Room before going back into rehearsals...

Siobhan and Nadenh return from Myanmar

Wednesday, 14 December, 2016

Siobhan reflects on her recent visit to Myanmar together with Nadenh Poan...

Chris talks about Orbiting Worlds

Thursday, 8 December, 2016

Chris talks us through his latest choreography project, working with dancers Nadenh & Christian...

After Moon Language

Thursday, 3 November, 2016

Nadenh relects on the Moon Language project a few weeks on...

Lexie introduces herself

Monday, 17 October, 2016

Lexie writes a blog about her first week at Stopgap...

Siobhan reflects on Moon Language

Wednesday, 12 October, 2016

With one week to go Siobhan reflects on the process of creating Moon Language

Six months of Stopgap

Friday, 30 September, 2016

After sixth months our administrative intern Ethan signs off...

Point Summer School

Monday, 5 September, 2016

Christian summarises his first experience of The Point Summer School, working alongside Nadenh, Cherie and Hannah…

Youth Company Update!

Wednesday, 24 August, 2016

Nicky Norton gives us an update on what has been happening with the Youth Companies since her last blog...

Moon Languge creation process

Friday, 12 August, 2016

Hannah tells us about one of Stopgap’s latest projects, Moon Language…

IRIS Teacher Training

Wednesday, 10 August, 2016

Christian talks us through his experience of Stopgap’s IRIS summer school…

iF not now, when? - Part 3

Thursday, 28 July, 2016

Final part of the iF not now, when? blogs, finishing with the full provocation from Dan Daws...

Troop Farewells!

Friday, 22 July, 2016

Siobhan bids farewell to three of the Troop dancers, and talks about how exciting the futures of Troop old and new are!

Night at the Theatre

Thursday, 21 July, 2016

Hannah writes about the ideas behind Night at the Theatre and the creation process...

iF not now, when? - Part 2

Monday, 18 July, 2016

Callum continues his discussion of the day's events in this second part...

Hand Over – From step ball change to a glide

Thursday, 14 July, 2016

AD Lucy Bennett hands over to Laura Jones, Stopgap’s new Interim Artistic Director

iF not now, when? - Part 1

Wednesday, 13 July, 2016

After the huge success of Brighton Fringe and iF not now, when? Callum reflects over the proccess of creating and the final product in this first part of 3.

Chris with Swindon Dance

Friday, 1 July, 2016

Chris visited Swindon Dance last month to run a workshop. Here are some of his thoughts about the workshop and his experience...

Joining Stopgap

Monday, 20 June, 2016

One of Stopgap’s newest dancers, Meri, talks about what it’s like to join the company and her experiences over the past few months…

Interview with Silent Faces

Friday, 6 May, 2016

Lou Rogers interviews this years iF Bursary winners, Silent Faces…

The Enormous Room - the starting point

Thursday, 5 May, 2016

In this first blog about Stopgap's next major production The Enormous Room, Artistic Director Lucy Bennett talks about the overall concept and how ideas for the work developed and changed.

Introducing.. Ethan!

Thursday, 28 April, 2016

Ethan, the newest addition to the Stopgap team as their administration intern...

Nadenh in Wales

Thursday, 28 April, 2016

Nadenh writes about his latest excursion to Wales with Siobhan…

Anna & Aya's experience in Cairo

Wednesday, 27 April, 2016

Anna writes a beautiful blog of her experience teaching and choreographing with Aya, for D-Caf, a contemporary arts festival in Cairo, Egypt…

Full time Stopgap

Monday, 25 April, 2016

Christian writes about his first month with Stopgap…

Spring Lab 2016 with Chris

Tuesday, 12 April, 2016

Here is Chris’ experience of Spring Lab 2016, discussing his thoughts on the exercises and tasks from Laura and Siobhan.

Reflections on Sg2 by Siobhan

Monday, 4 April, 2016

As Hannah and Nadenh head towards graduation from Sg2, Siobhan writes a blog reflecting on their time working together…

Decibels Twitter Q&A with Chris

Monday, 21 March, 2016

Have a look at the twitter Q&A between Decibels and Chris on 3rd March - discussing arts, disability and technology!

Laura - iF Residency at The Point

Thursday, 17 March, 2016

Hear from Laura about her time working with Indepen-dance 4 at the iF Residency, and her revived choreography A:Version...

CPD sessions - by Laura & Siobhan

Wednesday, 9 March, 2016

Laura & Siobhan write up a summary about the 2 CPD days held in February…

Hello from Lily!

Friday, 26 February, 2016

Hear from Projects Intern, Lily, and how her time at Stopgap has been...

Welcoming Christian - part two

Friday, 26 February, 2016

Here’s the second part and second day for Christian, spent with original Stopgap artist Dan Watson, exploring and getting to grips with ‘letting go’…

Welcoming Christian - part one

Monday, 22 February, 2016

Introducing our latest dance artist, Christian! Here’s his first blog from his first few days spent with the team…

Sg2 Graduates!

Thursday, 18 February, 2016

Artistic director, Lucy, writes about Hannah and Nadenh’s pathway to graduation…

Returning to Creation

Monday, 15 February, 2016

In anticipation of returning for the creation of The Enormous Room, we asked Amy how taking on the role of rehearsal director for Akram Khan would influence her work at Stopgap...

Hannah teaching Farnham Youth Company

Thursday, 28 January, 2016

Hannah explains what she gets up to every Monday evening with Farnham Youth Company…

Looking back on 2015 and what's in stall for 2016

Monday, 21 December, 2015

Company Producer Sho Shibata does a whistle stop tour of Stopgap's achievements in 2015 and ponders what's in store for 2016.

Interview with Tim Casson

Wednesday, 9 December, 2015

Here is an interview with Tim Casson, sharing his experiences and thoughts behind his new work Night at The Theatre…

Motion Sound Lab - with Cherie & Nadenh

Thursday, 26 November, 2015

Working alongside Rhythmix and Surrey Arts, Cherie talks us through project Motion Sound Lab…

Henry's final blog

Tuesday, 17 November, 2015

Henry the Hoover writes about his adventures in Munich & Barcelona with Artificial Things before he settles down for the winter…

Chris' Choreography Inspiration

Monday, 16 November, 2015

Chris has been creating choreographic tasks to inspire Guildford Youth Company for their upcoming performance at our Winter Platform.

Sg2 and Tim Casson - Observations from Lily

Thursday, 12 November, 2015

Projects intern Lily was in on Sg2's first explorative creation week with Tim Casson, here are some of her observations and sketches...

Casson&Friends in collaboration with Sg2 - Creation Diary

Thursday, 5 November, 2015

See how Sg2's first week working with Tim Casson went...

New work with Tim Casson - Hannah's view

Monday, 2 November, 2015

Hannah reflects on her time with Tim Casson…

Artistic Identity (part 3) - by Lucy Bennett

Thursday, 29 October, 2015

Here’s the conclusion of Lucy’s series on Artistic Identity…

Creative Academy workshop

Wednesday, 28 October, 2015

Projects intern Lily reflects on Creative Academy workshop with Hannah and Lucy...

Artistic Identity (part 2) - by Lucy Bennett

Monday, 26 October, 2015

Lucy’s series continues: with part two focussing on Integration…

Artistic Identity (part 1) - by Lucy Bennett

Thursday, 22 October, 2015

Artistic Director, Lucy Bennett, writes a series of blogs on Artistic Identity – here’s number one out of three…

Workshop in Holland

Friday, 18 September, 2015

Nadenh and Lucy were away in Holland teaching last weekend. Cherie interviews Nadenh to find out more about the project and what they got up to…

Workshop in Bremen

Friday, 18 September, 2015

Hannah and Siobhan traveled to Bremen, Germany last weekend to teach some workshops. Cherie interviewed them both to find out more…

Guest blog from Joop: About Misiconi Dance Company

Friday, 18 September, 2015

Joop writes a blog about the ups and downs of trying to set up her own inclusive dance company and the importance behind it…

iF Platform - What happened in Edinburgh

Friday, 11 September, 2015

Here’s a blog from Lou summarising how the iF Platform was received at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2015…

Lou's Top Tips for Edinburgh Festival Fringe

Monday, 10 August, 2015

Here’s a blog with top tips for Edinburgh Festival Fringe, from our own expert Lou…

Sho's response to The Telegraph article

Wednesday, 5 August, 2015

Company Producer Sho Shibata responds to the article 'How I shamed the ballet world' by Chief Political Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph. This response is also published by The RAD Gazette in October 2015.

Lucy's response to The Telegraph article

Wednesday, 5 August, 2015

Artistic Director Lucy Bennett responds to the article 'How I shamed the ballet world' by Chief Political Correspondent of The Daily Telegraph. This response is also published by South East Dance's Everybody Issue in August 2015.

The benefits of dance

Tuesday, 4 August, 2015

Imogen Aujla PhD, Senior Lecturer in Dance and Course Coordinator MSc Dance Science at the University of Bedfordshire, writes about the well-being outcomes of dance and the positive impact our inclusive syllabus IRIS could have in promoting physical and mental health for disabled people.

Sg Troop at U.Dance 2015 - Part 3

Friday, 31 July, 2015

Here’s the final entry from Lily about Sg Troop’s time away…

Sg Troop at U.Dance 2015 - Part 2

Thursday, 30 July, 2015

The story continues with Lily, as she re-lives the second day away in Plymouth with Sg Troop…

Sg Troop at U.Dance 2015 - Part 1

Wednesday, 29 July, 2015

Sg Troop dancer, Lily, writes about the team’s time away in Plymouth, performing at U.Dance. Here’s part 1 with more entries to follow…

Postcard from Bill & Bobby - Bristol

Friday, 24 July, 2015

Here’s another postcard from the busy Bill & Bobby telling us all the news…

Young associate - Andy

Friday, 24 July, 2015

Andy, one of our Young Associates writes his first blog, telling us what he has been up to this year…

The Seafarers: Insight from Kat Ball

Thursday, 25 June, 2015

Kat Ball, Stopgap’s associate, writes about her first experience being involved in a creation process with the company for The Seafarers…

The Seafarers: Insight from Tomos

Thursday, 25 June, 2015

A few words from Sg2 dancer, Tomos about his journey throughout The Seafarers…

The Seafarers: The Production

Wednesday, 24 June, 2015

And here is the third and final part of this weeks featured blogs from Artistic Director, Lucy, summing up working on the Seafarers…

The Seafarers: The Process

Tuesday, 23 June, 2015

Here’s part 2 of Lucy Bennett’s blog; The Process behind making The Seafarers…

The Seafarers: The Concept

Monday, 22 June, 2015

Artistic Director, Lucy, has written a three-part blog leading up to Stopgap’s performance of The Seafarers as part of Portsmouth Festivities. Read part one and learn where all the concept ideas stemmed from…

Chris' Postcard from Switzerland

Wednesday, 3 June, 2015

Chris writes about his favourite moments when visiting Bern and Lugano on the company’s first leg of the Artificial Things Switzerland tour…

GYC's Performance at the Royal Albert Hall

Tuesday, 19 May, 2015

Cathy writes about Guildford Youth Company's experience performing at the Royal Albert Hall as part of 'The Freedom Game'.

Postcard from Bill & Bobby - Norwich

Monday, 18 May, 2015

Bill & Bobby keep us updated on their latest tour…

Nicky's Youth Company Catch up

Monday, 11 May, 2015

Nicky, our Dance Development Officer, updates us on what our youth companies and partnership groups have been up to so far this year…

Hannah on DanceDigital

Friday, 8 May, 2015

Hannah writes about working with DanceDigital and how the programme is working with young artists…

Dance UK conference

Thursday, 23 April, 2015

Laura talks about her involvement with Dance UK’s event, The Future: New Ideas, New Inspiration.

Farnham try out Yoga with Amy

Tuesday, 31 March, 2015

Amy joins Farnham Youth Company to teach them some Yoga for part of their ArtsAward programme…

Stopgap at Move It!

Monday, 30 March, 2015

Julia, the company’s Research Assistant, writes a blog about Stopgap’s guest appearance on the main stage at Move it, the UK’s biggest dance exhibition which takes place annually at Olympia, London.

What we love about GYC!

Friday, 27 March, 2015

Cathy gets some lovely thoughts from two of our long-standing Guildford Youth Company members…

Magpie Dance at Sadler's

Tuesday, 24 March, 2015

David writes about choreographing with Magpie Dance for their 30th Anniversary

Guest Blog from Joop about Integrance Project

Monday, 23 March, 2015

Stopgap associate, Joop, writes about her involvement within the EU project, Integrance. How her role changed during the process and what she has learnt from the project as a whole…

Guildford Youth Company's Adventure by Cathy

Wednesday, 4 February, 2015

Cathy, our student intern, writes an opening blog about a great opportunity for our Guildford Youth Company to perform at The Royal Albert Hall as part of the anniversary celebrations of the Magna Carta.

Stepping Stones with Chris

Wednesday, 4 February, 2015

Chris talks about his Saturdays with Stepping Stones

Why we created Replay by Lucy

Thursday, 22 January, 2015

Artistic Director, Lucy, writes about Stopgap's newly launched digital channel, Replay

Acrobat Skills by Chris

Tuesday, 6 January, 2015

In the last week before Christmas Stopgap had the privilege to work with two acrobats, former Cie XY acrobats Miko and Caroline from Prêt-à-Porter. Chris writes about some of the tricks we learnt that week...

Helen on Late Night Tales

Thursday, 18 December, 2014

Creative Learning Intern Helen writes about the success of Stopgap's annual Winter Community Dance Platform

GUEST BLOG: Lou Coleman

Monday, 1 December, 2014

Lou Coleman writes about her day spent with the Stopgap team exploring improvisation with objects such as leg splints and ankle supports…

Dermot on being in the Youth Company

Wednesday, 26 November, 2014

Dermot writes about his time with the Stopgap Guildford Youth Company and joining Sg Troop

Tomos on working with Theo Clinkard

Wednesday, 12 November, 2014

Tomos writes about the day Theo Clinkard came into the studio and worked with Stopgap

Chloe's two weeks with Stopgap

Wednesday, 15 October, 2014

Placement student, Chloe, writes about her experience on spending two weeks working with Stopgap and how it has opened her eyes to dance and accessibility…

IRIS Discussion & Development

Tuesday, 7 October, 2014

Julia, IRIS Research Associate, reflects on the first meetings for Stopgap’s pilot dance training programme for young disabled and non-disabled dancers…

Inclusive Yoga with Amy

Friday, 3 October, 2014

Amy talks about her explorations in teaching Inclusive Yoga at Stopgap…

Chris' thoughts on The Awakening

Tuesday, 23 September, 2014

Chris shares his experiences choreographing The Awakening and what he has learnt from the whole process…

The Awakening at South Bank Centre

Thursday, 18 September, 2014

Hannah writes a blog about her experience performing as part of the Unlimited Festival at The South Bank Centre…

Why we made The Awakening - Part 2

Friday, 5 September, 2014

Our Company Producer Sho Shibata gives his insight into producing The Awakening, which was the first touring dance production ever to be made by learning disabled choreographer (part 2 of a two-part blog. Click here for part 1).

Kaisha's Final Placement Blog

Tuesday, 26 August, 2014

Kaisha, our University of Surrey placement student, writes about her time here at Stopgap, explaining some of her favourite moments…

GUEST BLOG - Bill and Bobby

Wednesday, 20 August, 2014

Helen Bendell, this weeks Guest blogger, writes about her experience researching and developing Stopgap’s newest outdoor work, 'Bill and Bobby', commissioned by National Theatre: Performance 24th August 2014.

My role within Stopgap

Wednesday, 20 August, 2014

Nicky Norton, our Community Dance Development Officer, writes her first blog, explaining how her role came about and what her job entails…’on a jolly all week and just skipping about’ is what her husband thinks. However, this blog proves otherwise…

Ana's Blog

Thursday, 17 July, 2014

Ana, who has traveled from America to be here with us at Stopgap for a six-week placement, writes a short blog explaining her experiences of dance and disability…

Amy's Creation Blog: Part 2

Thursday, 17 July, 2014

Cherie's time with Stopgap

Wednesday, 16 July, 2014

Our Surrey University intern, Cherie, writes about her time working with Stopgap…

Cherie's Placement Project

Wednesday, 16 July, 2014

Cherie talks about the success of her placement project ‘Dance The Day Away’…

Teaching the Guildford Youth group

Wednesday, 2 July, 2014

Tomos writes about his experience teaching the Guildford Youth Group and what he has learnt from them…

Why we made The Awakening - Part 1

Thursday, 26 June, 2014

Prior to the London premiere of Chris’ new outdoor work at Greenwich and Docklands International Festival, Company Producer Sho Shibata talks about what makes Chris’ work so appealing (Part 1 of a 2 Part blog). For part 2, click here.

Amy's Creation Blog: Part 1

Monday, 9 June, 2014

Amy has been commissioned to choreograph a short dance work for Sg2's new mixed bill Exhibition, funded through Arts Council's Strategic Touring Scheme, touring in Autumn 14. In this 2 part blog Amy explains her ideas for her choreography and where she hopes it will lead…

Chris on creation of The Awakening

Monday, 9 June, 2014

Our learning disabled dance artist Chris Pavia has done a quick Q&A about his inspiration behind our new outdoor production The Awakening.

Dancer reflections: Amy Butler

Wednesday, 28 May, 2014

Farewell Spring... now bring on Summer!

Thursday, 22 May, 2014

Having completed a fruitful Spring season, Stopgap Dance Company is now preparing for the upcoming Summer tour. Company Producer Sho Shibata reflects back on Spring 2014 and looks forward to a busy Summer season.

Artificial Things: Ideas and Creative Process

Monday, 12 May, 2014

Artisitic Director, Lucy, divulges where the initial idea for Artificial Things originated and how the dancers are crucial in the creative process...

Artificial Things Design

Thursday, 8 May, 2014

Anna Jones our Theatre and Costume Designer for Artificial Things explains where the creative ideas appeared from...

Artifical Things Composers

Friday, 2 May, 2014

All three of Artificial Things composers have written about their experiences during the creation process…

Dancer reflections: Laura

Wednesday, 30 April, 2014

Responsive Teaching and CPDs by David

Wednesday, 30 April, 2014

David talks about the recent Responsive Teaching and CPD sessions he has taught over the past month, explaining where his enjoyment lies in sharing his expertise.

London Premiere!

Tuesday, 22 April, 2014

In advance to our London premiere of Artificial Things, our Company Producer Sho Shibata talks about what our audience can expect from the production.

Dancer reflections: Dave Toole

Tuesday, 15 April, 2014

GUEST BLOG - Dancing in Spite of Injury - Part Six

Monday, 14 April, 2014

Here is the final part to Jo Cork’s blog about her route to recovery. Read where her journey took her…

Dancer reflections: Chris

Monday, 7 April, 2014

Teaching at RAD

Monday, 31 March, 2014

David writes about teaching at the Royal Academy of Dance…

GUEST BLOG - Dancing in Spite of Injury - Part Five

Tuesday, 18 March, 2014

Part five to Jo Cork’s recovery blog highlights the mental struggles you go through…

Inspired by Stopgap

Monday, 17 March, 2014

Joy writes a blog about how working with Stopgap has opened and changed her views on everyday life…

Nadenh's blog on seeing Protein Dance perform

Holly writes about Stopgap's first community dance platform performance, Northern Lights

Holly is now in month 2 of working with Stopgap and is continuing to enjoy all the new experiences and challenges

The beginning of the EU project 'Integrance' by Amy

Wednesday, 20 November, 2013

Amy writes about the beginning of the EU project 'Integrance' at Zinc Arts

Nadenh has been developing a solo called 'Bound For' since he joined the Stopgap team...

Cherie on weeks 2 and 3

Friday, 25 October, 2013

Cherie is at the end of her third week at Stopgap and has blogged about working with the Youth Companies and in the office

Holly's second week as part of the team

Friday, 18 October, 2013

Our Education & Arts Admin Intern, Holly, has written about her second week as part of the team and what she has been learning.

Vicki on becoming Chair of the Board

Thursday, 17 October, 2013

Vicki shares why she was thrilled to become Chair of the Board of Trustees for Stopgap at the beginning of 2013

Holly on week 1 at Stopgap

Wednesday, 16 October, 2013

Holly is working with Stopgap for 6 months as Education & Arts Admin Intern. Read about her first week here!

Cherie's first week at Stopgap

Friday, 11 October, 2013

Cherie has joined the Stopgap team on a placement from the University of Surrey and shares what she has got up to in her first week

'Critical Friends' Sharing

Monday, 23 September, 2013

Blog about the scratch sharing of Artificial Things for our ‘Critical Friends’. Producer Sho Shibata talks about the ideas behind the sharing event.

Creative Process

Monday, 23 September, 2013

Artistic Director Lucy Bennett explains the process and ideas behind the creativity for Artificial Things. Where did it all begin?

Hannah's thoughts on the Point summer school

Wednesday, 4 September, 2013

Sg2 dancer and teacher, Hannah, writes about teaching at the Point, Eastleigh for the yearly 'Elevate: Integrate' summer school

David on Section Two of Artificial Things

Tuesday, 27 August, 2013

David explains the ideas behind section two of Artificial Things

Amy's work on yoga adaptations

Wednesday, 14 August, 2013

Dance Artist and yoga teacher Amy on experimenting with the company on yoga adaptations

Laura's Chicken phrase adaptations

Thursday, 1 August, 2013

Adaptation for Laura’s Chicken phrase

Stopgap's Richard Walker

Monday, 29 July, 2013

Richard Walker – What does a Production Manager do?

Anna's experiences teaching in Granada

Thursday, 25 July, 2013

Stopgap's Creative Learning Associate, Anna, writes about her week teaching in Spain as part of the Granada International Dance and Music Festival.

Creation at the University of Surrey

Wednesday, 24 July, 2013

Photos and thoughts from the dancers during the first week back in creation after 2 weeks off.

Introducing Nadenh

Tuesday, 23 July, 2013

New Sg2 dancer, Nadenh Poan, joined us from Cambodia earlier this week. Here he is introducing himself!

Hannah's research on the human body

Thursday, 11 July, 2013

Hannah has been researching the human body, how its different parts work and the difference a good diet can make.

Composer Andy on working with Stopgap

Friday, 28 June, 2013

During creation at Zinc Arts, Andy Higgs, composer for the final section of Artificial Things, has set up his own studio next to the dancers to start creating the music. He has written a blog about the experience...

Photos from week 2 at Zinc Arts

Friday, 28 June, 2013

This week almost the whole production team for Artificial Things have been in to see how everything is developing. Lucy has been working the dancers hard on developing the duets and the trio and refining and making changes.

Photos from creation at Zinc Arts

Monday, 24 June, 2013

This week we have had a lot of people come and visit us at Zinc Arts. Andy (one of the composers); Anna (design manager); Rosie (costume maker) and Richard (production manager).

Introducing Joy

Friday, 21 June, 2013

Joy offically introduces herself as one of the Stopgap team!

Chris' Artificial Things character development

Friday, 21 June, 2013

Chris has been working on developing his character in Artificial Things

Dave Toole on working with Stopgap again

Friday, 21 June, 2013

Dave writes about returning to Stopgap to work on Artificial Things

Artificial Things creative residency at Pavilion Dance (2)

Tuesday, 18 June, 2013

Week 3 of Creation – June 2013 - photos

Artificial Things creative residency at Pavilion Dance

Monday, 17 June, 2013

Week 3 of Creation – June 2013 - the dance artists' thoughts

Working with Jozef from Rootlessroot

Monday, 10 June, 2013

Amy, David and Chris write about working with Jozef Frucek from Rootlessroot.

Ridgeway School memories by Chris

Friday, 7 June, 2013

Chris talks about his memories of going to Ridgeway School in Farnham and how he became part of Stopgap.

David's thoughts on working with Yoshi

Tuesday, 14 May, 2013

David writes about working with Yoshifumi Inao on creation part one of Artifical Things.

Hannah on performing at DAiSY Festival

Thursday, 9 May, 2013

Sg2 dancer Hannah talks about performing at the Disability Arts in Surrey (DAiSY) festival in Leatherhead

New dancer Amy Butler's first blog!

Friday, 3 May, 2013

Our new dancer Amy Butler talks about the training she's received so far on Stopgap's practice in education and outreach

Chris on working with Charlie Morrissey

Wednesday, 6 March, 2013

Stopgap Dancer Chris Pavia talks about Charlie Morrissey's professional development workshops the dancers have been receiving.

‘Artificial Things’ – An Insight from the Artistic Director Lucy Bennett

Tuesday, 12 February, 2013

Lucy talks about what Yoshifumi is developing in the studio.

‘Artificial Things’ – Week 2

Tuesday, 5 February, 2013

Here is a small snippet of what we have been up to with guest choreographer Yoshifumi Inao, who is creating the opening section of our new work Artificial Things.

'Artificial Things' – Creation Week 1

Thursday, 31 January, 2013

Here are some photos taken during our first week in the studio working on Artificial Things – Part 1

Posts before 2013

Wednesday, 23 January, 2013