Sg2 Apprenticeship
Sg2 is our informal, paid apprenticeship that began in 2013.
Stopgap started off as a community dance company back in the 90s, and our first generation disabled dancers Chris Pavia and Laura Jones pioneered inclusive dance training with current and former Artistic Directors Lucy Bennett and Vicki Ballam. Thanks to this training programme, the company as a whole gained the skills and the confidence to take to international platforms. Based on these experiences, we successfully developed and ran the first iteration of Sg2 in 2013 with Hannah Sampson and Nadenh Poan, who joined our professional company in 2016.
2018 saw the second iteration, where we invited Fin James, Kat Ball and Sander Verbeek, and Abbie Thompson joined the cohort in 2019 through the Professional Placement Scheme of Northern School of Contemporary Dance. They graduated and entered the dance industry in 2021.
Sg2 Apprenticeship is dependent on us securing sustained core funding from Arts Council England, and we encourage you to join our mailing list to be kept informed about future opportunities.
Our youth and community dance programmes are pathways into Sg2, and we encourage you to join these sessions if you can.
Mentoring
Stopgap provides formal and informal mentoring to a wide range of disabled and non-disabled dance practitioners who share our passion and commitment to diversity and inclusivity. We are open to creating bespoke, long or short term mentoring programmes, so do get in touch to chat through your needs!