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Signature blogs on inclusive thinking
Youth dance

Inclusive Contemporary Dance Fundamentals with Groundwork | Home Practice

Get grounded with our Home Practice Groundwork series...

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A photo of Vicki Balaam in duet with a dancer in a wheelchair who has their back to the camera.

From a secret rebellion, to a public display of defiance... | Vicki Reflects (part 1)

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...

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A black-and-white graphic drawing of a workspace.

Reflecting back & Looking Forward | Home Practice

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.

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Portrait of Hannah Sampson, holding on to a piece of scenery from 'The Enormous Room'.

Hannah’s Home Practice Diary | Home Practice

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.

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A black and white photo of Hannah Sampson and Amy Butler, they both look to their left, Amy has a big grin.

Coping with Change | Amy reflects

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

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Photo of Millie in the studio, laughing, her arms in a 4th ballet postion (left arm to the side, right arm above her head).

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

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.

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Anna sitting in front of her laptop, turned towards the camera and smiling.

Getting to Grips with YouTube | Home Practice

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!

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Portrait of Millie dancing in the studio, her long, brown, curly hair flying mid-movement. Millie is looking down, laughing.

All Things Access in a Pandemic

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

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Dave Toole looking thoughtful, leaning on his left elbow, with his right hand touching his chin.

Musings from Sir Dave

We’re bringing you a few reflections from Dave, as he reflects back on his career highlights, dance and a little bit of politics.

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Photo of Lucy Bennet (on the left) and Nadenh Poan (on the right) in conversation. Lucy is reading from a piece of paper in her hands, with Nedanh listening, sitting in his wheelchair with his left lower arm and elbow resting on his knees.

A Trip with Translation

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

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Black-and-white photo of Laura Jones dancing in her wheelchair in the studio. She is diving forward, gripping the wheels of her wheelchair. Chris Pavia is on all fours on the floor behind her, and in the background other dancers are watching.

Seed | Home Practice

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

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Black-and-white photo of Amy dancing in the studio. She is arching back, gaze lifted to the ceiling, whith her hands lifted up before her chest. Blurred in the background are a wheelchair dancer, framed by Amy's arched back, and a standing dancer.

Groundwork | Home Practice

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

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Black-and-white portrait of Laura Jones in conversation with other people sitting at a table. The others are blurred or out of shot so that the focus is solely on Laura.

Keeping up with inclusive dance | Home Practice

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.

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A black and white photo of Amy Butler leading class in a studio, she has both arms raised.

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...

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A photo of Tom Goodwin, kneeling on a wooden floor writing on a big whiteboard.

Learning is unpredictable… | Home Practice

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

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Black and white photo of Lucy Bennett, laughing, covering her mouth with her right hand.

It’s coming home... | Home Practice

Dance practice is coming home, and it might just stay there too | Artistic Director Lucy Bennett introduces Home Practice...

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Injury Prevention at Home with Alice

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

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A wheelchair and a standing dancer dueting in the studio.

Increasing Accessibility for Professional Dance Practice online

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

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Black and white photo of a duet of a wheelchair dancer and a standing dancer.

Translation Principles

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

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Photo of two female standing dancers with long hair, wearing t-shirts and jogging bootoms with side stripes dancing in the studio.

Tips on participating in online classes

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

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Black and white photo of Nadenh and Amy, two members of the Frock cast, sitting cross-legged on the floor, contracting their upper bodies with arms reaching forward.

Tips on leading online classes

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

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A photo of Hannah, a learning disabled professional dance artist, smiling at the camera. She is in the far right of the image and it cuts off above her waist. Hannah has one hand raised to her face; covering half with one finger resting gently on her forehead. The background is blurred but it's a bright studio space.

Working at Home with Hannah

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...

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