Stopgap Dance Company

03/06/2026

We’re excited to lead morning class at Independent Dance next week!

Classes include focussed mobilisation sequences, structured exercises, playful guided improvisations and a movement phrase, all in a consistent and supportive structure that will develop over the week.

🌟 Stay after class to chat!
Ask us anything in person - whether it’s about Stopgap’s artistic practice or our equitable culture.

📅 8- 12 June, 10am-12pm⁠
🎟️ £10 ⁠or £8 with a class card⁠
📍 SE1⁠

Not booked yet? Find out more on Independent Dance's website.

[Image description: Cambodian dancer Nadenh leans forward in his manual wheelchair, one had gripping a wheel and the other reaching over his body as he looks towards the camera, gazing into the distance. On the floor beside him, dancer Christian is on his back, lower body raised with bent legs. His upper body twists away from Nadenh as his head looks back and up, one shoulder bears his weight as the other hand reaches up to Nadenh's face, creating an 'X' with both dancer's arms. Nadenh has light brown skin, he has a short goatee and wears a bandana on his head. Christian is white with short dark curly hair, both wear dark clothes. Photo by Chris Parkes]

20/05/2026

Create, collaborate and redefine dance at our 3-day intensive in September at South East Dance

Apply now for Creative Tank – Inclusive Dance Intensive

Enrich, evolve and expand your dance practice at Stopgap Dance Company’s () three-day practical workshop, Creative Tank.

Aimed at Disabled and non-disabled professional artists, performers, and choreographers, including graduates and those in training - this intensive invites you to engage in movement exploration that is physically and creatively rich with sessions that integrate Stopgap’s signature approach to inclusive dance.

You can expect:

• Choreographic tasks tailored to diverse movement vocabularies
• Collaborative improvisation and supportive feedback
• An introduction to Stopgap’s Translation Method

Stopgap is committed to ensuring an inclusive and accessible experience for all participants, please get in touch to discuss any access needs that would make attending easier. Bursaries are available.

What: Creative Tank, inclusive dance intensive
When: 8 - 10 September
Where: The Dance Space

To find out more and apply by Friday 7 August, visit our website here: https://southeastdance.org.uk/whats_on/creative-tank-2026-copy/

📷️ Chris Parkes.

15/05/2026

Ready to move, explore, and create? Join us at Independent Dance for morning class: 8-12 June, 10am-12pm.

What to expect:
- A warm welcome and check-in
- Focused mobilisation sequences
- Playful, guided improvisations
- A shared movement phrase

Classes are £10 each and bookable via Independent Dance's website.

[Image description: Stopgap in the studio, a mixture of Disabled and non-disabled dancers, reaching arms up and around each other as they move in a close group at different levels.]

14/05/2026

Tickets on sale now!

Lived Fiction is a glorious representation of what culture can be when diversity is not just accepted but cherished.

📍Sadlers Wells East
🗓29-30 January, 2027
🕢7.30pm

Book now via the link in the comments.

Sadler's Wells

[Image description: Nadenh Poan, a Cambodian male wheelchair dancer caught in a gravity defying headstand. A haze of golden light spills around him as he throws his left arm forwards to the camera, balancing only on the side of his head and right arm, his lightweight black manual chair lifted above him. Photo by Chris Parkes.]

08/05/2026

Our inclusive dance teacher course is in full swing, but there's still a chance for you to join us and begin evolving a more inclusive way of teaching...

We have limited spaces available for stand-alone sessions - get in touch to book or find out more about them on our website.

The interactive webinars are led by expert artists and dance teachers with a range of different lived experiences:
- Movement Translation
- Sensory Moves
- Inclusive Approach: Open language & IRIS intro
- Exploring inclusive dance practice from a deaf perspective
- Neurodiversity in dance
- Inclusive Approach: Finding a balance
- Exploring inclusive dance practice from a Deaf perspective
- Connecting with ‘hard to reach’ young people through dance

[Image description: our youth dance company participants, teachers and volunteers move together in a tight group, all reaching into the centre towards each other at differences levels. They wear different bright tops, in yellow, red and blue.]

07/05/2026

Lived Fiction boldly defines the future for truly accessible dance.

Being a finalist for Sadler's Wells Rose Prize celebrates access as a vital part of creativity – and also advocates for the vital contribution Disabled Artists make to wider society.

We can't wait to perform Lived Fiction at Sadler's Wells East on 29 and 30 January 2027.

Tickets go on general sale next week, 12 May! Set your reminders ⏰

[Image description: Hannah and Jannick in a duet. Bathed in an orange/yellow glow from behind, the dancers overlap in the beam of light. Hannah faces the left, front arm raised high and a majestic gaze into the distance. Distorted and slightly hidden in the low light haze, Jannick leans across Hannah, bending forward he twists his body and looks to the ceiling, arm extending behind. Photography by Chris Parkes]

06/05/2026

Join us for morning class at Independent Dance to explore new movement textures, dynamics, and expressive possibilities.

Led by Senior Artists, Christian Brinklow and Nadenh Poan, expect structured exercises with multiple access points, supporting a range of physicalities and learning styles.

Dates: 8 June – 12 June
Time: 10am–12pm
Location: Siobhan Davies Studios, London

Book your place and find out more via Independent Dance.

[Image description: Stopgap Senior Dance Artists Nadenh Poan and Christian Brinklow in a studio with a shiny wooden floor and a back wall that’s white with a section of exposed brickwork at the top. They’re in a moment of connected movement, with Nadenh balancing on one wheel of his wheelchair towards Christian, who is stepping forward and holding Nadenh's outstretched arm in both hands.

Photo: Chris Parkes.

01/05/2026

What a week! 🤩

Yesterday, Stopgap's Creative Learning Team had a fantastic time at the Awards 2026, where we were nominated for the 'Community Group' award.

The room was packed with so many wonderful people, groups and organisations, it was such an empowering and uplifting celebration of people working to end Disability inequality.

Huge congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

[Image descriptions: 1. Creative Learning Managers Belinda Preston and Joy Ralph, Co-Artistic Director Laura Jones and Community Engagement Artist Cherie Brennan in front of the Scope Awards media wall.
2. Scope Awards booklet "A book of incredible people" and posters on the table.
3. Laura, Cherie, Belinda and Joy sat at their award table smiling, other nominees sit at tables in the background.
4. Cherie and Laura pose at the media wall with dance artist and equity advocate Lester Woo (right) and influencer Tobi Green-Adenowo, the youngest person to influence change in the national GCSE Dance curriculum.]

29/04/2026

We are thrilled to announce that Lived Fiction has been nominated for the Rose International Dance Prize 2027!

This is a moment for everyone in our community to be recognised and celebrated. Thank you to all of the Stopgap team both past and present, our funders and all of the diverse creatives and collaborators who made this production a reality.

Read the full announcement via the link in the comments.



Image Descriptions: 1. Text overlay reads: “Lived Fiction by Stopgap Dance Company, Fri 29 - Sat 30 Jan 2027. The Rose Prize 2027 nominee”. Within a blurred rose outline is a silhouetted shot of Monique, a short statured Black woman in her manual wheelchair. She leans backwards over the backrest of her chair, her head tipping and chin proudly lifted (By Chris Parkes). The design features The Rose International Prize and Sadler’s Wells East logos.
2. The stylised rose motif is repeated in this second graphic card, this time in soft red and pink with similar smaller shapes like light flares across the design. Text reads “The Rose Prize 2027” and again features The Rose International Prize and Sadler’s Wells logos.