Second Hand Dance announces new tour dates for The Sticky Dance

Second Hand Dance’s The Sticky Dance, an interactive performance installation for young children and their families, has announced new tour dates for summer/ autumn 2024. 

In the engaging and colourful show co-created by Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto, three dancers shimmy through the audience weaving a tapestry of sticky tape. Children are encouraged to explore freely, choosing how they engage and turning the rules upside down.

The Sticky Dance visits Birmingham and Canterbury in August; Cambridge and Wimbledon in September; Darlington, Bath and Gloucester in October; and Bicester in November. 

Second Hand Dance recently became an Associate Company at Polka Theatre in Wimbledon. The performances there are part of the theatre’s Big Dreams Festival, and Second Hand Dance is co-curating a discussion on the critical discourse around work for young children on Friday 27 September.

The Sticky Dance premiered in February 2024 at Southbank Centre’s Imagine Festival, and ahead of the summer/ autumn tour has dates in Brighton and Leicester. 

The idea for The Sticky Dance came from a desire to explore autonomy within performances for young audiences, asking how children can contribute to a performance in a space curated by adults. Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto said: “Our greatest hope for an adult experiencing the work is that they see the child(ren) they came with, in a new light. Our greatest hope for the child is that they feel the permission from the space, the people, the lights and the sound, to be how they want to be in that moment.”

Rosie Heafford is Co-director of Second Hand Dance. Graduating with a BA (HONS) from Laban in 2009 and an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2010, Rosie creates live and digital dance performances for children and adults, focusing on co-creating with her audience. As a disabled leader and parent-carer, she is passionate about creating a more accessible world believing that all children and adults deserve access to inspiring theatre and dance.

Takeshi Matsumoto an inclusive dance artist, dance movement psychotherapist and choreographer, and an Associate Artist with Second Hand Dance. After obtaining his BA in Dance and Drama in Japan, he moved to London where he completed further studies in Contemporary Dance at Laban and an MA in Dance Movement Psychotherapy at Roehampton University. He has a passionate vision to create dance performances both for and with children and young people to develop their voice and creative opportunities. As a performer, he has worked with Darren Johnston, Beatrice Allegranti and SLiDE. His production Club Origami commissioned by Little Big Dance has toured extensively across the UK and internationally.

Established in 2013, Second Hand Dance has an adaptive leadership model, run by disabled Co-Director Rosie Heafford and non-disabled Co-Director Claire Summerfield. Creating joyful, inspirational performances and digital dance films for children and adults, the company has presented work across three continents. The company collaborates with dancers, film-makers, animators, musicians and audiences in a co-creation process that is accessible, welcoming to all bodies, and places the audience experience at its centre. Second Hand Dance became an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation in 2023. Visit www.secondhanddance.co.uk to learn more about their upcoming tour.

Sticky Dance, Photo by Zoe Manders