Second Hand Dance presents The Sticky Dance
Second Hand Dance presents The Sticky Dance, an interactive performance installation for young children and their families involving colourful sticky tape. The show opens at The Place, London on 3 & 4 April, and tours to Brighton Festival (17 May) and Spark Arts Festival in Leicester (24 & 25 May). Further tour dates are to be announced.
The Sticky Dance is co-created by Rosie Heafford, Co-Director of Second Hand Dance, and Associate Artist Takeshi Matsumoto. The idea for the production 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.
In the engaging and colourful production, three dancers shimmy through the audience weaving a tapestry of sticky tape. Audiences are encouraged to explore freely, choosing how they engage and turning the rules upside down.
Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto said: “We know that children develop and thrive when they are able to discover, explore, move and play at their own pace. In their own time and space. We wanted to explore how this ideology or approach can work within a performative context; A place that typically involves being still, watching and listening. Our greatest hope for an adult experiencing the work is that they see the child(ren) they came with, in a new light. We invite you to witness what is revealed. 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 a performance maker and choreographer, graduating with a BA (HONS) from Laban in 2009 and an MA from Goldsmiths, University of London in 2010. Alongside her work with Second Hand Dance she facilitates, teaches, mentors, choreographs and performs on a range of projects in collaboration with artists and communities. She is interested in the celebratory aspect of performance. Something that is full of joy. Where dance is reclaimed from awkwardness into a gift; an exchange between viewer and performer. A shared experience of movement.
Takeshi Matsumoto is a Japanese inclusive dance artist, dance movement psychotherapist and choreographer. 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 2024. www.secondhanddance.co.uk
The Sticky Dance, Photo by Zoe Manders