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We had a wonderful evening at the annual One Dance UK Awards. Here we catch up with Co-Artistic Director, Lucy Bennett, to find out what the award means to Stopgap.
Left: Senior Dance Artist Hannah Sampson, Co-Artistic Director Lucy Bennett and Future Leader Monique Jarrett smile brightly before a purple One Dance UK Awards Banner with the award trophy. Right: A purple text card reading "Recipient of the Artistic Innovation in Dance Award. One Dance UK Awards" within a neon triangular shape that mirrors the trophy design. Photo by One Dance UK.
And the award goes to...
We were delighted and honoured to receive the award for Artistic Innovation for our work Lived Fiction, our latest indoor production that intertwines audio description, captioning and projection art with world-class choreography, within the context of a relaxed performance.
We would like to thank everyone involved in bringing Lived Fiction to the stage: the cast, creatives and collaborators, our supporters and funders, and our access consultants who helped shape the production with their invaluable feedback. We’d also like to thank all the people who come on the road with us, such as our access workers, technical crew and access guides. And lastly, we would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to the Disabled icons and artists who paved the way and their allies who made space for us.
Congratulations to all the nominees and winners from the night.
What does this award mean to Stopgap?
From Co-Artistic Director, Lucy Bennett
“We were asked by a journalist “what does this award mean to Stopgap?” Monique, Hannah and I laughed and said “After nearly 30 years of making and sharing dance productions it means a lot!”
When we were asked to speak on receiving the award, one of the things we wanted to say was how we as an organisation whom have pursued equity in dance for such a long time, have noticed the wave of change that is happening. We wanted to say we appreciate the awareness and that it is no longer just us and our inclusive dance allies making space for people. We also wanted to say that as an organisation whose DNA is inclusive from all angles, the change that we are all sensing will need our attention, it will need all of our attention and it will always need our attention.
It feels wonderful that after all this time Stopgap has been recognised in contemporary dance and it is even more joyful that we have been recognised for our innovation and our art. We hope to continue innovating and using dance as a movement for change whilst also making space with everyone else.”
Head over to One Dance UK’s website to read more about the 2025 ceremony and award recipients here.
