Sophie’s perspective on our work in Albania over the last year

Last week saw the final phase of a year long collaboration between StopGAP, the British Council and the Vodafone Foundation Albania. An enlightening project that took StopGAP to Albania on several occasions throughout the year, and that I was excited to be involved in.

In the spring of 2010 we performed in three cities in Albania, collaborating with four dancers from Albania Dance Theatre (Albania’s prominent contemporary dance company) who had attended the training week in inclusive practice we led in Romania the previous week. Our performances followed active debates on social inclusion held in the various cities and were to be entertaining examples of integration in action.

Originally part of a week long initiative led by the British Council and Vodafone Foundation Albania to promote inclusion of all kinds in Albanian society, the sponsors and organisers were eager to ensure that the project had a permanent impact. Kat, Laura and myself returned to Albania last Autumn and led practical sessions in inclusive dance teaching with social workers and dance practitioners from five cities in Albania. The sessions were held in the ‘Help the Life Centre’, a day care and educational institute for disabled young people in Tirana that was to project manage
the next stage of the program. In addition to training the people that took part it was intended to inspire enthusiasm and raise awareness of the social and artistic riches of integrated dance. The logistics of how to develop fledgling integrated dance companies was also deliberated and
discussed by project managers from the five cities.

Visiting Albania this February with Anna, I was delighted to see that the project had moved on leaps and bounds! The three dancers from Albania Dance Theatre, Aledia, Sueda and Mateo, had been leading regular dance sessions with disabled and non-disabled young people in Tirana, Elbasan, Berat, Shkodra and Durres. Visiting each group, Anna and I encountered a very diverse range of dancers and rehearsal conditions, but were so excited by what we saw. In Elbasan for example, Aledia was working with a huge group that integrated young disabled people from a day centre with children from a local mainstream school. They were rehearsing in a space with good facilites and it was evident that both groups were really enjoying the experience. The situation in Shkodra was entirely different, with a very small group of very young children with learning disabilities, dancing in a cluttered and busy hallway. Despite these conditions this group were perhaps the most focussed, dancing with great creativity and expression throughout the session. We were eager to instill in Aledia, Sueda and Mateo the confidence that they could create five very different, but equally valuable and inspirational performances with these groups, showcasing their achievements at the forthcoming anniversary of ‘Promoting Inclusion’ week.

Returning to Tirana to perform last week, again preceded by debates and conferences involving prestigious voices in social and cultural integration, we were delighted to perform to a packed house at the Academy of Arts. We were particularly honoured and a little nervous to hear that in the audience, and opening the performance with a speech would be the President of Albania, Bamir Topi. A successful performance was followed by a delicious dinner at the Ambassador’s residence, where we ate pavlova and chicken curry and mingled with other people involved in the week’s events.  It was wonderful to hear reports of moving and inspirational performances occurring throughout the week by the young integrated groups led by Aledia, Sueda, Mateo and Gjergi Prevasi of Albania Dance Theatre.

Our stay in Albania had a surprising last minute extension as we were invited to perform as guest artists on ‘Dancing with the Stars’! This presented an exciting opportunity to raise the profile of integrated dance and disabled artists in general in Albania, Kosovo and Macedonia (the show is aired across Eastern Europe) and was an evening I will never forget! Hair slicked back and plastered in make-up we performed an extract of ’Splinter’ live on television to an appreciative crowd. A memorable end to a fascinating year. Here’s hoping that integrated dance will continue to grow roots in Albania, and that the work of the British Council, Vodafone Foundation Albania, Help the Life, Albania Dance Theatre and StopGAP will resonate long into the future.

Sincere thanks to the above organisations for enabling this project to happen.

Countdown to Trespass Premiere – Part 2 – by Sophie Brown

With just three weeks until the premiere of Trespass at The Point, I
would love to say we were the epitome of calm, a serene troupe of
elegantly excited dancers, quietly anticipating, with an understated
confidence, the opening night of our new repertoire. However, things
are far from tranquil!

In the final three weeks of our preparation for the premiere, a real
sense of how much we care about the upcoming tour is really beginning
to radiate around the dancers and the management team. A culmination
of weeks of creation, development and rehearsal, as well as the first
ever work created by this particular configuration of dancers, this
performance marks the beginning of a new era for us as a company, and
could never be regarded as ‘just another performance – bish bash bosh,
let’s get to the curtain call then off to the pub!

Touring the world together, both teaching and performing with a fierce
group dynamic, creates a certain sense of responsibility within every
member of the team, on and off the stage. Performances, premieres in
particular, are our chance to share in the most exciting and
demonstrative sense the ethos by which we try work everyday, as well
as hopefully entertaining and engaging every audience member we
encounter!

From the compelling chaos and exhilarating journey through Within
(Thomas Noone), to the episodic rollercoaster ride through Splinter’s
tale of a struggle for a creatively prolific harmony (Rob Tannion), I
have no doubt that we will give it our all.

StopGAP’s Dancers’ week: 13th to 16th July – by Sophie Brown

A couple of weeks ago we discovered a rare break in the schedule – no workshops, no performances and no manic rehearsals creating the 29th variation of our outdoor piece ‘Tracking’. Five uninterrupted days of calm, meditative rehearsals in sunny Farnham. No chance. ‘Lets DO SOMETHING’, beamed Lucy, grabbing her notebook. And so the StopGAP Dancer/Associate Days were born.

Monday and Tuesday saw several Dancers join the StopGAP team for company class, contact and improvisation workshops, Gyro kinesis, and thai massage sessions with our very own Donna Dawson. It was a welcome chance to reunite with characters we had met through the December audition process, our recent festival tour with ‘Without Walls’ and generally out and about at class etc. Dan (associate artist – former StopGAP dancer) enlightened us with his own brand of body-mind-centering magic and Sal Lomanaco (Spiralwhite) had us in a higher state of gyro-kinesis harmony!

Wednesday and Thursday were devoted to emerging artists, some of whom we had met through local workshops with learning disabled dancers. It was a pleasure to work intensively with participants who we would otherwise maybe only see for a couple of hours at a time. We explored a variety of contact and improviation skills that culminated in an interactive dance tombola on the Thursday afternoon! This impromptu performance was for a small but appreciative audience that Chris collected by trundling around the Farnham Maltings with a megaphone! Roll up roll up!