In this award-winning dance film for BBC Arts, to be broadcast on BBC Four, director Sophie Fiennes collaborates with choreographer Lucy Bennett to reimagine Stopgap Dance Company’s stage production, Artificial Things. The film will be shown on BBC Four on Wednesday 18 November at 11.50pm, and will be available on iPlayer from 19 November 2020.
Filmed on location in a derelict suburban shopping mall and featuring an ensemble of disabled and non-disabled dancers, the film explores human interdependence, strength, and vulnerability. Dancers Amy Butler, Laura Jones, Chris Pavia, David Willdridge and David Toole, who sadly passed away in October, devised the original piece and appear in the film.
‘I like dance to have a sense of place. This location shed a new light on the work,’ says the choreographer and Stopgap Artistic Director Lucy Bennett. ‘When Sophie saw the space, she was quite clear that she wanted the dance to speak for itself in the film, this would not be a documentary but a performance film.’
Director Sophie Fiennes, best known for feature documentaries on Grace Jones, Slavoj Zizek and Anselm Keifer, is no stranger to dance, having made films for television with UK choreographer Michael Clark and Belgian theatre company Les Ballets C de la B.
‘Its very hard to talk about dance,’ says Fiennes, ‘but by filming it new sensations and feelings can be articulated through the camera and editing. This is particularly true with inclusive choreography, working with the combination of learning disabled, physically disabled and non-disabled dancers. There is a particular kind of beauty here.’
‘Chris Pavia is a dancer with Downs Syndrome and the filming environment really suited him’ says Bennett, ‘We could work in short bursts and he could really take it to the next level; Chris didn’t want to do something nice and friendly, he wanted to make a solo about all the things he hated in the world, and that’s what came out’.
Artificial Things won the prestigious IMZ DANCESCREEN award 2019 for BEST SCREEN CHOREOGRAPHY: OVER 15 MINUTES. In selecting the film as the winner, the jury said ‘This film’s cinematic vision speaks to the depth of human experience through the metaphor of a supermarket. The jury responded to the strength of the ensemble and a non-hierarchical vision of corporeal expression.’
Produced by Lone Star Productions, the film Artificial Things, is a The Space commission for BBC Arts. Fiona Morris, CEO and Creative Director of The Space, said, ‘The Space was delighted to support Stopgap in the filming of Artificial Things. The film is not only brilliant, but helps to challenge traditional perceptions around ability and dance and its showing on BBC Four and inclusion on iPlayer will mean that even more people will be able to enjoy this fantastic work.’
This film is being presented on BBC Four in memoriam for David Toole OBE, who passed away in October 2020 at the age of 56. David is most recognised as a founding member of Candoco Dance Company and for his central role in the multi-award winning film The Cost of Living by DV8 Physical Theatre. He also reached millions of global viewers as a solo dancer in The Opening Ceremony of London 2012 Paralympic Games.
In her tribute to David, Lucy wrote ‘Dave first got involved with Stopgap at its inception in 1995 as a mentor, then as a board member, rehearsal director, choreographer and most publicly as a performer. Joining the touring company as a performer in 2008, he travelled around the world with the company in numerous productions. Dave was comfortable about being an ‘inspiration’. He knew it was not because he was disabled. He knew it was because he was doing a job he was born to do. From the moment the lights came up to the moment they faded to black, he held the audience in the palms of his giant hands.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
SHO SHIBATA, STOPGAP, 07729 978278, [email protected]
ANNA MASON, BBC ARTS, [email protected]