We sat down with Rosie Heafford who alongside Takeshi Matsumoto co-created the engaging and colourful show, The Sticky Dance, sees three dancers shimmy through the audience weaving a tapestry of sticky tape. Second Hand Dance’s acclaimed production is an immersive show for young children and their families, embarks on a UK tour this spring. Shows here.
How did you create The Sticky Dance?
The Sticky Dance was created by myself and Takeshi Matsumoto and it is an interactive dance performance for children aged 3-5 and their adults. We also have a version for disabled and neurodivergent audiences aged 3-7. The show invites you to tape, stick and groove, or to watch and listen and be still. Takeshi and I created The Sticky Dance alongside children in schools, nurseries and early year centres alongside our creative team.
We spent time improvising with children, with lots of sticky tape (!), trying out different ideas and dancing to music. We’d gather their feedback through observation, talking to teachers and reflections from the creative team and slowly shaped the show together.
What inspired you to use colourful sticky tape?
Takeshi and I wanted to make a show that gives the audience autonomy in the space, to choose how they want to experience the performance. When we were initially doing our research and development, we brought sticky tape into the space. Slowly this became a metaphor for us, for the boundaries and lines that can be drawn with tape, but also that can be moved, destroyed and recreated. And tape was lots of fun! The children we worked with through our creation of the work had so many brilliant ideas to move, dance and be together with tape, including taping up their adults!
It was key to us that children could come to the performance and feel safe to be themselves, to be there in the way that they wanted to, to explore and move in a way that feels good for them. We really loved working with the tape because it allowed us to draw different shapes and lines in the space, to be able to jump in squares or tiptoe along dots. We could also use tape to create dens and mazes and break through the tape as well. Tape became a really beautiful, colourful way of animating the space and inviting our audience to come and dance with us.
Can people of all ages enjoy The Sticky Dance?
The Sticky Dance was created for an early years audience of ages 3-5 and for neurodivergent and disabled audiences aged 3-7. However, we have had siblings that are older and younger and of course their adults, carers, parents, teachers that come along as well. So yes, I’d say that the show can be enjoyed by all ages, but it has been specifically created for an early years and disabled and neurodivergent audience.
What can audiences expect from the performance?
The Sticky Dance for the early years aged 3-5, is a durational performance, which means that you can stay however long or short that you want to. We recommend about 45mins. You can go out and you can come back to the space, if there’s capacity.
There are three dancers in the space. They play with colourful tapes, inviting you to join in and dance and move. We have cushions to sit or lie down on and two large structures in the space covered in beautiful fabric and lights that create nice cozy corners. Also, there are four speaker boxes which incorporate vibration technology so that if you want to put your hands or your body against those boxes, you can feel the vibration of the music coming through.
When you buy your ticket, you get a timed entry ticket. This gives you a 15-minute slot to enter the space. However, you have absolute permission to spend shorter or a longer amount of time in the space depending on what works for you on the day. In the space, you can be however you want. You can sit and watch the dancers, you can explore the structures and the tapes, or you can even lie down and listen to the music.
The sensory adapted version for neurodivergent and disabled audiences is an alternative offer for any audience that may need a quieter more intimate space. The sound levels are also slightly modified and the dancers have more time to develop trust through gentler interactions. We also limit the audience capacity to around 8 children which provides a less busy space and although the audience can still leave the space whenever needed, there are less ‘comings’ and ‘goings’.
How have audiences responded to the show?
We’ve had some beautiful audience responses to the show. In fact, we’ve had lots of families come back two or three times to watch the show already! They’ve found it moving and empowering and a beautiful experience to watch their children in space.
What excites you most about The Sticky Dance being on tour?
I’m really excited about sharing The Sticky Dance with further audiences this spring. I think it is a playful, colourful show that really invites our audiences to explore and move and boogie with us. It feels like an exciting offer that pushes the premise of how children and adults can engage with performance together. I can’t wait to see how our next audiences engage!
“The team and I thought The Sticky Dance was absolutely incredible. It was so calm, inclusive and supportive to the children’s needs. It catered to all abilities which is really important. I loved how it was completely child-led in terms of participation, and that the dancers did not speak as this really allowed the children to be engaged in the experience. I genuinely thought it was absolutely incredible and would jump at the chance to join again!”
Woodlands Meed Special Primary School, May 2024