In Stopgap Dance Company’s Bill & Bobby the audience is given permission to look at disability dance, on the performers’ terms. Dave Toole and Lucy Bennett speak to Veronica Stivala about their retro show.
“In a perfect world there would be no difference between disability performances and non-disability performances, but I think that could be sometime away,” says Dave Toole, one of Stopgap Dance Company’s lead performers.
Toole, together with Lucy Bennett, will be performing Stopgap’s successful Bill & Bobby as part of this year’s Żigużajg International Arts Festival for Children and Young People.
While Toole agrees there is more to be done in terms of disability theatre, he is positive that there have been many strides taken over the past 20 or so years, “so that can only be a positive”. Toole is actually one of the spurs in this change and is renowned for having changed the landscape of dance through works such as DV8’s Cost of Living.
It all started when he once attended a workshop and followed a performance after a residency. He was then asked if he would be interested in joining the company Candoco.
Toole significantly changed the dance landscape for others, but dance also meant changing things for himself: “One thing that dance means to me is that for years I have been used to being stared at in the street, etc.,” he said. “This is something I had no control over but while I am dancing it is on my terms and I am giving an audience permission to look.”
Looking, drawing people’s attention, being different, forms part of the very essence of Stopgap. “We work with diverse dancers and we learn from each other. We use our differences to create new dance languages,” said Lucy Bennett, artistic director and a performer in Bill & Bobby. Their inventive style is effectively their unique selling point and because of this, they also take responsibility for the group’s needs as this is their identity. “Without it,” she says, “we are just your usual dance company.”
While Toole and Bennett have been dancing in the studio together since 2008, this will be the first time they perform a duet together. “We wanted to get across the connection two people can have when they dance to music together,” says Bennett, adding how “we don’t want to take ourselves too seriously – we want the audience to have fun and laugh along with us”. In fact, this has been one of the star qualities of this non-verbal performance. The audiences love the music, the wit and often recognise themselves in the characters.
We want the audience to have fun and laugh along with us
Bill & Bobby is a tribute to the star partnerships of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. Toole and Bennett are big fans of retro entertainment. They began by researching the dance scenes that first inspired them to dance. Toole loved Make ‘em laugh from Singing in the Rain with Donald O’Connor and Bennett loved Astaire and Rogers in Swing Time. “We both soon realised that although these dances were made a long time ago, the skills in both performing and choreography was still unmatched and that we had a hard task ahead of us,” they said.
The original Bill and Bobby were actually famous ballroom champions but their Bill and Bobby have developed into a wealthy but usually drunk couple. They never want the party to end. They awake in a bath but decide to continue the party with some tap dancing.
For the creation of the show, first came the research of the MGM musicals and next they explored dancing in the bath. It was a collaboration, so they had to use film a lot so they could see what they looked like. Bennett would set Toole tasks and he would feedback on her improvisations. When they discovered something they liked, they kept it. The duo used Bennett’s training in musical theatre and adapted many of the Rogers and Astaire’s steps while retaining their arm lines.
Bennett reveals how now (which she stresses) working with a performer with disability is no different from working with a non-disabled dancer. “I have learnt so much from working with disabled dancers and I feel I am a better artist for it.” She goes on to explain how working in inclusive practice becomes a part of who you are and you take it with you. “But what appeals to me,” she says, “is the discovery of new movement material and working with disabled dancers enables this.”
While disability performance has come a long way, there is still room for improvement. “We need accessible studios and we need more time to make work as we want to consider the message and the material. This all takes more money!” says Toole.
Toole and Bennett are passionate about getting more disabled young people dancing sooner so they can have an equal platform with their non-disabled peers; so often disabled dancers are turned away from classes. The challenge is to let teachers and parents understand that dancing can be a passion for disabled young people.
What should the future of disability performance be? Toole and Bennett say there should be more disabled role models, champions and choreographers. They would like to see disabled dancers in training and the dance industries working with a broader palette of dancers.
Toole and Bennett, who are being brought to Malta by the British Council, will also give a presentation at the CHOGM Youth Forum on arts and disability. One of the five key programmes of the British Council’s Arts work in the EU region focuses on an extraordinary generation of excellent deaf and disabled artists making work in the UK and across Europe. Building on years of experience supporting British deaf and disabled artists to develop relationships with artists, venues and audiences in the EU, the British Council is now coordinating a region-wide project. The programme promotes the creative case for diversity: that work by disabled artists is artistically exciting and innovative, is informed by a unique and valuable experience of the world, and enriches and grows the whole arts sector and its audiences as a result.
Bill & Bobby will be performed on Friday at 5.30pm and Saturday at 10 and 11am. Stopgap is brought to Malta by the British Council. For more information visit www.ziguzajg.org.