‘It’s impossible to create art that meets the needs of everybody. There may be moments that aren’t tuned to your frequency.” The introduction to Stopgap’s Lived Fiction (★★★★☆) at Brighton’s Corn Exchange refers to audiences’ different access needs, but also works well as a statement about dance. Some things resonate with you, sometimes you’re desperately looking for a window in. But Lived Fiction offers many windows into the world of Stopgap, a company of Deaf, disabled, neurodivergent and non-disabled dancers that has spent two decades making works that are poetic and subtly political. This one is unapologetic: “We don’t give a damn about being invited to the table. We’re inviting you to ours instead.”
It’s a show where everyone’s needs have been thought of: there are guides in large print and braille, ear defenders, fidget toys, a quiet space, captions and a live audio describer, Lily Norton, who tells the audience they can leave the auditorium any time they like, make noise, stim, whatever makes them comfortable. Norton is as much a performer as any of the dancers, describing the actions as they happen and displaying a nice way with words: the “crosshatch” of the dancers’ movement, the “puzzle of muscle and metal” between dancers and wheelchair.
