Critical Mass was devised in 2020 to be the most ambitious, inclusive dance and mass participation project to ever happen in the West Midlands. Inspired by the unique opportunity of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, we wanted to show how genuine inclusion can be achieved in mega-events and leave a lasting legacy within the West Midlands dance sector, ensuring disability inclusion became part of its DNA moving forward.

Critical Mass was Birmingham 2022 Festival’s flagship participation programme. It saw 242 young people from across the West Midlands engage to form a dance collective that performed at some of 2022’s biggest events, including the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony.

The Critical Mass collective was an integrated cast with people identifying as D/deaf, Disabled and non-disabled working side by side to show how genuine inclusion can be achieved in mega-events.

Critical Mass was originally conceived through a unique collaboration between Birmingham 2022 Festival, FABRIC, Arts Connect and Dance Leaders Group (DLG), and generously supported by Spirit Of 2012.