Stomping Ground, the commissioning group comprised of The Place, FESTIVAL.ORG, DanceXchange and Tramway, are excited to announce their 2021 commission recipients.

The £20,000 grant has been awarded to Crowd_Ctrl by Malick Bright AKA Android_X. Due to the exceptionally high standard of this years’ applicants, a further, unprecedented, £9,000 grant has been awarded to Deva, a collaboration between Urja Desai Thakore, Artistic Director of Pagrav Dance Company and artist Hetain Patel. Both recipients of the Stomping Ground commission are invited to develop their bold and innovative ideas for outdoor dance work, to be presented in Summer 2022.

Malick Bright’s Crowd_Ctrl takes inspiration from Malick’s experience of busking with Dragon Squad in Oxford Circus. Malick hopes to tell a story of global cultural diaspora from the four corners of the UK via the streets of London, the home of Afrobeats outside of Africa, through the often misunderstood contemporary art form of Street Dance.

Using cutting edge technology, the piece will showcase abstract space-scapes and popping graphic illustrations that elevate Malick’s own history of the Afrobeats movement into a futuristic Odyssey.

Urja Desai Thakore and Hetain Patel’s Deva seeks to question and challenge subconscious biases towards brown skin, whilst exploring a playful and engaging way to invite unsuspecting public to reconsider their biases when witnessing a South Asian performer. Two dancers moving to classical music, and wearing classical Indian garments will envelop the urban, outdoor location as the piece unfolds.

Former Stomping Ground recipients include choreographer Joseph Toonga’s Born To Protest and Requardt & Rosenberg’s Future Cargo, both currently touring to outdoor locations and arts festivals across the UK this Autumn.

Stomping Ground are excited to continue their support of compelling ideas that are visually striking and engaging across a broad audience base. The commission is built towards investing in artists interested in the development of ambitious, high-quality work, created for outdoor spaces that can grab the attention & imaginations of audiences.