Stomping Ground

Commissions

• 

  Lea Anderson MBE

  2026

  BUG by Lea Anderson is created in collaboration with choreographer and performer Lewis Norman and musician Steve Blake.

  Dressed as giant insects, the performers present a series of funny, funky short dances inspired by insect dance moves – from the honeybee’s waggle to the ant’s tremble – accompanied by live rhythmic, electronic music and creature sound effects.

  The Playground Tour is produced and toured by The Place. . BUG is supported and co-commissioned as part of Stomping Ground, a commissioning partnership with Creative Crawley, City Moves, Fabric, FESTIVAL.ORG, Pagrav Dance Company, Strike a Light, The Place and Tramway. Thanks to The Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, University of Exeter for BUG project research support.

• 

  Miss High Leg Kick

  2025

  Lady Garden is an exploration of the world of flowers through performance, in a highly visual, site-responsive show about our relationship with the nature that surrounds us.

  The project is inspired by Ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arranging. It’s principles are used as a framework to inform unique live art / dance performances from individual artists which build towards a spectacular human flower arrangement. Performance elements include smell, dance, sound and costume, inviting audiences to feel part of the show.

  Credits

  Lady Garden is supported and co-commissioned as part of Stomping Ground, a commissioning partnership with Appetite, Fabric, FESTIVAL.ORG, Strike a Light and The Place with presenting partner Sismògraf.

  Lady Garden is also supported by Colchester Arts Centre.

• 

  Richard Chappell Dance

  2024

  Richard Chappell Dance was commissioned to transform their 2021 climate activism film Heart Land, commissioned by BBC Arts and One Dance UK, into an interdisciplinary outdoor dance performance called Land Empathy.

  Exploring how we can deepen our spiritual connection to natural environments against the backdrop of the climate crisis, Land Empathy will be an interdisciplinary work with original sculptures by visual artist Anna Gillespie, a pulsating score by electronic music duo Larch, and four dancers from Richard Chappell Dance’s renowned ensemble.

  The work will be created in collaboration with research by the Global Systems Institute (Exeter University), Living Wales (Aberystwyth University) and environmental activist Marla King. Climate and social science data will inform Land Empathy‘s creative process and contribute towards community participatory programmes that explore climate education and interdisciplinary art.

• 

  WALKER Movement Theatre Company

  2023

  Artistic Director of WALKER Movement Theatre Company, Jessica Walker was awarded the Stomping Ground 2022 commission to present TREAD, a bold piece of original outdoor work.

  TREAD intertwines stunt performance techniques, contemporary dance, minimalism, and play causality to create a mesmerizing exploration of the Black moving body that invites audiences into a realm where joyful fantasy and brutal realities transcend and coexist.

  Credits
  TREAD is commissioned by Stomping Ground; Creative Crawley, Fabric, FESTIVAL.ORG, The Place and Tramway.

• 

  Pagrav Dance Company

  2022

  Deva a collaboration between Urja Desai Thakore, Artistic Director of Pagrav Dance Company and artist Hetain Patel is about challenging myths and expectations of the South Asian body in Indian classical dance.

  Thakore and Patel present the complexities of British Asian identity through a playful approach to classicism, connecting dance grammar and the everyday.
  This production is designed to be performed outdoors.

  Credits
  Deva is commissioned by Stomping Ground; Fabric, The Place, FESTIVAL.ORG and Tramway, presented by Pagrav Dance Company and supported through public funding by Arts Council England.

• 

  AndroidX + MHz

  2022

  CROWD_CTRL is a dance & digital collaboration between choreographer Malick Bright AKA AndroidX and scenographers MHz, building on their previous collaboration on their Cyber punk production KID_X. Afro-street moves collide with tech and visuals!

  4 dancers from London’s Dragonsquad busking crew (of Oxford Circus fame) turn their personal history of the Afrobeats movement into a futuristic Odyssey in a high impact dance, sound and visual experience for outdoor settings.

  Featuring a cast of afro-battles dance champions, fresh motion graphics on an LED wall and illustrations by graphic prodigy Wumzum, CROWD_CTRL is a dance & digital exploration styled into a live graphic novel – created by choreographer AndroidX in collaboration with MHz scenography.

  Credits

  CROWD_CTRL is supported and co-commissioned as part of Stomping Ground, a commissioning partnership with Fabric, The Place, Tramway and FESTIVAL.org, supported using public funding by Arts Council England and Creative Scotland.

  CROWD_CTRL is produced by Split Second

• 

  Just Us Dance Theatre

  2021

  Born to Protest forms the second part of a Hip Hop dance theatre trilogy he is creating to highlight black excellence and challenge racial stigma.

  Born to Protest aims to dismantle presumptions about the black male and female figure based on intimidation, danger and isolation, revealing instead character traits around fragility, vulnerability and a constant battle to prove oneself. This hypersensitivity of the black body in space is magnified by Born to Protest’s cast performing to a soundscape which sets up intense energy with Hip Hop beats and voice over.

  Joseph Toonga works at the forefront of Hip Hop in the UK and internationally. He describes himself as being in a continual search for an authentic reason to choreograph and frequently draws on real-life stories which make his work resonate with people under-represented in audiences for mainstream arts.