common ground manual

Fabric’s Common Ground Manual was born from a live dynamic document used by the core delivery team through the Critical Mass 2022 project.

Critical Mass was the mass participation dance project linked to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games Cultural Festival and saw 242 young people aged 16-30yrs, identifying as D/deaf, neurodiverse, disabled and non-disabled, co-creating performances for major cultural events including the Open Ceremony of the Commonwealth Games and Birmingham International Dance Festival.

The process included many challenges, learning and calls for systematic change to achieve genuine inclusion at mega events. This document has evolved to offer practical advice and real examples to consider when designing an inclusive creative project.

The people that have contributed to the content of this document include:

• Sophie Humphries (Engagement Producer at Fabric)
• Alex Henwood (Director of Anjali Dance Company & Previous Head of Learning & Participation at Fabric)
• Zoie Golding (Artistic Director of ZoieLogic Dance Theatre & Lead Artist for Critical Mass)
• Rachel Liggitt (Co-Director of Shropshire Inclusive Dance and Inclusion Champion for Critical Mass)

The Common Ground Manual series contains the following different documents:

• The Full Resource – 88 pages of detailed advice on artistic planning, staffing roles, environmental considerations, inclusive practice in rehearsals & safeguarding.
• Practical Activities Guide – inspired by training sessions delivered by inclusive dance practitioners, the guide provides example creative tasks and exercises that are suitable for inclusive dance groups. It also contains advice on language, consideration of barriers and setting up good relationships.
• Step-by-Step Guide (Easy-Read) – designed to be used practically to plan your creative project. It is a replication of the Full Resource, using clear simple questions and prompts. It is intended to support neurodiverse and learning disabled leaders to bring their visions into reality.

The Full Resource & Practical Activities Guide are also available in plain text format below. Please get in touch if you would like the Step-by-Step Guide in plain text.

We are committed to making our content and resources accessible for all audiences. If you would like any of these documents translated into British Sign Language (BSL) or audio described, please get in touch with Sophie Humphries, Engagement Producer at sophie@fabric.dance who can organise this.