Jury statement on "The Sticky Dance" Second Hand Dance (Great Britain)

With "The Sticky Dance", Rosie Heafford and Takeshi Matsumoto, together with their team, have created an immersive dance installation aimed at a very young yet broad audience. The work opens a space in which children and their accompanying adults can decide for themselves how they wish to move, perceive, and participate. In this way, it offers an approach that is not based on instructions but rather on invitation, curiosity, and personal experience.

Three performers weave a rich, sensory world of experience through their dance presence, light, sound and simple materials. Images and situations emerge that are at once playful and focused, allowing for an immediate physical experience of dance. The production consciously creates a framework that is designed with neurodivergent children and children with disabilities in mind, demonstrating a deep understanding of individual needs and rhythms. "The Sticky Dance" is convincing through its clear artistic vision and its positioning: a work that takes participation seriously while developing a form for the very young that is as accessible as it is poetic.