GATHER UP Presents is a gathering for the celebration of contemporary dance practice in Bristol, in partnership with Bristol Old Vic. Set over 3 days, between 26th-29th April 2025, we will present the work of Bristol movement practitioners and beyond through live performance, workshops, artist talks, and screen-based work.

Open Practice is time in the studio to come together to practice, work, move and dance as we wish, in each other’s company.
This is an open, non-led practice space where one of us might enjoy improvising, while someone else spends time training in a different movement practice, and another tests out a new choreographic idea, or someone might come along to rehearse an existing work or plan a workshop.

Raquel Meseguer Zafe will be hosting this Open Practice which will centre rest. Raquel will lead a guided rest at the start of the Open Practice, which will then unfold as it normally does, a space for shared side-by-side practice, with room for a sharing of work/practice and questions/feedback in the last half hour of the session, if anyone present opts to take part in this.

Raquel is a UK based dance theatre practitioner, and co-director of Candoco. She founded Unchartered Collective in 2016 to create theatrical encounters that explore the lived experience of invisible disability. She identifies as dis-abled, works with rest and horizontality as creative impulses, and acknowledges 'crip' as a tool in her artistic process. She is interested in interrogating theatrical form, to tell stories about the lived experience of disability in unusual ways. Raquel also advocates for a ‘The Resting Spaces Network', asking cultural institutions to widen access for invisible impairment communities by providing resting spaces or horizontal events.

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Access:
Get in touch if you have access needs that we could support you with. Email us at: [email protected]

Care Pot: the Care Pot exists to offer cash support towards childcare, parking, travel, access or other extra costs that may surround coming to these classes. Take a read and please be in touch with how we could cover some of your extra costs so that you can come along and participate.

Rest: Our spaces are rest welcome. There are various benches, seats and corners in the studio or you are always welcome to leave the studio for a break.

Find out more here: www.gatherup.live

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WHO IS OPEN PRACTICE FOR?
Artists and practitioners working with contemporary dance, improvisation, choreography or other movement practices.
We can have up to 8 people working in the studio.

TIME: 2-5pm

ACCESS:
Please get in touch if you have any access support needs: [email protected]

For more info: www.gatherup.live

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GATHER UP is a dance development project supported using public funding by Arts Council England. The current programme is also made possible thanks to additional support from the Abderrahim Crickmay Charitable Settlement, Bristol Old Vic Ferment and Arnolfini.

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Photo credit: Paul Blakemore.

Main image description: 5 dancers in a brightly lit studio, are improvising in company of one another.

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GATHER UP Presents is made possible thanks to our partner Bristol Old Vic. It is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and by Bristol City Council (Originators).

Entry requirements: 18+ — Read more — Read less