In Conversation: We are Far Flung C.I.C

Far Flung Dance Theatre is a vibrant, inclusive arts company in Plymouth, led by Disabled, Neurodivergent, Deaf, and non-disabled artists. Since 2015, they have created accessible workshops and performances, offering opportunities for creative expression and career development. In this article, Clair Sargeant, Co-Director of Far Flung, shares how the company blends dance with music, theatre, and visual arts to foster collaboration and inclusivity, making creativity accessible to all.

Far Flung Dance Theatre is an inclusive creative arts company based in Plymouth. We are a collective of Disabled/Neurodivergent/Deaf/Visually Impaired and non-disabled artists.

The team are movers, musicians, makers, voice practitioners, yoga teachers, fitness instructors, performers, aerialists, access workers and access consultants. Since 2015 we have worked collaboratively together to create accessible workshops and performances that are open to all, blending art forms to create engaging, accessible and unique opportunities for our local community. We act as a stepping stone, offering work opportunities within arts projects to support the development of early careers and talented Disabled people in Plymouth and beyond. 

We work with people of all ages and experiences, creating inclusive spaces for people to explore their creativity.  You will often find us in SEN/D schools, in Day services, and in community hubs delivering workshops. As well as partnering on projects with local and national organisations creating and delivering inclusive community projects together and professional performances.

Our work is usually site specific, or on mass community project, visual art of film based works. Collaboration is essential for our organisation and we thrive in learning from other arts organisations locally and nationally - collaborators include Theatre Royal Plymouth, Barbican Theatre Plymouth, Take a Part, Diverse City and Extraordinary Bodies, and charities such as Improving Lives Plymouth.

Clair Sargeant and Sarah Farrow - Jones started the company in 2015 having previously worked together with Attik Dance on the ‘Attik 360’ Dance programme for Disabled Adults.  Once funding ended Clair and Sarah identified a need for a company that not only provided dance opportunities in the city for disabled participants, but also work opportunities for disabled people or those who wanted to work in an inclusive environment. There was a need for an organisation that offered professional development for Disabled artists, as well as  contracted work for Disabled people to deliver projects and platform their work. We found that once Attik 360 ended there was a desire for people to continue their journeys and we wanted to set something up that provide a progression route for people to dance from youth into adulthood and at a grassroots level through to professional level.

Dance is at the core of the organisation. It is often our starting point, it's where Far Flung began. We started out as a dance company, and as we have evolved over the years and met lots of Disabled artists working across other art forms, we have become a hybrid of all these artistic influences. When we deliver a project you will often find the team is a collective of artists from across different art forms now. A dance practitioner usually collaborating with a musician and a visual artist or a theatre and dance practitioner working with an aerialist! It keeps things fresh and exciting.  We have found that by consciously blending different artforms with our dance practice we create interesting access points for people who are engaging in the work, and it also offers us as artists new inspiration and ideas to grow as artists and learn from our peers.

Dance & the Community

We believe it is important to communicate directly with the communities you want to engage with, and to make sure people know they are warmly welcomed!

We explicitly say that our work is inclusive to Disabled people or those who are marginalized in our community, because so many people are so often used to not feeling welcome. This can be because spaces are inaccessible or they do not have what they need in order to thrive in the opportunity. It is about being clear and precise with what you have available and what you can offer - to be empathetic, and being ready and willing to make change.

We believe that access benefits all, and when you put access in place it often benefits a whole lot more people than we first realised, you might have put something in place for 1 person, and it actually is beneficial to another 5 people. Through Access and this experience we find out new things about ourselves and that more often than not, we have been surviving rather than thriving a lot of the time.

For Experienced Dancers & Career Growth

The arts community is so welcoming and friendly. When we work with visiting companies or artists they often comment on how friendly Plymouth is as a city.  I would always recommend connecting with local companies and artists and getting to some of the brilliant events that are led by Plymouths cultural organisations, they are great networking opportunities.  There are brilliant dance and yoga studios in Plymouth and we are a collaborative city - talk to people and share your ideas and put yourself out there. You will quickly meet people who will be future collaborators and friends.

Let’s Dance Plymouth & the Future

We hope that the Let’s Dance Plymouth campaign can help show what a brilliant place Plymouth is to live and work. 

Clair Sargeant - Co Director Far Flung C.I.C