WHAT WE DO
Southpaw Company, founded in 2013 under the artistic direction of Robby Graham, has consistently pushed the boundaries of dance theatre. From intimate immersive touring pieces to large-scale outdoor spectacles with hundreds of community cast and audiences of thousands, we blend innovative choreography with compelling storytelling, creating performances that are as emotionally resonant as they are visually spectacular.
We are an Arts Council National Portfolio Organisation, funded to create work with as much reach and impact as possible, and pioneering new digital approaches to empowering engagement and participation
ENGAGEMENT
We run three permanent, free-to-access, engagement programmes:
AMPLIFY, our community cast company
ORIGINS, our company for children and young people
IGNITE, our professional development programme for working class artists.
The artistic programme creates opportunities for inspiration and participation, and AMPLIFY, ORIGINS and IGNITE allow us to sustain that inspiration into longer term engagement.
WHAT WE’VE DONE
Created 33 productions seen by 350,000 audience members
Co-created 20 of our productions via 1,200 community consultations, with c.4,000 community cast participants
Employed hundreds of freelance creatives; 35 in the last year alone.
Made a difference: participants report measurable improvements in confidence, belonging, and wellbeing
We have been commissioned for largescale works by, e.g., Bradford City of Culture, Brent Borough of Culture, Greenwich Docklands Festival, Stockton and Darlington Railway 200th anniversary, National Centre for the Written Word. Our theatrical work includes Marianne Elliott’s acclaimed production of Angels in America at The National Theatre, the first Public Acts performance, Pericles, also at the National Theatre
OUR MISSION
We create dance theatre rooted in the lived experiences of working-class and marginalised communities Our work seeks to find the beauty, joy, and strength in communities that are too often defined by deficit.
We make work that audiences recognise as “that’s me”, built on the belief that representation carries responsibility, that the stories of those most often misrepresented or unheard should be told with dignity, authenticity, and power. Our performances are grounded in collaboration, care, and reciprocity — always built with people, never about them.
The change we’d like to see:
Everyone can access and feel entitled to attend and enjoy dance performances
Everyone who wants to can access and feel entitled to participate in opportunities to perform.
All those who wish to do so can begin and sustain a career in the performing arts.
Southpaw seen as the heart of a vibrant performing arts cluster in Sunderland.
OUR NPO PROMISE
Continue to co-create large scale participatory dance theatre providing high quality, inclusive experiences for professional and community casts, and captivating, immersive experiences for audiences that they recognise as true to their place.
Create new outdoor touring work, engaging audiences new to dance.
Expand the reach of our free to access classes and performance programme.
Open up our studio to connect artists and developers through immersive labs, as well as free-to-access ProClass, ProSpace.
Improve organisational resilience with board development; improved use of data; integrating sustainability; and implementing our development strategy.
