THIS IS DANCE: Momentum by Propel Dance

Propel Dance bring their show Momentum to the Midlands Arts Centre on Wednesday 11 November, starting at 7:30pm. It's part of THIS IS DANCE, an international dance season running across Birmingham this autumn, put together by Fabric in partnership with the Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham Rep, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Fierce Festival, mac, and Sampad Arts.

Propel Dance is the UK's first and only professional wheelchair dance company, formed in 2023 and previously featured on Channel 4. Co-directed by Helen Mason and Amy Dalton-Hardy, the five-strong company blends contemporary dance with para dance sport technique, and they describe their work as challenging perceptions of what wheelchair dance can be. Momentum follows £54,931 of investment from Arts Council England and runs seven short works — a solo, a duet, and a quartet — which they describe as joyful, powerful, and technically exciting.

The show is touring the country, and each performance is a bit different: alongside the company, it features a guest professional disabled artist, and a local inclusive or community dance group performs a curtain raiser. That means the night you see in Birmingham will have its own local touch to it, rather than being a carbon copy of the other tour dates. Tickets are £12, and the show starts at 7:30pm at the Midlands Arts Centre.