Christopher Fonesca who is a choreographer, performer and global D/deaf ambassador is wearing a black vest top with short black hair, and is addressing an audience using sign language. On Christopher's right to our left sits musician Tom White, who is wearing a blue shirt with glasses and has short hair with a beard. On Christopher's left to our right is Executive Director and Founder of Surface Area Dance Theatre Nicole Vivien Watson, who is wearing a beige coat and has long red hair. They sit in company on stage during a discussion.

Surface Area Dance Theatre, Est. 2007 is an award-winning Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation and a UK dance company that places accessibility and engagement at the heart of all company endeavours. Based at Dance City in Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, we have a wide-ranging reach across the Northeast region and beyond. Our work is uniquely relevant and is one of few genuinely working at the interface between Sign Language, D/deaf culture and dance. The merits and skills of the company’s leaders and members have enabled international engagement with leading UK and internationally celebrated partners and institutes. Cultural exchange is at the core of the company’s mission as we strive to represent the UK’s diverse talents and abilities in all our work.

In 2018, SADT became a registered Level 2 Disability Confident Committed Employer and advanced in 2022 to a Disability Confident Committed Leader by the Department of Work and Pensions.