All the World on Stage

It’s not often these days that aspiring dancers and smaller companies can enjoy the luxury of state-of-the-art facilities to develop their practice and put on a show, especially in a capital city. That’s soon set to change in London, with the opening of Sadler’s Wells East, a spanking new theatre launching in February, featuring six high-spec studios, a flexible 550-seat amphitheatre, outdoor areas, and a large public foyer dubbed the “Dance Floor,” intended as both public meeting place and impromptu performance space.

Sadler’s Wells East opens in February 2025. Architects O’Donnell + Tuomey. Image © Peter Cook

The backdrop to the building, which has been designed by prominent Irish architects O’Donnell + Tuomey, is the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in the east of the city, a regeneration area since the 2012 London Olympic Games and a fast-forming hub of high-profile arts and educational institutions. Located in a concentrated zone of the Park, named East Bank, Sadler’s Wells will neighbour the BBC’s Music Studios, London College of Fashion, a campus of University College London and a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum. It won’t be the only notable dance organisation in this part of town (English National Ballet relocated to a new building on London City Island in 2019; and early adopter of the area Studio Wayne McGregor moved to Here East in 2017), but this fourth stage for Sadler’s is arriving with great fanfare and an agenda to impact the dance community in a big way.

The new theatre sits amid some of London’s most disadvantaged boroughs, but also one of its most dynamic creative scenes. Putting opportunities for community involvement, emerging artists, and mid-sized local, regional and international companies upfront and central, Sadler’s Wells East is consciously scaled and, as its opening season of 20 productions reveals, committed to upholding Sadler's track record of presenting a wide mix of dance genres to a diverse audience. Ticket prices will be on the lower side, with concessions offered for 16- to 30-year-olds.

Sadler’s Wells East opens February 2025. Architects O’Donnell + Tuomey. Image © Peter Cook

For Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, artistic director and co-chief executive of Sadler’s Wells, this is the point of the new theatre. A great democratising of dance has taken place at the organisation during his tenure, and Sadler’s Wells East is a bold pledge to continue that trend (aided by funding from the Mayor of London, UK Government and London Legacy Development Corporation, among many others). When I asked him over email if he thought, despite the growing popularity and visibility of dance, certainly in the UK, it was easier or more challenging today for younger artists and smaller troupes to advance their work, his answer was unequivocal:

“It’s definitely harder,” says Spalding. “There is simply not enough resource in the funding system to support those at the beginning of their journey of making work. It is also harder to find touring engagements, particularly in the UK, as venues struggle to support dance presentations. Of course, dancers are ever resourceful, and many are finding innovative ways of making things happen, but it’s a tougher climate. It’s a pity, because many of the successful choreographers now may not have made it through today’s circumstances. We hope the facilities at Sadler's Wells East will support dance artists.”

Botis Seva's “Far From the Norm, Until We Sleep.” Photograph by Tom Visser

Highlighting his specific goal as a dance-world leader (knighted for his services to dance in 2022), Spalding adds: “I’ve always striven for the best conditions in which dancers and dance companies make work. That’s why I initiated the Associate Artists scheme at Sadler’s Wells as soon as I took over in 2005. It was a commitment to support [dancers] on a long-term basis, giving them a platform nationally and internationally. At Sadler's Wells East, we will be able to add space and production support to that offer, in addition to development initiatives including the Academy Breakin’ Convention and Rose Choreographic School.”

Counting Sylvie Guillem, Akram Khan, Wayne McGregor and Crystal Pite among its early membership, with the likes of Oona Doherty, Michelle Dorrance, Seeta Patel, Alesandra Seutin and Botis Seva added more recently, Sadler’s Associate Artists programme has indeed been pivotal for many dancers and choreographers, through the commissioning of new work, help with the evolution of ideas and key resources, such as rehearsal space and technical support. This underpinning of artists, will, as Spalding notes, be amplified at Sadler’s Wells East, which will be home to the newly formed Rose Choreographic School—a self-described “experimental research and pedagogy project,” whose launch artistic faculty includes William Forsythe and Trajal Harrell—and the hip hop training centre Academy Breakin’ Convention, due to offer a diploma to 16- to 19-year-olds in Performance and Production Arts specific to hip hop theatre.

“Our Mighty Groove” in rehearsal. Photograph by Ellie Kurttz

Sadler’s egalitarian aims for dance also embrace a dedication to outreach, its existing learning and engagement programmes connecting with some 30,000 people yearly. Rob Jones has been associate artistic director since 2022, and underlines that inclusion and representing a multitude of dance styles are priorities, not just for the new venue but for the future of the art form.

“I think it’s extremely important to support a broad range of dance artists, styles and scales,” he told me over email. “When possible, there should be programmes that meet artists where they are at, and provide opportunities that enable them to participate in the wider dance ecology. My ambition for Sadler’s Wells East is for this to be a stage for artists to experiment and expand the meaning of what dance can be. The new building will bring the public a lot closer to the making of dance on a daily basis. My hope is that there will be a stronger cohesion between community, and social and professional dance, and we help reinforce the truth that dance belongs to everyone.”

The debut season will open with “Our Mighty Groove,” conceived by Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu, founder of the London-based touring company Uchenna Dance. Igbokwe-Ozoagu has a history of guiding and teaching fledgling dancers, and worked as a Mass Movement Choreographer for the 2012 Olympic Games among other large-scale events. For her launch show, she has brought in young people from east London, cast through an open call, to perform alongside professionals in a “celebration of the dance floor” that will fuse African, club and contemporary styles.

Igbokwe-Ozoagu also believes what Sadler’s Wells East is doing is vital: “I’m passionate about giving people opportunities to thrive and learn about themselves,” she says over email. “I was given great opportunities in my younger years by mentors and people who saw something in me, so it’s important for me to pay it back. Through this collaboration with Sadler’s Wells, I’ve been able to do that. It’s a real confidence boost, because as an artist you need to have practical spaces to develop and find your identity. A venue like [this] gives me the chance to explore my creativity. The support and facilities allow me to have the courage to think outside of the box.”

Later in the season, honouring its promise to give smaller regional and international companies the chance to perform in the capital, Sadler’s Wells East will host productions by, to name a few, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s young BRB2 company; the acclaimed Aakash Odedra Company from Leicester; Irish choreographer Emma Martin; and, from the US, New York’s Trajal Harrell and LA-based bharatanatyam artist Mythili Prakash. In July, the theatre will also launch the YFX Youth Festival, a new annual event to showcase young dance talent from across the UK.

For many, entering Sadler’s Wells East could prove career-shifting. The neon ‘You Are Welcome’ sign above the front door sets the tone for the venue’s mission—to be a dance house for all, and a game-changing space for making compelling work of all shapes and forms.

Rachael Moloney

Rachael Moloney is a freelance writer and editor covering dance and the arts. She has studied ballet as well as modern and contemporary techniques, and has worked on and contributed to publications including Departures, the Financial Times, Fjord Review, Sunday Times, Time Out, Vogue and Wallpaper*.

comments

Featured

REVIEWS | Steve Sucato

Testing Assumptions

The current global zeitgeist of uncertainty and the tendency to jump to judgment inspired veteran dancer-choreographer Beth Corning's latest dance-theater work, “Foolish Assumptions.”

REVIEWS | Lorna Irvine

Positive Masculinity

At a time when the roots of toxic masculinity are still being hotly debated within society (I'd argue nature and nurture aren't necessarily mutually exclusive bedfellows) the excellent “Boys Don't Dance” arrives, fully formed at a festival for children, but with enough layers to appease any audience.

REVIEWS | Valentina Bonelli

We're all Mad Here

Just as The Wizard of Oz to the United States or Pinocchio to Italy, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland is the coming-of-age novel of English childhood. The reception of Christopher Wheeldon’s ballet of the same name depends heavily on this legacy.

REVIEWS | Kris Kosaka

Dancing for Chagall

Director and choreographer Naoya Homan’s reimagining of “Aleko,” a one-act ballet where art takes center stage, dazzles the eye with a tragic meditation on the limits of freedom.