“For twenty-five years, Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black has brought bold new ballet to stages across the UK, creating and sharing original stories with dancers from around the world. This anniversary season celebrates a quarter of a century of innovation, mentoring and collaboration, while looking ahead to the future.
This landmark double bill features Ingoma (2019), the choreographic debut of former Company dancer, Mthuthuzeli November. Inspired by the 1946 South African miners’ strike, a precursor to the anti-apartheid movement, Ingoma captures the suffering and resilience of Black miners and their communities, bringing rarely told stories to the ballet stage. The work won both the 2020 Olivier Award and the Black British Theatre Award for Best Dance Production.
Alongside it comes …all towards hope. A joyful new commission from Alvin Ailey royalty Hope Boykin, a two-time Bessie Award winner, making her UK choreographic debut. Boykin, who says, “I make work and create environments from personal and lived experiences,” creates a celebratory piece especially for Ballet Black’s 25th year, a vibrant tribute to the company’s journey and a bold look towards its future.”
Review by Stephen Gilchrist.
It was more than sixty years ago, at Sadler’s Wells, that I first saw a black dance company. I remember it as if it were yesterday. The curtain went up to reveal the female corps of The Dance Theatre of Harlem. Black faces, black bodies, costumed in azure tunics, all en pointe. It was a revelatory experience as the ensemble went on to dance work usually danced by a Caucasian company for a Caucasian audience.
How life has changed! Today the great dance houses of the world, including Sadler’s Wells, host ethnically and enticingly diverse work. Dance now represents not just ‘European’ work but reflects black and ethnic experiences in the world, and thank God, also attracts ethnic audiences, as did Ballet Black in their 25th Anniversary Programme. It was a strong reminder of how far dance has come in my lifetime.
Ballet Black is a British ballet company. It was founded by Cassa Pancho OBE in 2001 as a response to the lack of professional Black and Asian ballet dancers in the UK and how it has succeeded!
This programme consists of two pieces for the ensemble of ten dancers. It opened with “…. all towards hope”, an abstract episodic creation of seven sections danced to a diverse score by Bill Lawrence, to spoken text- sometimes to an underscore-, to rhythmic thumping beats and in one episode a solo piece to no soundscape at all. I need to be totally honest, I found the recorded text, written and read by choreographer Hope Boykin, a little pretentious and distracting from the stage pictures as the dancers tried to emulate the text in movement.
However, the piece was excitingly and elegantly choreographed by Boykin, the American dancer, choreographer and former member of the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, leading to a thrilling ensemble finale, the theme being ‘moving forward together’, that diversity is good but ‘moving together’ provides a better future. In the melee of alternately organised and disorganised moves, neo-classical ballet meets contemporary dance to jazz and afro rhythms, costumed in a variety of red and brown, (by Jessica Cabassa), some recalling Greco-Roman tunics, and each, so far as I could make out, slightly different from each other. The piece was smokily and atmospherically it by David Plater. It was a thing of beauty.
After the interval the company presented ‘Ingoma’ a signature semi- narrative. piece for the troupe, originally commissioned in 2019 and inspired by the 2012 Marikana strike by rock drillers for higher wages and culminating in the Marikana Massacre where South African police shot and killed 34 striking miners. Attention is also paid to Gerard Sekoto’s painting, Song of the Pick (1947).
Strikingly choregraphed by Mthuthuzeli November as a fusion of classical and contemporary moves, there are delectable entre-chats, and outstanding pointe work from the emotional and bereaved female corps, and powerful dance design for the muscular male ensemble wearing cap lamps and carrying pick axes. They resist, stand their ground, fight and die. There was an opening pas de deux, beautifully danced by Ebony Thomas and Isabela Coracy, leading to a violent uprising and ultimate bereavement. Against a score by Peter Johnson and November some of the stage pictures were arresting, vivid and dramatic.
This was an evening of great power, immense beauty and thought provoking, and a fine example of the very best in British dance. Long may it continue.
Founder and Artistic Director: Cassa Pancho
Choreographer – Ingoma: Mthuthuzeli November
Choreographer – …all towards hope: Hope Boykin
Photo credit: ASH
Ballet Black
Ballet Black at 25 – Double Bill
Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Wednesday 14 – Saturday 17 October
BSL interpreted post-show talk: Thursday 15 October
Show run: 1 hour 30 minutes (including one 20-minute interval)
Tickets from £15
Ticket Office: 0207863 8000 or www.sadlerswells.com