Ballet Black, Double Bill, Barbican Theatre

Ballet Black is a small British-based company for dancers of black and Asian descent, which was founded in 2001 and has been going from strength to strength since, with ambitious programming commissioned from a variety of dance-makers from both within the company and outside.

Well-known choreographers, such as Richard Alston, Christopher Hampson and Cathy Marston, have created work for Ballet Black, Marston’s The Suit having won Best Choreography at the 2018 National Dance Awards, as well as earning company member José Alves the Award for Outstanding Classical Dancer.

Also in Ballet Black's growing roster of eminent contributors is William Tuckett, a busy international choreographer and Olivier Award Winner, who has made a brand new dance for this double bill, to add to his previous creations for this company.

Entitled Then Or Now, Tuckett’s new work is a characteristically eclectic piece, blending classical ballet, the music of the 17th century Austrian composer Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber, and the poetry of the American feminist Adrienne Rich (1929-2012), who was memorably described by the New York Times as ‘a poet of towering reputation and towering rage.’

The question Tuckett explores in Then Or Now is, in times like these, where do we belong?

The second piece in the double bill comes from the company’s young South African dancer, Mthuthuzeli November, who’s been gradually cementing his reputation as a choreographer of note.

November’s work, The Waiting Game, ponders the meaning of life and it, too, uses the human voice in its soundtrack, in this case the voices of Ballet Black’s own dancers, blended with music from Etta James, and Mozart, with the choreographer himself also listed in the music credits.

Ballet Black founder and director, Cassa Pancho, says she takes great pride in the fact that The Waiting Game is ‘a crucial part of creating classically based work by black choreographers here in the UK.’

Ballet Black has developed a diverse and enthusiastic audience, and in previous occasions The Barbican Theatre sold out quite quickly. Book now!

Age Guidance: 7+

Post-show talk: Friday 27 March, free to same-day ticket holders