THE PLACE
Choreodrome: Making Progress
Every summer, The Place, London’s leading centre for dance and performance, is excited to welcome a new annual cohort of Choreodrome artists to its building for two-week long residencies, to research and work on new ideas.
Choreodrome is one of the most important dance development programmes in the UK, enabling artists to explore new territories and have access to tailored support. It’s part of The Place’s range of artist development opportunities designed to nurture talent and facilitate the growth of independent artists’ creativity and sustainability. The 17 artists selected this year are researching ideas across a wide range of practices, from Hip Hop and South Asian dance practices to circus, and playing with ideas around poetry, ancestry and identity, generational conflict, family ties and human relationships in all their forms.
Eight dance makers share works-in-progress in a series of short performances, developed through The Place’s Choreodrome residency in Summer 2025. Expect beautiful, bold and bonkers experiments as these artists try new things in our intimate studio theatre! Choreodrome: making progress (previously known as Touch Wood) takes place across two evenings, both of which end in a facilitated feedback session with the choreographers and performers. Choreodrome residency and commission programme provides dance makers with a nurturing space, time, and resources to develop new ideas. Artists:Bea Bidault, Gary Clarke, Shanelle 'Tali' Fergus, Christopher Matthews, Oluwatosin Omotosho, Max Revell, Christopher Reyes and Darcy Wallace.
Performing on 9 and 10 September
Encounters: Four contemporary ballets
22 October –16 November 2024 Royal Ballet and Opera MAIN STAGE
Artists of The Royal Ballet in The Weathering
Explore human emotion through movement with bold contemporary works by Kyle Abraham, Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Crystal Pite.
The Weathering by Kyle Abraham A gentle meditation on love, loss and memory, Kyle Abraham’s The Weathering is danced to music by composer Ryan Lott (Everything Everywhere All at Once). The Weathering was the American choreographer’s first one-act work for The Royal Ballet.
A new work by Pam Tanowitz In a new work expanding on her previous success with Dispatch Duet, Pam Tanowitz brings her trademark wit and light to turn the conventions of dance inside out.
A new work by Joseph Toonga Joseph Toonga presents his second Main Stage work for the Company where the idioms of classical ballet and hip-hop converge.
The Statement by Crystal Pite Four characters battle for control in Crystal Pite’s riveting dance-drama. Choreographed to spoken word, The Statement explores the shadowy depths of human nature and boardroom politics.
MANON
17 JANUARY –8 MARCH 2024 MAIN STAGE
Vadim Muntagirov & Sarah Lamb
MacMillan at his best MacMillan's adaptation of Abbé Prévost’s novel L’Histoire du Chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut embodies his acute insight into human psychology and his mastery of narrative choreography. This is MacMillan at his best; finding full expression in the impassioned duets of the central couple, visceral and urgent in their desire. The heroine’s struggle to escape poverty make Manon one of the most dramatic and devastating of ballets, emphasised by Nicholas Georgiadis’ evocative designs that reflect the juxtaposition between Manon’s impoverished origins and the lavish world she longs to inhabit. The 2023/24 Season celebrates the centenary of Nicholas Georgiadis' centenary The music of Manon Rather than simply drawing music from operatic tales of Manon, including Puccini's Manon Lescaut or Jules Massenet’s opera Manon (both inspired by Prévost's novel), renowned dance musician Leighton Lucas and his assistant Hilda Gaunt provided a score drawn from across Massenet’s collected works. The music of the Manon ballet includes his famous yearning Elégie as the theme for the lovers. The premiere was given on 7 March 1974, with such acclaimed ballet dancers as Antoninette Sibley, Monica Mason, Anthony Dowell and David Wall taking on the lead roles.
MANON Manon’s brother Lescaut is offering her to the highest bidder when she meets Des Grieux and falls in love. They elope to Paris, but when Monsieur G.M. offers Manon a life of luxury as his mistress she can’t resist. With the Lescauts’ encouragement Des Grieux cheats at cards in an attempt to win Monsieur G.M.’s fortune. They are caught. Manon is arrested as a prostitute and deported to New Orleans, followed by Des Grieux. On the run, Manon dies from exhaustion.
Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
Mixed Bill
Against a warm orange background, a dancer with brown skin and long braids turns her face upwards, while the golden silk of her full skirt billows towards us, filling the right hand side of the image. © Dario Calmese
Experience America’s most popular dance company when Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings its unique mix of contemporary and classic movement to the London stage. The Company dazzles with technical brilliance and palpable energy, bringing audiences to their feet at every performance.
James Gilmer and Chalvar Monteiro in Twyla Tharp's Roy's Joys
Modern Masters - Three pillars of modern dance
Roy’s Joys by Twyla Tharp This silky, sultry work embodies the spontaneity of the 1940s and 50s jazz soundtrack by Roy Eldridge. Mixing vernacular dance with ballet and modern technique, it exudes an easy, carefree energy that shows Tharp at her rollicking best. Dancing Spirit by Ronald K. Brown Ronald K. Brown pays tribute to Ailey’s Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison’s profound influence with a new work that echoes the title of Jamison’s autobiography. Set to music by Duke Ellington, Wynton Marsalis and War, Brown’s evocative choreography uses movement from Cuba, Brazil and the United States to conjure dancing spirits who embody Jamison’s elegance, vision, dignity and generosity. Revelations by Alvin Ailey Using African American spirituals, song-sermons, gospel songs and holy blues, Alvin Ailey’s Revelations fervently explores the places of deepest grief and holiest joy in the soul. Ailey described the memories that inspired Revelations as “blood memories” because they were so strong, he felt they were part of him as much as the blood that ran through his veins. More than just a popular dance work, it has become a cultural treasure, beloved by generations of fans. Seeing Revelations for the first time or the hundredth can be a transcendent experience, with audiences cheering, singing along and dancing in their seats from the opening notes of the plaintive “I Been ’Buked” to the rousing “Wade in the Water” and the triumphant finale, “Rocka My Soul in the Bosom of Abraham.” It is no surprise that it is the most widely seen modern dance work in the world.
For Four by Robert Battle
Contemporary Voices - Timely and timeless
For Four by Robert Battle Take four amazing Ailey dancers and add in Wynton Marsalis’ delicious jazz score – written in 4/4 time – and you’ll understand why Robert Battle cheekily titled this exuberant short work For Four. Capturing the pent-up energy of a world cooped up during the pandemic, Battle expresses the drive to perform and the electricity of dancers coming together to create. Unfold by Robert Battle Artistic Director Robert Battle’s sensuous, swirling duet evokes the tenderness and ecstasy in Gustave Charpentier’s aria. With its fluid grace, this gem exemplifies the choreographer’s skill for nuanced gesture and vivid imagery. Are You in Your Feelings? by Kyle Abraham Acclaimed choreographer Kyle Abraham’s newest work is a celebration of Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. Scored to a “mixtape” of soul, hip-hop, and R&B, it highlights the bridge between music, communication, and personal memory. and Revelations by Alvin Ailey
Alvin Ailey's - Revelations
Ailey Classic - The best of Alvin Ailey
The River by Alvin Ailey By turns muscular and lyrical, The River is a sweeping full company work that suggests tumbling rapids and meandering streams on a journey to the sea. Ailey’s allegory of birth, life and rebirth abounds with water references, from the spinning “Vortex” solo to the romantic “Lake” duet, and from the powerful “Falls” quartet to the joyful “Giggling Rapids”. The choreography demonstrates Ailey’s admiration for classical ballet but retains the modern and jazz influences found in all his work. “The River shows Mr Ailey at his inventive best,” declared The New York Times. The grandeur of the dancing is matched by the music, which was Duke Ellington’s first symphonic score written for dance. Ailey and Ellington collaborated closely on the piece. This new production features costumes newly designed for the first time since the 1970s. Pas de Duke by Alvin Ailey Pas de Duke is Alvin Ailey’s spirited modern dance translation of a classical pas de deux, originally created in 1976 as a showcase for Judith Jamison and Mikhail Baryshnikov. She was a reigning star of modern dance; he was one of the world’s most famous ballet dancers, having defected from the Soviet Union two years earlier. Ailey made brilliant use of the dancers’ physical and stylistic differences, crafting an elegant, flirtatious work that showed off their exuberance and virtuosity as they engaged in a playful game of one-upmanship. The work is comprised of five solos and duets that require extraordinary technical facility, flawless timing, and strong acting skills. Since its premiere, it has been performed by generations of dancers who have each put their own unique twist on the choreography, and it has stood the test of time in part for how perfectly it captures the timeless sophistication of Duke Ellington’s jazz music. The New York Times has praised it as “one of those special dances that lives in new ways with each new set of performers.” Cry by Alvin Ailey Alvin Ailey choreographed his signature solo Cry as a birthday present for his dignified mother, and created the dance on his stunning muse, Judith Jamison. Alvin Ailey’s mother and Jamison could both be considered the archetypal Ailey woman – a role that has been passed on to all the women in the Ailey ranks to whom Jamison has taught this solo. In her autobiography Dancing Spirit, Jamison wrote: “Exactly where the woman is going through the ballet’s three sections was never explained to me by Alvin. In my interpretation, she represented those women before her who came from the hardships of slavery, through the pain of losing loved ones, through overcoming extraordinary depressions and tribulations. Coming out of a world of pain and trouble, she has found her way-and triumphed.” Ailey dedicated this piece to “all Black women everywhere – especially our mothers.” In this three-section solo, the dancer, clad in a white leotard and long ruffled skirt, brings the audience on a journey of bitter sorrow, brutal hardship and ecstatic joy. and Revelations by Alvin Ailey
Are You in Your Feeling's by choreographer - Kyle Abraham
21st Century Creations - The movement of today
For Four by Robert Battle Take four amazing Ailey dancers and add in Wynton Marsalis’ delicious jazz score – written in 4/4 time – and you’ll understand why Robert Battle cheekily titled this exuberant short work For Four. Capturing the pent-up energy of a world cooped up during the pandemic, Battle expresses the drive to perform and the electricity of dancers coming together to create. Unfold by Robert Battle Artistic Director Robert Battle’s sensuous, swirling duet evokes the tenderness and ecstasy in Gustave Charpentier’s aria. With its fluid grace, this gem exemplifies the choreographer’s skill for nuanced gesture and vivid imagery. In a Sentimental Mood by Jamar Roberts An intimate scene from the domestic life of a couple becomes an exploration of love and desire in Jamar Roberts’ world premiere. Using an original composition by Duke Ellington and four jazz standards that are given an avant-garde twist by composer Rafiq Bhatia, Roberts bridges the past and present, making these musical classics freshly relevant and timely. Are You In Your Feelings by Kyle Abraham Acclaimed choreographer Kyle Abraham’s newest work is a celebration of Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all. Scored to a “mixtape” of soul, hip-hop, and R&B, it highlights the bridge between music, communication, and personal memory.
Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London
Akram Khan Company Jungle Book reimagined
Breakin’ Convention 2023
International Festival of Hip Hop Dance Theatre
Past Events
Julie Cunningham & Company how did we get here?
An intimate evening of dance featuring renowned choreographer Jules Cunningham, Spice Girl Melanie C and award-winning dancer Harry Alexander.
Past Events 2022
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Forgotten Land Nederlands Dans Theater
Wednesday 06 – Saturday 05 November 2022
English National Ballet
Ek / Forsythe / Quagebeur
Sadler’s Wells, London
Wednesday 09 – Saturday 12 November 2022
Angela Wood in Take Five Blues by Stina Quagbeur
Giorgio Garrett - Noam Durand in Blake Works for the Forsythe Evening
Fernando Carratala Coloma rehearsing Mats Fk's Rite of Spring
Royal Ballet
MAYERLING
MAIN STAGE - 21 OCTOBER - 30 NOVEMBER 2022
Ryoichi Hirano and Natalia Osipove in Mayerling, photo by Helen Maybanks
Thiago Soares and Lauren Cuthbertson in Mayerling, photo by ROH