London City Ballet reborn
- Robert Beale
- 4 minutes ago
- 2 min read
Those who love classical dance and are sufficiently long in the tooth may remember London City Ballet as one of the most enterprising companies of the 1980s and 1990s. Based at Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London, LCB was a big touring outfit, but ran into problems and closed in 1996.
Two years ago the company popped back up, courtesy of dancer and choreographer Christopher Marney, and now – smaller, but highly regarded, with a focus more on contemporary classical than traditional blockbusters – LCB is fully back.
London City's only visit to the North of England in a May-to-December international tour is at York Theatre Royal (September 18-19, with two performances on the Saturday). The programme includes Glen Tetley’s Firebird (a co-production with the Theatre Royal and Opera de Vichy in France), and UK premieres of heritage works, including for the first time outside Hamburg Ballet, John Neumeier’s Ghost Light (with Neumeier's involvement), while Firebird will be designed by Olivier-award winning John MacFarlane, who will revisit his 1981 design.
International star Alina Cojocaru – a principal dancer with English National Ballet in the past – will perform as guest artist at all performances in York as the company expands to 18.
New dancers include Francesca Velicu (formerly ENB), Hui-Wen Peng (formerly San Francisco Ballet), Arthur Henderson (formerly Semperoper Ballet, Dresden), Noah Cosgriff (formerly BRB2) and Tatyana Meijer. The whole company has been nominated for 'best independent company' at the upcoming National Dance Awards, and will give the audience the chance to watch an open class on stage on the Saturday morning (11.30am).
Company artistic director Christopher Marney said: “It feels essential we remain fit for purpose in size and flexibility. The 2026 tour increases our reach but stays true to the original ethos of bringing affordable and accessible dance to audiences far and wide.
“Returning the work of Neumeier and Tetley to stages across the UK feels significant considering their history. These works will have a momentous impact on audiences seeing them for the first time.”
More info and tickets here
