New York City. 1975. On an empty Broadway stage, seventeen performers are put through their paces in the final audition for a new Broadway musical. Only eight will make the cut.

A Chorus Line is a musical masterpiece that revolutionised Broadway, with creator Michael Bennett using real-life testimonies from recording sessions with dancers. Celebrate the lives of theatre’s heroes, as they tell searing stories of ambition and shattered hopes.

Originally produced at Curve and Directed by Nikolai Foster, with a book by James Kirkwood and Nicholas Dante, music by Marvin Hamlisch and lyrics by Edward Kleban, A Chorus Line features iconic songs including One, I Hope I Get It, Nothing and the hit ballad What I Did For Love.

The legendary Adam Cooper (Singin’ in the Rain, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake) and Carly Mercedes Dyer (Anything Goes, Barbican Theatre, Dreamgirls, Savoy Theatre) reprising their roles as Zach and Cassie which they played to great critical acclaim at Curve in 2021.

Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (no interval)

This production contains themes of bereavement, physical violence and abuse, mental ill health, discrimination, strong language and discussion of sexual abuse.

Captioned Performance: Sat 10 August at 2:30pm
Audio Described Performance: Sat 17 August at 2:30pm
Touch Tour: Sat 17 August at 2:30pm
BSL interpreted Performance: Sat 24 August at 2:30pm

The former resident company of Sadler’s Wells is making its long-awaited return to the world stage. Last seen 30 years ago, London City Ballet’s international company of dancers are touring the world in 2024, presenting acclaimed works including?the revival of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1972 one-act ballet?Ballade,?unseen in Europe for over 50 years. Internationally celebrated ballerina, Alina Cojocaru, will appear as a guest artist in this greatly anticipated revival.

Ashley Page’s Larina Waltz marks the ballet’s 30th anniversary, and Olivier award-winner Arielle Smith premiere’s a new work. Eve, a full company work by Christopher Marney, which premiered at Sadlers Wells in 2022 will close the evening.

Artistic Director, Christopher Marney has spent over a year rebuilding London City Ballet and these comeback performances remembers the Company’s roots in the form of rarely-seen archival footage.

Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes (including one 20 minute interval)

Following acclaimed performances around the world, and sold-out shows in Manchester and Bristol in 2023, Akram Khan’s Giselle returns to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London for the first time in five years.

As the curtain rises, dancers in shadow push against a forbidding wall. From that moment on, this ground-breaking production stuns with powerful images.

Mesmerising choreography, atmospheric lighting by Mark Henderson and a towering set by Academy Award-winner Tim Yip conjure up a condemned factory and the vengeful ghosts that appear in its shadows.

The ominous score by Vincenzo Lamagna – adapted from the original by Adolphe Adam and performed live by English National Ballet Philharmonic – intensifies the story’s emotional impact.

See the greatest romantic ballet and its story of love, betrayal, and redemption, boldly reimagined.

Running Time: 2 hours (including one 20 minute interval)

Audio Described Performance: Sat 28 September at 2:30pm
Touch Tour: Sat 28 September at 2:30pm

This performance contains stylised violence and references to death.

Crystal Pite created Angels’ Atlas for The National Ballet of Canada in March 2020. This Dora Award-winning ballet is a profound new work from one of the world’s leading contemporary choreographers.

islands: This is a unique pas de deux in which the two dancers are joined together with a belt, fusing their bodies together as one. Emma Portner’s work is set to an eclectic compilation of music by contemporary artists as well as original music by Forest Swords, which brings together hip hop, dub, guitar loops and electronic sampling for an avant-garde sound.

James Kudelka's Passion is a love story whose meticulous structure mirrors the music, the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano in D, Op. 61a. Two couples – one classical, the other contemporary – weave within the Corps de Ballet like musical themes, evoking complex relationships of passion.

Running Time: 1 hour 40 minute (including one 20 minute interval)

UK premiere

This new full-length evening will showcase?the physicality and complexity?of Hofesh Shechter’s choreography and his?inimitable dancers, as they take the audience on a wild?headfirst dive into the world of dreams.

Through Hofesh’s?ever-unfolding choreography, this new work will delve deep into the world of fantasy?and?the subconscious,?revealing fears, hopes, desires and?a myriad?of emotions that penetrates?not only the dreaming mind but also our waking thoughts.?From this uncontrollable wave of chaotic emotions and surreal events emerges a strange sense of clarity and reality – the mind is king.

The dancers’ bodies will bring to life on stage this interplay between poetry and reality, accompanied by live musicians and Shechter’s trademark cinematic?sound-score.?Hofesh will?reunite?with lighting designer, Tom Visser, to create a powerful, sculptured space to this?dreamscape.

Running Time: approximately 1 hour 10 minutes

Minimum age guidance: 13 years old.

UK premiere

Audio Described Performance: Fri 11 October at 7:30pm
Touch Tour: Fri 11 October at 7:30pm

Stay ahead of the curve and be one of the first to experience the work of these up-and-coming creatives. Our 2023/24 Young Associates share their work in a mixed bill, each showcasing their distinct and diverse creative worlds as they take the next step in their careers as choreographers.

After their sold-out debut in the Lilian Baylis Studio in 2023, the Young Associates are coming back for a one-night-only show at Sadler’s Wells Theatre this Autumn, giving a platform to a new generation of artistic voices.

Read more about our 2023/24 Young Associates: www.sadlerswells.com/about-us/supporting-artists/individual-artists/2023-2024-young-associates/#blue-makwana

Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes (including one 20 minute interval)

BSL interpreted Performance: Tue 15 October at 7:30pm

Radioactive Practice is a genre-bending new work, named one of New York Times’ ‘Best Dance Performances of 2022.’

Drawing influences from street dance, synchronised swimming, post-modern dance, tap, football, martial arts and contemporary African forms; Radioactive Practice from award-winning American choreographer Abby Zbikowski and crew, shatters movement expectations and explores our instincts for survival.

With audiences seated on multiple sides, this powerful piece incorporates the work of Sengalese dance artist Momar Ndiaye as dramaturge to interrogate the complexities of contemporary living.

Abby Zbikowski and her company Abby Z and the New Utility create contemporary dance works that pay homage to the effort of living. Zbikowski’s rigorous training in African and Afro-diasporic forms, playing sports and performing manual labour informs her craft.

Running Time: 1 hour

This performance contains flashing lights and intermittent loud music.

UK premiere

With an all-female, international creative team, including choreographers Iratxe Ansa (Spain), Wubkje Kuindersma (Netherlands), Seeta Patel (UK), Arielle Smith (UK), Thais Suárez (Cuba) and music composed by Kate Whitley (UK).

Luna is the final part of Carlos Acosta’s Birmingham trilogy (City of a Thousand Trades, Black Sabbath).

Running Time: 1 hour 50 minutes (including one 20 minute interval)

This production contains haze and projection.

Lise has a choice to make. Loaded country bumpkin or penniless, hunky farmhand? Of course, there’s no contest, but her mum has other ideas. Heels are dug in and sparks fly, as a mother-daughter battle ensues.

Sir Frederick Ashton’s La Fille mal gardée (The Wayward Daughter) mixes spectacular classical ballet with slick comedy, a clog-dancing dame and a super-cute pony, as well as live music by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia. This is sure to be fantastic entertainment for you, your friends, and all your family!

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes (including two 20 minute intervals)

Audio Described Performance: Sat 26 October at 2:30pm
Touch Tour: Sat 26 October at 2:30pm

Walking is often one of our first milestones in movement. As a choreographer Anne Teresa De Keersmaeker is known for taking the simplest of movements and adding her signature layers of complexity. EXIT ABOVE explores the tension between marching together and stepping out alone, as well as walking as a primary form of movement – so familiar that we hardly stop to think about it.

As a soundtrack to this exploration, De Keersmaeker returns to the roots of Western pop and blues music. The starting point for the performance is the song Walking Blues by legendary blues artist Robert Johnson. The journey then leads back to Der Wanderer by Schubert, the best-known singer-songwriter of the 19th century. Meskerem Mees, an upcoming Flemish singer songwriter with Ethiopian roots performs other variations of ‘walking songs’, composed together with Jean-Marie Aerts, sound architect of TC Matic, and with dancer and guitarist Carlos Garbin.

Running Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (no interval)

This performance contains strobe and smoke.

UK premiere

“I am excited and humbled to be back on stage and direct six extraordinary soloist artists from all generations. Gigenis is a profound tribute to that reflection, a reconciliation between the past and the present times, a genuine celebration of our collective love for dance — boundless, timeless, as well as deeply rooted.” Akram Khan

A choreographer and dancer rooted in the tradition of his practice, and a creative interpreter of stories that need to be experienced – Akram Khan has revolutionised the world of dance.

Khan returns to his roots, to his traditions, and to his past – to a time when we were more connected with nature, Mother Earth and our mythology. Gigenis evokes the memories of our civilization.

In his new artistic chapter, Khan shares the stage alongside an ensemble of six renowned artists of Indian classical dance and seven live musicians.

Running Time: approximately 1 hour 30 minutes

UK Premiere

Teac Da?sa, the Dance and Theatre company based in Ireland’s West Kerry Gaeltacht bring together familiar and new collaborators to make NOBODADDY. An original work inviting audiences and performers on a journey to quieten some of the tyrannies that arrest us.
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Led by choreographer and Sadlers Wells Associate Artist, Michael Keegan-Dolan in collaboration with renowned folk singer Sam Amidon and an international company of dancers and musicians, NOBODADDY will confront the flat-line experience of cynicism, manipulation, exploitation and violence.

Matthew Bourne’s audacious, rule-breaking reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece caused a sensation when it premiered almost 30 years ago. It has now become the most successful dance theatre production of all time, creating new audiences and inspiring generations of young dancers. In celebration of that ongoing impact, Swan Lake will take flight once more in a major new revival for the next generation of dancers, and for audiences who will experience it for the very first time.

First staged at Sadler’s Wells in London in 1995, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake took the dance theatre world by storm becoming the longest running full-length dance classic in the West End and on Broadway. It has since been performed across the globe, collecting over thirty international accolades including the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and three Tony Awards for Best Director of a Musical, Best Choreography and Best Costume Design.

Running Time: 2 hours 20 minutes (including one 20 minute interval)

Children under five are not allowed to attend this performance and some scenes may not be suitable for young children.

Audio Described Performance: Sat 11 January at 2:30pm
Touch Tour: Sat 11 January at 2:30pm