Sadler’s Wells has announced new shows for 2024 including the return of The Flamenco Festival, a mixed bill of ballet with London City Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, Broadway hit A Night with Janice Joplin, Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake and festive favourite The Snowman.
The Flamenco Festival returns to Sadler’s Wells this summer for its 19th edition, with seven UK premieres and thrilling performances from flamenco luminaries including Rocío Molina and Eva Yerbabuena and a programme of four works from Ballet Nacional de España.
London City Ballet and National Ballet of Canada perform mixed bills on the Sadler’s Wells stage. London City Ballet, a former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, makes its long-awaited return, with Alina Cojocaru appearing as a guest artist in a programme that includes pieces by Kenneth MacMillan, Ashley Page, Arielle Smith and London City Ballet’s Artistic Director, Christopher Marney. The National Ballet of Canada performs work by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist Crystal Pite, alongside fellow Canadian choreographers Emma Portner and James Kudelka.
Sadler’s Wells’ West End venue the Peacock Theatre welcomes music performances from The Opera Locos, presenting a comedy musical mashup for opera fans and novices; and A Night with Janis Joplin, honouring the legendary queen of rock & roll and her musical influences. STORIES – The Tap Dance Sensation is a spectacular show from France’s Got Talent finalists RB Dance Company that brings together urban jazz, tap dance and percussion.
And finally, New Adventures presents a stunning revival of Matthew Bourne’s multi-award-winning Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells; and the much-loved The Snowman returns to the Peacock Theatre to delight young audiences.
Sadler’s Wells 2024 show listings
Yllana – The Opera Locos
8 – 11 May | Peacock Theatre
Spanish company Yllana presents The Opera Locos, a musical mashup for opera fans and novices alike. Five colourful characters including Alfredo, a worn-out tenor with a glorious past and wild mezzo soprano Carmen, combine physical comedy and opera classics with pop hits – from Whitney Houston to Mika.
The Flamenco Festival 2024
Rocío Molina
Al Fondo Riela – UK PREMIERE
4 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Rocío Molina opens the Flamenco Festival 2024 with her trademark subversion of flamenco traditions. Using the original flamenco trio of dance, song and guitar, Al Fondo Riela is a piece about reflection and the loss of reality. On stage, she is accompanied by two contrasting guitarists, Eduardo Trassierra with his traditional, technical skill, and Yerai Cortés with his innovative flair.
Molina returns after her appearance at the Flamenco Festival in 2019, the same year she won the Critics’ Circle National Dance award for outstanding female performance. In 2022, she became the first flamenco dancer to win the Silver Lion at the Venice Biennale.
Vicente Amigo
In Concert – UK PREMIERE
5 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Premier flamenco guitarist and Latin Grammy Award-winner Vicente Amigo comes to Sadler’s Wells with a concert bridging classical and nuevo flamenco.
Dubbed one of the most accomplished guitarists of his generation, Amigo fuses jazz, folk and South American rhymes without losing the essence of flamenco.
Alfonso Losa & Patricia Guerrero
Alter Ego – UK PREMIERE
6 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Developed from a series of improvisations in the studio, virtuoso performers Patricia Guerrero and Alfonso Losa strip flamenco bare and explore personal connection in Alter Ego.
Guerrero draws geometric figures with her dance, dismantling her movements and recreating them anew. Losa develops new schemes without breaking the mould and stays true to his roots.
Eva Yerbabuena
Yerbagüena (bright dark) – UK PREMIERE
7-8 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Eva Yerbabuena reflects on her 20-year career in Yerbagüena, as she takes to the stage with her musical director, guitarist and husband, Paco Jarana, as well as two singers and two percussionists.
Her career has included an invitation from Pina Bausch to perform at the Tanztheater Wuppertal 25th anniversary festival, choreographing Mi Niña Manuela for the Ballet Nacional de España, and working with film director Mike Figgis, for the documentary Flamenco Women.
Yerbabuena is known for exploring the tension between traditional and nuevo flamenco, and most famously for her interpretations of the soleá – the dance of solitude.
Israel Fernández ft. Diego del Morao
In Concert – Pura Sangre – UK PREMIERE
9 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Celebrated flamenco musician Israel Fernández presents his latest album Pura Sangre in collaboration with renowned Jerez guitarist Diego del Morao.
In his most personal work to date, Pura Sangre is an intimate look at Fernández’s surroundings and his way of interacting with the outside world.
Fernández’s album Amor won the Premio Odeón and he has also been nominated for Best Flamenco Album in the Latin Grammy Awards.
David Coria & David Lagos Company
¡Fandango! – UK PREMIERE
10 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Choreographer David Coria and singer David Lagos converge in a contemporary interpretation of the fandango, a popular and festive musical style from Andalusia with more than 500 years of history. From flamenco to contemporary movement, traditional song to electronic music, ¡Fandango! draws on Iberian folk culture to celebrate Spanish history and tradition.
Coria has collaborated with numerous Spanish dance companies including Compañía Andaluza de Danza, Ballet Nacional de España, Rafaela Carrasco and Rocío Molina. Lagos won four awards at the Biennal of Flamenco in Seville in 2020 including the award for the best performance.
Ballet Nacional de España
Invocación – UK PREMIERE
12-15 June | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
Ballet Nacional de España’s Invocación features four works that cover the cornerstones of Spanish dance. Artistic Director Rubén Olmo curates this all-encompassing evening featuring vibrant flamenco, traditional bolero, contemporary dance and classical ballet.
De lo Flamenco is a tribute to the legendary dancer and choreographer Mario Maya. Olmo choreographs two works; Jauleña, performed by a different soloist from the company each night, and the colourful, ensemble piece, Invocación Bolera. Finally, Antonio Najarro’s Eterna Iberia features the signature elements of Spanish dance – castanets, the Spanish Cape, and the Cordobes Hat.
As one of the main cultural ambassadors of Spain to the world, Ballet Nacional de España highlights Spain’s rich choreographic heritage. The National Ballet, founded by the Ministry of Culture in 1978, continues to set the standard for Spanish dance.
A Night with Janis Joplin
20 August – 28 September | Peacock Theatre
A Night with Janis Joplin is a musical journey celebrating Janis Joplin and her biggest musical influences—icons like Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Odetta, Nina Simone and Bessie Smith.
Exploding onto the music scene in 1967, Janis Joplin became the queen of rock & roll almost overnight. The unmistakable voice, filled with raw emotion and tinged with Southern Comfort, made her a must-see headliner from Monterey to Woodstock. Written and directed by Randy Johnson, this award-winning show honouring Joplin and her inspirations comes to the Peacock Theatre direct from Broadway.
London City Ballet
Resurgence
11 – 14 September | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
London City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells, makes its long-awaited return to the world stage. Last seen almost 30 years ago, the international company of dancers are touring the world in 2024 with a programme of acclaimed works.
Internationally celebrated ballerina Alina Cojocaru appears as a guest artist in the revival of Kenneth MacMillan’s 1972 one-act ballet Ballade, unseen in Europe for over 50 years. Ashley Page’s Larina Waltz marks the ballet’s 30th anniversary, and Olivier Award-winner Arielle Smith premieres a new work. Eve, a full company work by Christopher Marney, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 2022 with Fabula Collective, will close the evening.
Artistic Director Christopher Marney has spent over a year rebuilding London City Ballet and these comeback performances remember the company’s roots in the form of rarely-seen archival footage.
The National Ballet of Canada
Frontiers: Choreographers of Canada
Pite/ Kudelka/ Portner – UK PREMIERE
2 – 6 October | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
The National Ballet of Canada presents a triple bill with works by three leading choreographers hailing from Canada: Crystal Pite, Emma Portner and James Kudelka.
Crystal Pite created Angels’ Atlas for the company in March 2020. The Dora Award-winning ballet unfolds against a morphing wall of light that carries the illusion of depth and a sense of the natural world. The dancing body becomes a sign of humanity’s limitations within a vast, unknowable world. The ballet is set to original music by Owen Belton and choral pieces by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and Morten Lauridsen.
Emma Portner presents islands, a sculptural duet for two women in which the dancers are joined, fusing their bodies together as one. The work is set to an eclectic compilation of music by contemporary artists as well as original music by Forest Swords, bringing together hip hop, dub, guitar loops and electronic sampling for a rhythmic, avant-garde sound.
James Kudelka’s Passion is a love story set to the first movement of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Concerto for Piano in D, Op. 61a. Two couples each stylistically unique – one classical, the other contemporary – weave within the Corps de Ballet, evoking complex relationships of passion.
RB Dance Company
STORIES – The Tap Dance Sensation – UK Premiere
23 October – 2 November| Peacock Theatre
Birmingham Rep’s The Snowman
23 November – Saturday 4 January 2025 | Peacock Theatre
New Adventures Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, The Next Generation
3 December 2024 – 26 January 2025 | Sadler’s Wells Theatre
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