Celebrating their eighteenth year there’s always an excitement when Ballet Black takes to the stage. Their popular programme contrasts dramatic and inventive storytelling in a lively showcase of modern ballets, returning for their second year at DanceXchange.

Ingoma (Song), created by company dancer and choreographer Mthuthuzeli November is a fusion of ballet, African dance and singing. This Barbican co-commission portrays a milestone moment in South African history and imagines the struggles of black miners and their families in 1946, when 60,000 of them took courageous strike action.

Ballet Black reprise Martin Lawrance’s “wickedly intelligent” (The Guardian) Pendulum – an intimate duet which premiered in 2009 and the choreographer’s first work made for the company. An original, light-hearted work by Scottish Ballet’s choreographer-in-residence, Sophie Laplane, also a premiere, completes the Triple Bill.

Ballet Black is funded by Arts Council England and with support from The Sackler Trust, The Leathersellers’ Company Charitable Fund and generous personal donations.

Choreography / Mthuthuzeli November and Luca Silvestrini

Lighting design / David Plater

Designer / Yann Seabra

Composer Ingoma / Peter Johnson