Last Updated on October 8, 2025
Black Dance-Makers Point to the Future
3.5 out of 5.0 starsFive young Black women choreographers came together for two evenings of Draft Works marking The Royal Ballet’s association with Black History Month; and the first thing to note is the sheer abundance of ideas on show. That, and the obvious talent of these young women, most of them barely past 20-years-old.
In his introduction, Royal Ballet Principal Marcelino Sambé, who curated the programme, described the women’s voices as simultaneously powerful and vulnerable, adding that, in his view, they were the future of dance.
On the basis of what followed I wouldn’t quibble with that. Of course, not everything was perfect – how could it be? But I would argue that all five pieces were promising in one way or another.
READ OUR INTERVIEW WITH MARCELINO SAMBÉ HERE
Take In Ascendance, by Rebecca Myles Steward, which opened the evening.
A piece for eight dancers, performed with tremendous panache by Myles Stewart’s colleagues from the lower ranks of The Royal Ballet, its language was that of classical ballet – pure lines, rounded port de bras – the movement soft and elastic, ensemble sequences alternating with lofty duets.
American-born Myles Stewart joined the company last season straight out school; yet she shows a very mature awareness of space and how to make bodies flow within in. By setting In Ascendance to two African American voices, the contralto Marian Anderson with the spiritual Deep River, and the soprano Leontyne Price interpreting Schubert’s Ave Maria, she sought to instil a note of emotional spirituality into the piece, and mostly succeeded in doing so.
Grey Picket Fence by Blue Makwana is a piece of dance theatre still, we’re told, in development. A prologue where the dancers lip-sync to recorded dialogue sets the scene: a parting couple are about to sign the divorce papers brought by two vaguely sinister lawyers, while their unsuspecting son lies on the floor reading a book.
The dance that follows carries all the bitterness and mutual dislike of a relationship gone wrong in jerky, aggressive, confrontational movement, set to a medley of music by Black composers. At times the lawyers return further to darken the atmosphere.
Its format and some of its spikier movement clearly inspired by Crystal Pite’s The Statement (and there’s nothing wrong with that), Grey Picket Fence is an interesting idea that still needs shaping and tightening.
Isabela Coracy is currently the doyenne of Ballet Black, a dancer who, over the years, has offered her audiences memorable performances, but who has just started to choreograph. She created Creatures for Ballet Black and it was performed here by three of the company’s dancers.
I found this the most enthralling piece of the evening, not because it was perfect – it was, for one thing, far too long – but for its physicality and raw animal energy. Danced to a pulsating score by Paul Calderone, there’s more than a touch of the wild about it, the sense of an imminent, yet controlled, explosion. Coracy is originally from Brazil and the sheer vitality of her culture shone through.
Christ Alone (Excerpt) I frankly couldn’t handle. Elisabeth Mulenga, whose heritage is German/Zambian, grew up within a Pentecostal church, and she has a lot of traumas to clear up, a lot of demons to exorcise. Christ Alone, performed against banks of flickering candles to a nerve-shredding sound score (Damsel Elysium), is good at creating a disquieting gothic atmosphere, enhanced by the trance-like posture of its three women and the skulking of an overbearing male figure.
However, there is no dance nor progression in it. Again, a potentially good idea that needs shaping.
The evening ended much like it started, with a limpid piece of choreography, this time by the hugely promising Hannah Joseph, whose young age belies her experience. We saw work by her in last year’s Legacy programme and also in last season’s performances by the Royal Ballet School.
Kaleidoscope of Time set to a mellow medley of Black music, is less experimental than previous works, but there are little touches of newness particularly in her use of the arms.
She wanted the piece to be seen rather like a watercolour where the hues seeped into each other, and her smooth movement achieved that effect, terrifically served by four remarkable young Royal Ballet dancers: Casper Lench, Emile Gooding, Marianna Tsembenhoi and Amelia Townsend.
In conclusion, Black History Month Draft Works offered a fascinating programme with much to admire. I look forward to seeing these young women’s work elsewhere before too long.
Black History Month Draft Works ran at the RBO Clore Studio 06/10 and 07/10
RBO
Bow Street
London WC2E 9DD
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