Ballet Black at 25

Ballet Black at 25 is the company's anniversary double bill, celebrating twenty-five years of bringing ballet to wider and more diverse audiences. The programme pairs Ingoma, Mthuthuzeli November's Olivier Award-winning work inspired by the 1946 South African miners' strike, with a new commission from American choreographer Hope Boykin marking Ballet Black's milestone year.

Ingoma, which received its world premiere at the Barbican in 2019, draws on the suffering and solidarity of Black miners under the apartheid system, channelling historical trauma into visceral choreography set to a score by Peter Johnson. The work won the 2020 Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production and a Black British Theatre Award for Best Dance Production, establishing November as one of the most compelling voices in British dance.

Joining it is ...all towards hope, a new work from Hope Boykin making her UK choreographic debut with Ballet Black. Set to music by Bill Laurance, the piece is a celebratory, abstract work that reflects on the hope, vision and resilience that have sustained the company across a quarter century. Blending neoclassical, contemporary, and jazz-inflected movement, it captures something of Ballet Black's singular character.

The double bill tours across the UK through spring and summer 2026, visiting venues including the Lowry in Salford, Oxford Playhouse, Leeds Playhouse, Hackney Empire in London, and the Festival Theatre in Edinburgh.