| Code | DS/UK/23526 |
| Name | Ballet Black (2001) |
| Dates | 2001 |
| Gender | Group (Mixed) |
| Place of Birth/Origin | London, England, United Kingdom (formed) |
| Relationships | Cassa Pancho MBE - founder and Artistic Director,
Denzil Bailey - founder
Members:
Jose Alves,
Isabela Coracy,
Sayaka Ickikawa,
Marie Astrid Mence,
Mthuthuzeli November,
Cira Robinson
Original Members:
Frederic Claudel,
Celia Grannum,
Florence Kollie,
Sia Kpakiwa,
Gerrard Martin,
Jake Nwogu |
| Biography | Cassa Pancho's Ballet Black is a British ballet company. It was founded by Cassa Pancho MBE as a response to the lack of professional Black and Asian ballet dancers in the UK. The Company was to provide dancers and students of black and Asian descent with inspiring opportunities in classical ballet. Based in Marylebone, London, Ballet Black are a touring company with 8 dancers and an extensive repertoire of specially commissioned choreography from both established and emerging choreographers.
In addition to the professional performing company, Ballet Black also has a junior ballet school for ages 3 to 18. The classes are held in West London and the teachers include director Cassa Pancho and Senior Artist Cira Robinson. The junior school is a key part of the work of Ballet Black, and is essential to creating, building and sustaining the future of diversity in ballet.
Ballet Black have been nominated for several awards including The Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, Sky Arts, and Oliviers. In the 2012 National Dance Awards they won the Grishko Award for the Best Independent Company, and in the 2018 awards their dancer José Alves won Outstanding Male Dancer in Classical Performance, while Cathy Marston won Best Classical Choreography, both for work on The Suit. Other nominations included the company's Arthur Pita's nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in Dance in 2014 for his choreography of A Dream Within A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the same piece receiving a nomination for the 2015 Sky Arts award for dance.
A collaboration with dance shoe company Freed of London was announced in 2018. Freed added two new colours, "Ballet Bronze" and "Ballet Brown" to their range of pointe shoes. This meant that dancers with skin colours other than white would no longer have to pancake their shoes with foundation to make them match their skin tones.
Senior Artists Cira Robinson and Mthuthuzeli November danced as part of Stormzy's headlining act on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival 2019. |