Cassa Pancho's Ballet Black is a British ballet company. It was founded by Cassa Pancho MBE in 2001 as a response to the lack of professional Black and Asian ballet dancers in the UK. The Company was established to provide dancers and students of black and Asian descent with inspiring opportunities in classical ballet.[1]. In addition to company Founder, Artistic Director Cassa Pancho (who also choreographed and danced in early years of BB) the ballet black founding members included Denzil Bailey (ballet master, dancer and choreographer), Celia Grannum Perarnaud (dancer), Sia Kpakiwa (Kiwa) (dancer), Florence Raja (née Kollie), Jake Nwogu (dancer), Gerrard Martin (dancer) and Frederic Claudel (dancer). Based in Marylebone, London, Ballet Black are a touring company with 10 dancers and an extensive repertoire of specially commissioned choreography (more than 65 new works) from both established and emerging choreographers.

Ballet Black achieved charity status in 2004.[2] Its patrons are Thandiwe Newton OBE and Kwame Kwei-Armah OBE, and Althea Efunshile is the chair of the trustees.[3] Arts Council England made Ballet Black a National Portfolio Organisation (NPO) for 2018-2022 and awarded them £880,000.[4]

In addition to the professional performing company, Ballet Black also has 3 BB Junior Ballet School locations, based in London, for ages 3 to 18. The classes are held in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Marylebone and Stratford and the teachers include artistic director Cassa Pancho and Senior Artist Isabela Coracy. 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. The company has made a list of actions resources available on their website so that other companies and dance schools can made active steps to become inclusive and anti-racist.[5]

Ballet Black have been nominated for and have won numerous dance awards[6] including The Critics' Circle National Dance Awards, Sky Arts, and Oliviers. In the 2012 National Dance Awards (announced Jan 2013) they won the Grishko Award for the Best Independent Company,[7] 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.[8] 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,[9] and the same piece receiving a nomination for the 2015 Sky Arts award for dance.[10]

Ballet Black have featured in documentaries including The South Bank Show in 2016 and BBC Four's Danceworks.[11][12]

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. Over a year a professional dancer gets through many pairs of shoes, sometimes a pair per performance as well as those used for daily classes and rehearsals, so the saved labour and expense for many Black and Asian dancers is incalculable.[13]

Senior Artists Cira Robinson and Mthuthuzeli November danced as part of Stormzy's headlining act on the Pyramid stage at Glastonbury Festival 2019.[14][15] Pancho also choreographed the Ballet Black inclusion in the 2023 Eurovision Final broadcast on the BBC. The introductory film joined the reigning winners Ukraine with the UK city of Liverpool who presented the event due to the Ukrainian war with Russia at that time.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "History". Ballet Black. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  2. ↑ "Ballet Black, registered charity no. 1101599". Charity Commission for England and Wales. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  3. ↑ "Board of Trustees". Ballet Black. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  4. ↑ "Interactive map: our funded organisations, 2018-2022 | Arts Council England". www.artscouncil.org.uk. Retrieved 23 August 2020. Ballet Black - Discipline: Dance - Total investment 2018-2022: £880,000.00 - Type of organisation: National Portfolio Organisation
  5. ↑ "Ballet Black Equality Resources for your Dance Company or School". Ballet Black. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  6. ↑ https://balletblack.co.uk/the-company/about-us/
  7. ↑ "The 13th National Dance Awards". The Critics' Circle. 29 January 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  8. ↑ Jones, Rick (19 February 2019). "The Dance Awards". The Critics' Circle. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  9. ↑ "Olivier Awards – Nominations 2014". WestEndTheatre.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  10. ↑ "South Bank Sky Arts Awards – Nominations 2015". WestEndTheatre.com. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  11. ↑ "The South Bank Show: Season 6". Sky. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  12. ↑ "Danceworks". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC Four. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Ballet Black". Freed of London. 4 December 2018. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  14. ↑ "Glastonbury Festival - 2019". Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  15. ↑ "Ballet Black at Glasto". BalletcoForum. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
  • Interviews on Radio 4's Woman's Hour
"BBC - Radio 4 Woman's Hour -Ballet Black". www.bbc.co.uk. 25 February 2009. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
"Woman's Hour: Today is our 70th birthday!". www.bbc.co.uk. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
"Woman's Hour: Office Cleaners, Cassa Pancho, Jackie Kay". www.bbc.co.uk. 27 May 2020. Retrieved 23 August 2020.
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