A leap forward for ballet’s new home

English National Ballet has secured a £3m investment from Arts Council for its new home on London City Island. It made the announcement at the same time as revealing its new 2018-19 season of productions at a press conference on the site of its new home.

The Company says it is thrilled to have been successful in its application, funded by the National Lottery, which will allow it to bring both English National Ballet and English National Ballet School together under one roof for the first time.

The new building, designed by architect Glenn Howells, will combine state-of-the-art training, fitness and rehab, teaching facilities, seven stage-sized rehearsal studios and a unique production studio with five-storey fly tower, unrivalled in the UK.

Tamara Rojo, Artistic Director, English National Ballet said:

“We will have state of the art spaces to allow us to further create ground-breaking new work and continue to develop our artform. It will be a space we will be able to share with other artists and artforms, and will allow us to be even more open and welcoming to our local communities and audience”

“We are so grateful to Arts Council England for their continued support and investment in our new home, which will be a space that will echo the sound of creative Britain. It will be a place where artists will be nurtured from school to beyond their stage careers, and where our continued commitment to their health and fitness will have the best possible infrastructure.”

John Mulryan, UK Managing Director of Ballymore Group said:

“This partnership demonstrates our deep commitment to establishing London City Island as one of the most exciting new destinations in London and we are honoured that the English National Ballet, a truly inspiring artistic institution, has decided to make its new permanent home there. Recognition and sales for London City Island so far have been outstanding and we are confident that this partnership will help us to create a very special sense of place; a vibrant, dynamic new neighbourhood with creative innovation at its heart”.

One of the first new productions to be created in the Company’s new home is from multi award- winning choreographer Christopher Wheeldon, who premieres a new in-the-round version of Cinderella in June 2019 at the Royal Albert Hall.