Past Event

Click to expand

Event Description:

Find out about the history of Black dancers in British ballet in our brand new exhibition, Into the Light at High Wycombe Library.

Black dancers have been present in British ballet from at least the 1940s onwards when two Jamaicans formed Les Ballets Nègres in 1946. However, the presence and contribution of these pioneers has been largely forgotten in Britain. Into the Light: The Pioneers of Black British Ballet exhibition aims to change this by celebrating the lives of these trailblazers. The exhibition brings together archive photography, film, newspaper articles and posters alongside new video and audio interviews to trace the history of Black British ballet from the 1940s to the present. This ground-breaking exhibition, funded by The National Lottery Heritage Fund, is brought to you by Libraries Connected and Oxygen Arts’ Black British Ballet project. Visit today to hear the stories of our Black British ballet pioneers, from those who were denied work in the UK to those who finally managed to smash the colour bar in Britain’s biggest companies.

A Rekindle supported event. The Black British Ballet project is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Arts Council England, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ Windrush Day Fund and the Black Funding Network. It is delivered in partnership with English National Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, The Royal Ballet, Royal Academy of Dance, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Central School of Ballet and Kidbrooke Community Hub.

* Event details accurate at the time of publishing; please check the organiser's website for the latest updates.

Event Location:

High Wycombe Library

You Might Also Like

Looking for more things to do? Here are a few other events going on around Bucks that we think you’ll love.