Famously a favourite of Princess Diana who served as a patron of the company, the original incarnation of London City Ballet ran from 1978 to 1996, becoming a fixture of the British dance landscape. It was revived in style last year by new Artistic Director Christopher Marney, a former dancer who brought the company on a highly acclaimed UK and international tour. The company is returning for 2025 with a new repertoire on their biggest tour yet.

Marney notes of the original incarnation of the ballet: “London City Ballet was formerly the resident company of Sadler’s Wells. They grew a fond and loyal audience around the country by touring to venues in towns and cities where other dance companies dared not!

"Their reach was important because they engaged new audiences with excellent quality dance and built a foundation with a wide public.”

Returning after a nearly thirty year hiatus, London City Ballet emerged into a radically altered dance scene, as Marney discusses: “I noticed that many of our wonderful venues around the UK were under-served by dance. Theatres had bustling programmes of plays and musicals but little on offer to dance audiences.”

The aim of the revitalised London City Ballet, then, was to address that issue: “I was keen to help facilitate this by building the model of a ballet company that was tour-able whilst still providing world class talent and repertoire onstage.”

Marney’s connection to the original company is clear, having inspired his own career in dance, noting that “I would see them often as a child so had always harboured the desire to rebuild the company and get it back on the road.” Despite this reverence for the original form, he was also clear about the need to reflect the world in which we now live: “This time around I wanted to make it adept for the times we are living in but still retaining the original ethos of bringing top drawer choreographer’s work and international dancers to regional theatres.”

The experience of reviving London City Ballet in 2024 was therefore a highly meaningful one, not just for Marney but also for the dedicated audience of English ballet: “It was a heartwarming return and we felt so welcome by the audiences around the country. Some were formerly avid London City Ballet followers thirty years ago remembering what the company stood for and many were new audience members seeing us for the first time. We opened the performance with projected images telling the story of the company’s beginnings which set the scene well and this was always met with great audience response.” In all, the company toured to 17 venues across three different continents in 2024.

London City Ballet is committed to bringing dance to audiences far and wide - a subject of passion for Marney, who states: “I am committed to keeping the company active and introducing people to revivals of works they have not seen before. When we arrive in a theatre we try to provide engagement opportunities around the performance which includes participatory workshops and opportunities for audiences to watch the dancers in their daily warm-up ballet class before the performance.”

As London City Ballet returns for 2025, Marney teases what audiences can expect from this new programme: “A mix of classical based work with a new contemporary creation made specially for the company. We will bring a ballet by George Balanchine which has never been seen in the UK and is highly anticipated. It has something for all the family and is a perfect introduction to dance with bite-sized pieces that are relatable through the portrayal of the company’s wonderful dancers.”

Marney is particularly excited to see Alexei Ratmansky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition’, which brought to life in the UK for the first time here as part of the mixed bill: “It is set against a backdrop of projected masterpieces by Kandinsky and the dancers onstage truly bring the art to life. It’s a spectacular work.”

The company members themselves remain of paramount importance too, with Marney enthusing over the troupe of dancers he has assembled for this year’s tour: “The performance is an opportunity to witness thrilling talented dancers hailing from all over the globe, many who are new to the dance scene in the UK. From experienced Principal dancers to emerging young UK talent, it’s a real showcase for their technical prowess and unique artistic qualities.” Marney sums it up neatly - “It makes for an exciting mix”.

London City Ballet’s Momentum is at York Theatre Royal from Fri 14 November – Sat 15 November.

Find out more information and book your tickets here.