English National Ballet, founded to take ballet beyond Covent Garden, brought its score-driven new bill Rhythm Riot to Sadler's Wells this autumn.
English National Ballet brought Rhythm Riot, a bill of new and recent work, to Sadler’s Wells Theatre in Angel from Thursday 24 September to Saturday 3 October 2026.
Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin founded the company in 1950 as Festival Ballet. Its principle was to tour the seaside towns and provincial theatres, taking the repertoire to people who could not get to Covent Garden. It still tours.
Aaron S. Watkin has directed the company since 2023, from a purpose-built home in Canning Town. He spent fifteen years at Dresden Semperoper Ballett before that, and in London he has commissioned new work rather than only reviving old work.
Rhythm Riot came out of that commissioning: pieces in which the score drives the dance rather than a story. The repertoire had long rested on the Nutcracker, and this bill set more new work against fewer revivals.
Jae Man Joo choreographed part of the programme. He talked about the pieces in a post-show conversation on the second night.
The run closed Sadler’s Wells’ season of visiting companies, after San Francisco Ballet and Alvin Ailey earlier in the month. English National Ballet was the only London company of the three.