Royal Docks Originals 2027 Dance Commission

Royal Docks Originals 2027 headline commission will be a landmark, mass participation promenade dance work in Royal Victoria's iconic land and waterscape, co-produced by Royal Docks Originals and English National Ballet, based in London City Island, Canning Town.

The large-scale work will bring hundreds of local community and professional performers together with dancers from English National Ballet. The piece will respond to themes of the 2027 festival concerning Royal Docks’ histories, identities and futures inspired by area’s changing landscape and key cultural references in 2027. This commission will provide an opportunity to explore what the Royal Dock’s past means for people who live and work together here in one of London’s youngest and most diverse communities and to imagine a shared future shaped by the histories that have brought us here.

Unfolding across Royal Victoria, the piece will be a truly collaborative performance that blends ballet with hip-hop, contemporary, and a vibrant range of other dance styles, and which transforms the area into a dynamic stage, celebrating the identity, energy and diversity of Royal Docks communities and culminating in an uplifting moment of wonder and collective connection.

Join us

Local Community Groups
We are looking for local community groups to get involved. If you’re part of a group – a dance group, or a performing arts group or any other group that is interested in dancing! - and would like to find out more about how to get involved, please complete this expression of interest form

Local Residents
Love Moving? Love Dancing? Not part of a dance group but would like to take part as a community dancer?

We’d love to hear from you.

Please email rdo@royaldocks.london to find out more.

Coming soon

Over the next six months, we’ll be launching more opportunities to get involved, including:

• A call out for freelance professional dancers and dance artists from Newham and neighbouring boroughs

• Creative engagement projects for residents

• Volunteers: We’ll also be looking for volunteers to help with this event and across the wider festival.

Please sign up to the Royal Docks Newsletter to hear more about these opportunities as they launch.

About the project
Project Artistic Director, Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, is working with English National Ballet and Royal Docks Originals to create this major new commission. Jeanefer is an internationally acclaimed creative director known for creating mass outdoor spectacles, including the London 2012 Olympic Opening Ceremonies and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Pageant. Working alongside Jeanefer, are Lead Choreographer and former English National Ballet Soloist Jenna Lee and partners including East London Dance and Sadlers Wells East. The production will recruit more than 30 local dance groups and schools through open call-outs and workshops across the year. Together with local communities, the team will co-create a truly collaborative promenade performance that blends ballet with hip-hop, contemporary, and a vibrant range of other dance styles to celebrate local stories, explore shared histories, and reflect contemporary identities.

Of this new co-production, Anu Giri, Executive Director at English National Ballet, said: “We’re thrilled to be creating this landmark production, in partnership with Royal Docks Team, in our local borough of Newham. This ambitious new work will see hundreds of people come together to reflect on the area’s history and look forward to a hopeful future. At English National Ballet we believe in opening up the possibilities of ballet, creating new entry points to dance and making moving, meaningful experiences accessible to people wherever they are. This commission is an exciting opportunity to share the power of ballet with thousands of people and celebrate the vibrant creative communities in East London.”

Jeanefer Jean-Charles MBE, Project Artistic Director, said:
"I am thrilled to be working with English National Ballet and the Royal Docks team as Artistic Director for this major movement project. Having begun my career in Newham over 30 years ago, it feels particularly special to return for a project of this scale. Bringing communities together to create what I hope will be an unforgettable experience makes it all the more exciting.”