Sadler’s Wells East – Our Mighty Groove
Sadler’s Wells East, the newest theatre in London purpose built for dance, got going with Our Mighty Groove, hip hop for all
Sadler’s Wells East has opened if not with a bang, then with a jolly club night entitled Our Mighty Grove, a part-immersive show devised by Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu that brings together professional dancers from her Uchenna Dance and young hopefuls from East London.
It was a clear statement of intent: Sadler’s Wells East will be a buzzing creative hub centred on the local community and welcoming to all.
Set in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, which emerged from a derelict industrial site to host the 2012 London Olympics and has continued to develop ever since, Sadler’s Wells East is a brand new, purpose built theatre for dance.
It sits within a cluster of cultural buildings – BBC music studios, V & A East – in the shadow of the more demotic London Aquatics Centre and the West Ham United Football Stadium, whose fans, we’re told by CEO Britannia Morton, are more than welcome to pop in for a pint or two before or after the match.
They are very much included in the spirit of the welcome spelled out in big red neon letters above the entrance.
Inside, architects O’Donnell + Tuomey worked to clear and detailed specifications to create at street level a multi-functional 550-seat theatre, bar and café, spacious glass fronted, light-filled foyers with outdoor space (weather permitting) and a designated space that doubles as a play area for children and a public performance space.
On the floors above there are six studios that attend to dancers’ every need, from temperature controlled to an optimum level, especially devised lighting and access to outdoor space for a breather (or, whisper it, a gasper…).
Sadler’s Wells East’s stated aim is to present an eclectic, all-inclusive programme ranging “from hip hop to ballet, rave to rhumba, kathak to krumping”.
And because it also hosts the Academy Breakin’ Convention – one of Sadler’s Wells most successful initiatives, the sell out Breakin’ Convention festival, has been going from strength to strength for two decades – it made sense that the initial show at Sadler’s Wells East should be a hip hop one.
Our Mighty Groove is a show in two short halves. For the first half-hour you take your seat in the splendid auditorium, whose steep rake provides enviable sight lines, and watch the performers, both professional and amateur, do their thing to the beat of the live DJ.
Embodying flimsy characters in an underground club, each dancer shows his or her breakin’ speciality, with Dani Harris-Waters and Cache Thake particularly eye-catching; until, that is, Igbokwe-Ozoagu, resplendent in bright red sequins and multiple strands of pearls, puts in an appearance briefly to steal the show.
During a 40-minute break the theatre’s versatility comes to the fore. With the seats retracted, it becomes a vast club area were punters stand around a raised circular stage to watch a vibrant all round display, before being encouraged to try out a simple step and break or two.
This immersive club half of the show felt a lot more vibrant and alive than the first half, which could have been tighter in both choreography and characterisation, and never really got the crowd going.
No matter: the fourth and latest outpost of Sadler’s Wells growing dance empire is up and running. It looks stupendous and promises much.
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit; Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu, Our Mighty Groove, Image: Rich Lakos)
Full information about Sadler’s Wells East including forthcoming shows here