London City Ballet 2026 Season Preview
London City Ballet showcases the UK premiere of two exciting heritage works by John Neumeier and Glen Tetley
This article was first published on London Unattached
London City Ballet is one of the best things – if not even the best thing – to have happened to British ballet in the past couple of years. No wonder we are looking forward to its new season with breathless anticipation.
Quick recap: London City Ballet is the modern day iteration of the eponymous touring company that acquired considerable prestige towards the end of the 20th century – Diana, Princess of Wales became its patron – but had to fold due to unsustainable financial pressure in 1997.
Less than three decades later, London City Ballet (LCB) was reborn under the artistic directorship of dancer, choreographer, teacher and remarkably astute entrepreneur Christopher Marney.
London City Ballet – Two Whirlwind Years
Following the model of the original company, Marney’s LCB is essentially a mid-size touring company, its mission to bring new and heritage work to mid-scale venues in the UK and abroad.
London City Ballet’s first season in 2024 was so successful it immediately attracted enthusiastic audiences and culminated with the award of Best Independent Company at the Critics Circle National Dance Awards. In its second year, the company expanded its national and international reach, as well building an important relationship with the Baryshnikov Arts Centre in New York.
For its 2026 season, just unveiled, LCB plans to go even further. It’ll include two UK premieres of heritage works by the veteran former director of Hamburg Ballet, John Neumeier, and the American choreographer Glen Tetley, whose centenary is celebrated this year.
London City Ballet – The 2026 Season
John Neumeier’s Ghost Light is the product of the Covid lockdown and attests to the choreographer’s daring and inventiveness. A ghost light is a single light bulb that remains lit on an empty stage until the theatre comes alive again. It burned throughout the long lockdown, as a symbol of hopes for post-pandemic life; and it provided the inspiration for Neumeier’s Ghost Light, created in 2020 under Covid restrictions.
With touch restricted and dancers still confined to bubbles, Neumeier created a series of vignettes of pure dance, which he described as a series of “delicious miniatures.” The youthful octogenarian Neumeier is working with LCB on the UK premiere of Ghost Light, and with so little of his prolific work known in this country, this is something we are really looking forward to.
Also sadly neglected in the UK is the work of choreographer Glen Tetley. It’s true his approach is not to everybody’s taste; but he is an important figure in the panorama of contemporary dance. On his centenary he is being celebrated at The Royal Ballet, with the return of his absorbing Pierrot Lunaire, and also by London City Ballet, which has unearthed one of his more challenging pieces, Firebird.
Tetley uses the famous Stravinsky score, but eschews the Russian folk tale of the Firebird, the Tsarevich and the evil immortal Koschei. Instead, Tetley turns the tale into a Gothic soap opera about repression. Miss Hindberg is controlled by her stern father; there are six Furies that pop in and out of the action rather like a chorus; but eventually Miss Hindberg finds freedom and love with Mr Villumsen. By all accounts, the final wedding scene is spectacular, due in part to John Macfarlane’s designs.
LBC is reviving Glen Tetley’s Firebird in collaboration with Macfarlane himself, in a co-production with York Theatre Royal and Opera de Vichy France.
Choreographer Ashley Page featured in LCB’s very first programme, his Lerina Waltz proving the perfect showcase for the then brand new company. His association with LCB continues in 2026 – this time the piece featured is Mephisto Waltz (pictured top), set to the eponymous Liszt piano piece, which he created in 2021 for the graduating students of The Royal Ballet School.
Also part of LCB’s remit is to nurture young talent. Last season it presented the company debut by the promising choreographer Tasha Chu; the coming season will bring more from her.
This year the company expands to 16 dancers with the international star Alina Cojocaru returning for performances across the season.
LCB’s 2026 season kicks off in Budapest in May, after which it will tour internationally arriving at Sadler’s Wells on 22nd October. Full details of the tour will be announced in April, but for now, Londoners, save the date!
© Teresa Guerreiro
(Banner image credit: Yuria Isaka & Josué Gomez in Mephisto Waltz. Photography by ASH)
London City Ballet is at Sadler’s Wells 22 -24 October 2026. More info and tickets here