Christopher Marney is a brave man. At a time when many dance companies are struggling economically, Marney has revived London City Ballet, a company founded in 1978 by Harold King, a personable South African who without having proper funding in place launched the company when he was still in his twenties. For more than a decade, Diana, Princess of Wales was its patron. The company leapt through many problematic financial hoops until finally closing its doors in 1996.
Marney has been more prudent.
It has been two years in the planning, and I was adamant not to announce the company until I was fully ready to do it on the scale that felt necessary. I didn’t want to drip feed it and so I worked hard and waited, then when I thought I was ready, I waited longer so I could raise more money and programme more performances.
The first tour is impressive – currently on an eight-city tour of China after various English cities, the company arrives in London at Sadler’s Wells (11-14 September) and then New York’s Joyce Theatre (17-22 September).
I knew Sadler’s Wells was the place to bring the company back to life as it had been the former home of London City Ballet and so I spoke to [Artistic Director] Alistair Spalding about my ideas and was so encouraged by his enthusiasm and offer to programme the company.
I feel very grateful to have had so much trust, also from international venues whom I was unknown to. They liked the idea of a forward-thinking company with strong repertoire and a cohort of international dancers from a diverse background of training and experience.
So why did bringing London City Ballet back to life seem like a good idea?
I spoke to many of the UK venues that London City Ballet once toured to, and it seemed these days few British ballet companies are passing through them. It’s a difficult climate for arts organisations – touring can be expensive and is often the element that suffers.
Large-scale companies cannot necessarily fit into the mid-scale venues I was looking at – the glorious Playhouse’s and Theatre Royals of the UK. They all have a great offer but have become under-represented with dance. Seeing as London City Ballet is a flexible company of 14 dancers with a mouldable repertoire that suits a variety of different stages it felt like a model that could work.
London City Ballet is certainly a good name for posters and for publicising international tours, but why adopt a name that had already been used?
My first experience witnessing ballet was outside of London, in Hornchurch, Essex, and it was actually London City Ballet – that was my introduction! It was 1991 and they were touring with Cinderella. It quickly became the company my parents helped me to follow and one of great importance as it encouraged my future career in dance. This is why touring is an essential part of my vision now the access it provides for communities outside the capital was imperative to my experience.
Its then artistic director was Harold King who died in 2020. Did you ever meet the founder of the original company?
I met Harold King on several occasions throughout my career – first whilst a student at Central School of Ballet then later, when I came to direct the school, I would invite him to watch performances.
His personality was infectious, and I related to many of his ideals around dance and providing opportunities for performers and audiences. When I was thinking about building a company so much of the ethos aligned with what the old company stood for and so I started to think about what bringing a company back, but for a new generation, may look like. It had a history that felt too important to lose.
The blurb on the site says that the company was “sensitively reformed”.
I wanted to ensure I reached out to as many people who were involved at the time as I could. This included former board members, dancers, and particularly Heather Knight, the former administrative director. I wanted to soundboard the idea with them before actioning anything. The resounding response was of positivity that the company that they loved and worked so hard to keep afloat would return. I hope to think Harold would be smiling with the knowledge that his legacy is continuing.
Of course, you’ve already had experience in running a company.
Yes, for six years I ran Ballet Central, the graduate touring programme, as well as the Joffrey Ballet Studio Company in Chicago. My role as director of these organisations focused on the day-to-day running of a touring company, the programming of performances, tour booking, budgeting, recruiting and then the artistic side of teaching class and rehearsing the dancers. It has held me in good stead for starting up from scratch.
The touring company, Ballet Central, was created in 1984 by London’s Central School of Ballet, the school founded by dancer and actor Christopher Gable. Marney graduated from Central School of Ballet in 1999, and Gable became an important figure in his life.
When I started at Central, I had come from a background where I was interested in many areas of the theatre – not only dance but music, acting, and what I learnt from Christopher was that all of these things can and should play a part in your role as an artist. I had never thought of it that way and it influenced my approach right from the age of 16.
I realised if I knew as much as I could about the music, what the choreographer had been inspired by or what I was trying to say with my character then those elements will make me different. Christopher’s journey was a huge inspiration. He was a principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, an actor with the RSC, an on-screen performer in musicals, plus a choreographer and the director of a ballet company! I realised it was possible to use this amazing training to evolve from one thing to the next, and the next.
You were already in China for only the company’s seventh show. That seems unusual.
After we launched last year, I was contacted by a production company that once brought London City Ballet to China in the 1990s! We worked together to create an eight-city tour that reflected the ethos I wanted to carry with me of taking the company not only to the main cities, but also reaching places that do not ordinarily have access to live dance.
As I write this we are in an ancient city in the region of Guangdong and are expecting a full house tonight to see a programme of British choreographers’ work.
You are also a choreographer. Are any of your pieces being performed in the inaugural programme?
This year I have included one of my works, Eve, because I feel the latter half of it and its onward journey (into the unknown!) reflects what I am aspiring to do with the company, but I do not see London City Ballet as being a vehicle for my own choreography.
So how did you choose the works for your first tour?
I am usually most drawn to and moved by work that has a narrative or intention to it. As an audience member, I feel most connected when I can find a theme in the work or a relationship between people onstage. I also knew that the vision behind the programming would be about the revival of works that are rarely seen by audiences.
Being driven by researching works that have fallen out of the repertoire I started to explore lesser-known pieces by choreographers that inspired me, such as Kenneth MacMillan. We have uncovered a one-act piece of his Ballade which was unseen since 1972. Other factors for choosing repertoire going forward will be bringing pieces that we do not often get to see in the UK. We will have one new work each year as it brings identity to the company having work made on the dancers, though creations will not be my main focus.
The company’s Resurgence tour sees its 14 dancers performing Ashley Page‘s Larina Waltz (the ballet’s 30th anniversary); Five Dances, a new work from Olivier award-winner Arielle Smith; Marney’s Eve, which premiered at Sadler’s Wells in 2022; and MacMillan’s Ballade.
How did you find your dancers?
We held a global search with almost a thousand applicants. We gave the opportunity ‘to be seen’ to as many as possible and the final round of auditions consisted of not only class, but repertoire workshops so we could really get to know the dancers. We chose eight dancers through this process.
The remainder of dancers I invited from having worked with them in different places throughout my career. We have a wonderful line-up of artists ranging from graduates to experienced principal dancers. All of them are unique, exciting artists from different backgrounds and I feel proud to think that they have believed in the vision and trusted in something new.
Has Brexit caused any complications with having dancers from all over the world on tour?
The part that it has sadly made more complex is the restriction placed on dancers moving freely through Europe. Now if I want to employ a dancer from say, Paris, they need the same visa as a dancer coming from Australia. It is no longer a time when freelance, project-based dancers can take on different contracts abroad and move as easily around the world.
That said, I am proud to say that at London City Ballet we have made this possible – it was very important to me that we could give opportunities to all, regardless of location or background.
What contracts are they on?
The company will run to six/seven months for the first three years. Starting a year-round company from scratch would not have been financially viable and this way I can foresee longevity in the planning and a chance to develop each season.
And what are your plans for future seasons… your plans for the company?
I don’t wish to grow in numbers. If we suddenly shot up to 30 dancers, we would not be staying true to the chamber, small cast works I wish to revive or, in fact, the intimate theatre’s I want to play.
The growth of the company in my eyes will be expanding its access to incorporate more venues in the UK, reaching more audiences internationally, keeping it affordable for everyone to attend who wishes to and investing in the repertoire so we can be ambitious with programming and production values.
Small is beautiful!
Booking for Sadler’s Wells, London and the Joyce Theater, New York
You can find out more about London City Ballet on YouTube and Instagram.
Related
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan, aka ‘Gramilano’. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times. He wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on ‘Codice Carla’, 2023’s documentary on Carla Fracci.