Sadler’s Wells has announced plans to open a new hip hop theatre academy for 16 to 19 year olds. Students will be breakdancing, DJing and popping their way into a two-year diploma.
The academy is part of a new expansion for the dance organisation. A major new venue is being built as part of the East Bank development in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Sadler’s Wells East, the organisation’s fourth London locale, will open in 2023. The first students will begin their courses in 2024.
Learning
Students will also learn rapping, beatmaking and graffiti under the tutelage of Jonzi D, who has been appointed artistic director of the new academy. Jonzi is known for influencing the development of the UK hip-hop dance and theatre scene for the past 20 years.
Deputy Mayor for Culture and the Creative Industries, Justine Simons, has welcomed the move. She has said that this expansion will play a huge role in London’s economic recovery following the pandemic.
Olympic Park
The Olympic Park location is particularly apt, with breaking to feature as an Olympic sport for the first time at Paris 2024.
We can’t wait to join the thriving creative community of Stratford, and so we’ve got some exciting updates on our new venue Sadler’s Wells East which will open in 2023.
Follow this thread for full info ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/Y1GbdgatFy
— Sadler's Wells (@Sadlers_Wells) November 9, 2021
Dani Blair, a dance teacher at Gravity Performing Arts in East London, is excited about the new theatre opportunities on her doorstep: “Besides after school clubs, there’s not really anything in that area with such a dense population. I think it’s gonna be fantastic.”
Although this addition to the east end has been praised for expanding arts opportunities, Dani does acknowledge that the new venture may have some impact on her own business: “Most of my students come from Stratford […] I’m sure it will have an effect as Sadler’s [Wells] is such a grand name and quite well known […] I do think it will have a knock-on effect.”
On the new development, Jonzi D said: “What I hope this building does is for all of these local east Londoners to come there, see something that they wouldn’t normally see, and I hope that that shapes their future for the rest of their life.”
