‘Peaky Blinders is our Nutcracker’: how Rambert is dragging dance into the present

On 15 June 1926 Marie Rambert staged A Tragedy of Fashion at the Lyric in Hammersmith, a modest debut that grew into Britain’s oldest dance company. Rambert, a Polish émigré who had worked with Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, became known as a talent spotter who nurtured choreographers including Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor.

Benoit Swan Pouffer, the company’s current artistic director, says she was “a pioneer” and notes that the company today would have been unrecognisable to her. Under Pouffer’s leadership since 2018, Rambert has shifted further into contemporary and experimental work while opening up to new audiences.

For its centenary the company is touring very current pieces by groups such as (La)Horde and choreographers including Bobbi Jene Smith, Or Schraiber and Emma Evelein, reflecting Pouffer’s stated aim of pushing boundaries and giving space to new voices.

United Kingdom, Hammersmith

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