Ensemble Festival 2025 at Royal Victoria Docks

Ensemble Festival 2025

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 July 12pm -8pm

Royal Victoria Docks, London, E16 1FA

Free Event

This July, Certain Blacks presents Ensemble Festival 2025 in London’s historic Royal Victoria Docks. Now in its sixth edition, this outdoor celebration of circus, dance, physical theatre and street art returns for two full days. It’s free, suitable for all and strives to be accessible.

Taking place once again at the Docklands waterside destination as with previous Ensemble events, 2025 highlights include Hydropunk, an interactive water installation by outdoor arts veterans Artizani alongside the sustainability-focused Tenderfoot Theatre, HUG by Levantes Dance Theatre - an aerial performance exploring the simple act of a hug. Waiting Song by circus director Mish Weaver is a trapeze duet reflecting on how hopes for the future shape the way we speak and move. Returning to Ensemble Festival, Olivier Award winner Francesca Baglione (aka Miss High Leg Kick) delivers a multi-sensory and wacky flashback to a night out at a 1950s dance hall in PALAIS DE DANSE, while Roots to Rise from Nandita Shankardass blends dance with poetry in a call to ecological and ancestral reconnection.

Inventive physical comedian Tiago Fonseca performs NoMo, a topical clown show about contemporary screen addiction and TELL ME by Sadiq Ali Co. addresses the stigma around HIV via circus, blending the breathtaking art of Chinese pole acrobatics with physical storytelling. Legendary theatre director David Glass joins forces with renowned artist Vidya Thirunarayan to co-present Holy Dirt uniting earth, myth and movement in a piece combining Indian performance styles with modern physical theatre forms, such as bouffon and melodrama. The Hide from Tilly Ingram offers an audio-led birdwatching installation with themes of hidden disability. Closing the weekend with radical joy, TRUTH by outdoor artists Ramshacklicious and inclusive theatre company Hijinxare are set to transform the docks into a revolutionary street theatre extravaganza.

With step-free access, accessible toilets, and a dedicated access team on site, Certain Blacks is committed to ensuring everyone feels supported at the Ensemble Festival with access provisions detailed on the Certain Blacks website. As well, Certain Blacks strive to make Ensemble Festival a greener event each year, the team resolved to reducing the environmental impact through sustainable practices around travel, energy use and materials, while encouraging artists to make low-emission choices and reduce waste wherever possible.

This year is particularly special as Ensemble Festival 2025 also marks the 10th anniversary of Certain Blacks. Over the past decade, the organisation has been recognised as a vital force in nurturing diverse talent and offering a national platform for underrepresented voices. From its base in East London, Certain Blacks has become firmly embedded in the region’s cultural fabric.

“Ensemble represents everything we're about at Certain Blacks. Our aim is to bring diverse artists from the margins into the mainstream, and with a number of new commissions which include Vidya Productions and David Glass with Holy Dirt and Miss High Leg Kick with PALAIS DE DANSE along with Certain Blacks supported Without Walls Commissions Sadiq Ali Co’ - TELL ME, Mish Weaver – Waiting Song and Levantes Theatre - HUG, we hope to present a truly engaging, spectacular and entertaining festival to mark 10 years of Certain Blacks” - Clive Lyttle, Artistic Director, Certain Blacks

The Ensemble Festival 2025 programme includes:

Artizani and Tenderfoot Theatre - Hydropunk

Outdoor arts veterans Artizani and sustainability-focused Tenderfoot Theatre come together in Hydropunk, an interactive water installation created with the public. A chaotic yet playful water machine cranks into motion in a striking environmental metaphor where everyone must work together to recycle water and keep the fun flowing. Supported by Without Walls, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender, and Brighton Festival.

Levantes Dance Theatre - HUG

HUG is a vibrant circus theatre performance that rediscovers the simple act of a hug. This work features an impressive sway pole that takes the artist high above the Royal Docks. Levantes Dance Theatre fuses aerial dance, physical theatre and bold visuals to explore our relationships with people, objects, and our surroundings. Supported by Without Walls, Certain Blacks, Stockton International Riverside Festival, Birmingham Weekender, and Brighton Festival.

Mish Weaver - Waiting Song

In Waiting Song, by circus director Mish Weaver, two trapeze artists suspended in mid-air engage in a melodic conversation about their hopes for the future. Dressed in sumptuous circus costumes and set to live music, they sway and sing in duet in a lyrical exploration of how anticipation shapes our emotions and actions. Supported by Without Walls, Certain Blacks, Birmingham Weekender, and Brighton Festival.

Miss High Leg Kick - PALAIS DE DANSE

This year sees the return of Olivier-winning live artist Francesca Baglione (aka, Miss High Leg Kick) with PALAIS DE DANSE, a multi-sensory flashback (with a modern ‘Twist’) to a night out in late 1950s British dance halls. The offbeat, interactive show with multi-generational appeal celebrates the collective excitement of teenage nights then and now. Supported by Certain Blacks.

Nandita Shankardass - Roots to Rise

A dance-theatre show by Nandita Shankardass, Roots to Rise blends movement, poetry, and music in a call to ecological action. This stirring performance is an invitation to reconnect with the earth, our ancestors, and with one another. Supported by Brighton Festival, Inspirate, and Stockton International Riverside Festival.

Tiago Fonseca - NoMo

The acclaimed physical comedian Tiago Fonseca comes to Ensemble Festival with NoMo, a clown show about the contemporary addiction to screens. With dazzling juggling and laugh-out-loud moments, Tiago explores how using smartphones affects our body language and real-life encounters.

Sadiq Ali Company - TELL ME

Produced by Turtle Key Arts, TELL ME is Sadiq Ali Company’s brand new circus theatre show. Blending breathtaking Chinese pole, acrobatics, and physical storytelling, the piece explores a narrative around HIV and overcoming stigma. Supported by Certain Blacks, Inspirate, Norfolk and Norwich Festival, Stockton International Riverside Festival, and Birmingham Weekender.

Vidya Productions and David Glass - HOLY DIRT

This year’s festival features HOLY DIRT, a new collaboration between physical theatre legend and director David Glass and internationally renowned Vidya Thirunarayan from Vidya Productions. Set to live percussion, the show bridges Indian performance styles, particularly Bharatanatyam and Kathakali, with modern physical theatre forms like bouffon and melodrama. Clay, stones, water and sand erupt across the space in a visually startling performance where the rawness of earth converges with myth and ritual. Supported by Certain Blacks and Arts Council England.

Tilly Ingram - The Hide

An audio piece driven by live birdwatching, The Hide is both an installation and an audio experience led by artist Tilly Ingram that reflects on hidden disabilities. The piece offers a space to sit—binoculars and a bird ID spotting at the ready—and consider what might not be immediately evident to the eye while listening to Tilly’s own story with an invisible disability. Supported by Without Walls, Brighton Festival and Norfolk and Norwich Festival.

Ramshacklicious and Hijinx - TRUTH

Performing exclusively on Sunday 27th July and taking the Royal Docks in a joyful street revolution, outdoor artists Ramshacklicious and inclusive theatre company Hijinx challenge societal norms in TRUTH. Featuring a mixed cast of disabled and non-disabled performers, this riotous performance blends clowning, physical theatre, and original music. Interactive and partly improvised, this theatrical revolution leaves audiences united and with a fresh sense of hope. Supported by Arts Council England.

Certain Blacks has commissioned two brand-new short works from local artists, created especially for this year’s Ensemble Festival. Full details coming soon.

For full details of all the events, including performance times and precise locations, please visit www.certainblacks.com

Ensemble Festival is part of Without Walls, a network of organisations bringing innovative outdoor arts to towns and cities across England. Find out more on withouthwalls.uk.com

For press and media enquiries please contact Anna Goodman at Abstrakt on abstrakt@abstraktpublicity.co.uk or 07976247026

NOTE TO EDITORS:

ABOUT CERTAIN BLACKS

Celebrating 10 years of artistic innovation, Certain Blacks is a diverse-led East London-based arts development organisation known for championing artists from all dimensions of diversity, including different socioeconomic, ethnic, gender and neurodiverse identities.

Certain Blacks takes its name from the influential album by the innovative jazz collective Art Ensemble of Chicago, released in 1970. Certain Blacks has, since 2015, presented 14 indoor and outdoor festivals and worked with over 68 different artists. Rich Mix, Royal Docks, Newham Town Hall, Hoxton Hall, and The Place have all played host to Certain Blacks’ winter and free summer extravaganzas, featuring artists who have gone on to tour their work nationally and internationally

In 2020 Certain Blacks joined Without Walls and became part of its artistic directorate, contributing to the development of innovative outdoor work, the fruits of which have been enjoyed at Ensemble ever since. 

ABOUT WITHOUT WALLS

Without Walls is a network of over 35 organisations presenting the best outdoor arts to people in towns and cities across England. Since its formation in 2007, Without Walls has developed and toured over 200 new shows both in the UK and internationally across 22 countries. Without Walls is supported by Arts Council England as a National Portfolio Organisation. Find out more: withoutwalls.uk.com