Dates: 17/10/2026
📍 Theatre: Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Ave, Islington
London, 0 EC1R 4TN
Considering Ballet Black has been around for 24 years, it seems unbelievable that the current double bill Shadows is also a Sadler's Wells debut. Unfortunately it isn't their strongest work to date, choreographically speaking.
Despite the enticing cultural dissonance of its title, Black Sabbath – The Ballet is, by definition, a terrible idea. It is the conceptual equivalent of putting a tuxedo on a pit bull, or hiring Prince Andrew as your PR manager. This is what happens when the civic-minded folk at a major arts company, having dutifully listened to enough AC/DC to establish their street cred, decide they can bottle the anarchic essence of heavy metal and sell it in three-act bottles to those living off the ever-sweet smell of nostalgia and the kind of people who buy all their concert T-shirts from Vinted.
Ballet Black return to the Royal Ballet and Opera's Linbury Theatre with their current double bill Heroes. It's a quick night with around one hour of dance, but an unsuccessful one choreographically.
Returning to London with their double bill, Pioneers, Ballet Black continue to enhance their reputation as Britain’s most diverse and daring ballet company.
In Black Sabbath – The Ballet expect a spectacular theatrical evening featuring thrilling dance and original Black Sabbath recordings (including Paranoid and Iron Man) alongside full orchestrations of their work (another first) and new orchestral compositions inspired by the sound of metal - all performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.
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