Dance Spaces: Sadler’s Wells
The history of Sadler’s Wells Theatre in London is rich enough to be the plot of a great literary novel. It began as a music house, a place of entertainment, debauchery, and brawls, and became, over time, a brewery, a venue for Shakespeare’s plays, a roller-skating rink, a cinema, a shelter during the Second World War, a school and ballet company ran by Ninette de Valois, and, finally, a stronghold of dance in the British capital.
Created in 1683 at the site of a ‘miraculous mineral spring,’ Sadler’s Wells is London’s second oldest theater, though it has been rebuilt six times in the last four centuries. The historic building, easily identifiable by its high glass facades, invites audiences to step inside. And in addition to its two other newer venues – the Lilian Baylis Studio situated right next to its historic North End location, and the Peacock Theatre in the heart of the city – Sadler’s Wells inaugurated a fourth space this year.
Now that the finishing touches are complete, CN D Magazine’s “Dance Spaces” series slipped into the brand-new Sadler’s Wells East just a few weeks before its public opening. Leading our tour is Sir Alistair Spalding, who has helmed the institution since 2004, turning it into a hotspot for dance in all its forms.