10 November 2024
Newsdesk
Sadler’s Wells and Uchenna Dance announce the cast for Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu's immersive dance production, Our Mighty Groove, which will be the inaugural show at Sadler’s Wells East in February 2025. The Sadler’s Wells production sees a cast of young dancers from east London join Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Uchenna in a celebration of community and the power of the dance floor.
Set in Club Groove where the audience is both spectator and participant, Our Mighty Groove incorporates Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s signature blend of club styles – house, waacking and vogue – fused with African and contemporary dance. Our Mighty Groove runs at Sadler’s Wells East from Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 February 2025. Following the show, the Club Groove after party takes over the dancefloor at Sadler’s Wells East where the audience is invited to continue the celebration.
Professional dancers Iona Brie, Angelika Napierala, Shanelle Clemenson, Cache Thake, Dani Harris-Walters, Kabuki Johnson join young east London dancers Bertie Jeffery, Holly Clayton, Kezia Adewale, Lilia Rowe, Thea Petrie, Victoria Morini, Sofia Whiteoak, Reo Greenidge, Riley-Ann Nicholls Murphy, Eli Follant, Shaniya Mohammed, Beatrix Walters, Amari Webb-Martin and Jandice Stewart. The young cast were invited to join the production following an open call out to dancers under the age of 21 who live or study in east London and Our Mighty Groove will be the first professional performance many take part in.
The professional cast is completed by 21-year-old Shula Carter from Walthamstow. A recent graduate from LMA London, Carter has been part of Our Mighty Groove research and development as a young person since 2023, and is now beginning her professional career in the production as one of the central characters. This full-circle moment is not just a personal triumph for Carter, but a testament to Uchenna’s ethos of supporting young people to thrive as an artist.
Showcasing the work of local artists is a core pillar of Sadler’s Wells East’s programming. Its first season is bookended by shows championing the East London community, and is punctuated throughout with productions from London-based artists. Sadler’s Wells East will be a new kind of cultural destination with local roots, national impact and global perspectives. It will be a hub for creativity, with a 550-seat flexible theatre and six studios for creating and developing dance productions. Uchenna is the first company to rehearse in the purpose-built studios, developing Our Mighty Groove in the largest studio which is the same size as the stage.
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu is a choreographer, coach, movement director, and the founder and joint CEO of Uchenna. Igbokwe-Ozoagu worked as a Mass Movement Choreographer at the London 2012 Olympics and has over a decade long relationship with Sadler’s Wells.
Our Mighty Groove is a remixed take on a Uchenna classic. The first iteration of Our Mighty Groove premiered at Sadler’s Wells’ Lilian Baylis Studio in 2013 as part of their Wild Card programme to sold out audiences. In 2015, Our Mighty Groove was developed into a full-length production and toured to Stratford East, Greenwich Dance, Platform Theatre, Pavilion Dance South West, and Trinity Centre (Bristol). This remixed version sees a young cast join Uchenna for the first time in a new formation and larger scale iteration.
Kloé Dean is associate choreographer and the show features costume design by Jodie-Simone Howe, music by Kweku Aacht, set design by Simon Kenny, sound design by Mark Webber and lighting design by Matt Daw.
Choreographer Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu said “It’s an honour to have Our Mighty Groove opening Sadler’s Wells East and I’m so very proud to remake this Uchenna classic with the phenomenal cast and creative team I’m collaborating with.
I’m most excited about creating an experience for you the audience to let loose and enjoy. One where you can, if you choose to, become part of the world we have created.
I’m looking forward to observing the audience as they watch, groove and dance with our cast while taking in the space.
And I want to give a special shout out to our young cast, a group of talented performers and definitely ones to watch. Being able to give them this opportunity for growth as they develop their creativity, feeds into our plans to create more possibilities for them and other young people as we branch out and start the development of our brand-new dance and leadership programme.”
Dancer Shanelle Clemenson said “Working with Uchenna is like working with family. Anyone who has had the pleasure of working with Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu all say the same thing.
I cannot wait for everyone to experience this new fierce, fabulous, remixed take on a Uchenna classic. Make sure you have your dancing shoes on, we're gonna get our groove on!"
I was in the original Our Mighty Groove performance that first ran at the Lilian Baylis Studio at Sadler’s Wells in 2013.
Fast forward 11 years with a new version of Our Mighty Groove, a new professional cast and featuring young dancers from east London, and now opening up Sadler’s Wells East, honestly, it's such an honour.
I cannot wait for everyone to experience this new fierce, fabulous, remixed take on a Uchenna classic. Make sure you have your dancing shoes on, we're gonna get our groove on!"
Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director and Co-Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, said “We’re delighted to have Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu's Our Mighty Groove open Sadler’s Wells East in what promises to be a wonderful celebration of east London and dance. This production reflects our vision for Sadler’s Wells East to be a space for the community to come and join in, and for dance artists to experiment and inspire the next generation.”
Rob Jones, Associate Artistic Director of Sadler’s Wells, said “This is the perfect show to be launching Sadlers Wells East for so many reasons, but for me the most important of all is the way it centres the local community and the life altering power of a dancefloor. Uchenna is such a special company and I am so excited for us to be collaborating on this incredible production setting Sadler’s Wells East off on the right foot!”
Sadler’s Wells East is a new powerhouse for dance, situated in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadler’s Wells East forms part of East Bank, the UK’s newest cultural and educational quarter, alongside the BBC Music Studios, London College of Fashion, UAL, V&A East and UCL East (University College London).
