Press Release: Sadler’s Wells’ Barclays Dance Pass to offer 1,000 £10 tickets for Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet

[Jan McNulty]

Press Release: Friday 6 January 2023       Sadler’s Wells’ Barclays Dance Pass to offer 1,000 £10 tickets for Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet       Sadler’s Wells today announces 1,000 £10 tickets will be available for young people to see Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet through Barclays Dance Pass when the production returns to Sadler’s Wells in August 2023. Barclays Dance Pass is Sadler’s Wells’ ticket scheme offering £10 tickets to 16 to 30-year-olds as part of a major partnership with Barclays. Launched in January 2000, Sadler’s Wells has issued more than 16,000 Barclays Dance Pass members. Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet runs for five weeks at Sadler’s Wells from Tuesday 1 August to Saturday 2 September, following tour dates in Leicester, Salford, High Wycombe and Hull. The 2023 production of Romeo and Juliet marks the first co-production between New Adventures and Sadler’s Wells. A relationship that dates back nearly 30 years; New Adventures have been performing at Sadler’s Wells since 1993. In 2005 Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells, Alistair Spalding, appointed Matthew Bourne as one of the organisation’s first Associate Artists and in 2006 New Adventures became a Resident Company. Matthew Bourne’s Romeo and Juliet gives Shakespeare’s timeless story of forbidden love a scintillating injection of raw passion and youthful vitality. Confined against their will by a society that seeks to divide, our two young lovers must follow their hearts as they risk everything to be together. A masterful re-telling of an ageless tale of teenage discovery and the madness of first love, Romeo and Juliet garnered universal critical acclaim when it premiered in 2019, and now joins the New Adventures repertoire alongside the very best of Bourne’s world renowned dance theatre productions. Directed and choreographed by Matthew Bourne, collaborating with the New Adventures Artistic team; Etta Murfitt(Associate Artistic Director), Lez Brotherston (Set and Costume design), Paule Constable (Lighting Design), Paul Groothuis (Sound Design) and Arielle Smith (Associate Choreographer) with Terry Davies’ thrillingly fresh orchestrations of Prokofiev’s dynamic score. Barclays Dance Pass makes available 10,000 tickets per year at £10 each to those registered with the scheme. No booking fee applies, and registered Barclays Dance Pass holders can purchase two tickets per production. Tickets are available for all productions across the theatre’s venues, which will include Sadler’s Wells East – Sadler’s Wells’ fourth venue due to open in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in early 2024 – from later this year. Registration to Barclays Dance Pass is free and can be completed via the Sadler’s Wells website: sadlerswells.com/barclaysdancepass. The partnership with Barclays supports Sadler’s Wells’ ongoing mission to make and share dance that inspires us all, with an emphasis on young people. At an event for Barclays Dance Pass holders at Sadler’s Wells last night (5 January), New Adventures Associate Artist Glenn Graham announced the 1,000 tickets available to them. Sir Alistair Spalding CBE, Artistic Director and Chief Executive of Sadler’s Wells,  He said: “I’m thrilled that through Barclays Dance Pass we can offer more than 1,000 young people tickets to see Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet for £10. Matthew has taken another of the traditional classical ballets and made it on a young cast and relevant for a new younger generation of audience that makes it a perfect offering for Dance Pass members.”  Tom Corbett, Head of Sponsorship at Barclays, said: “Barclays is a proud partner of Sadler’s Wells, and we’re delighted that through Barclays Dance Pass we are able to offer even more young people the chance to discover world-class dance. Being able to support Sadler’s Wells is so important to inspire a new generation of dancers and fans, and is the reason we are committed to supporting the scheme.”  Matthew Bourne said: “Broadening our audience, as well as our talent base, is key to New Adventures. Hundreds of thousands of people around the world have become dance fans because of our work, and we hope the Barclays Dance Pass offering of 1,000 tickets to our production of Romeo and Juliet will ignite a life-long adventure with dance for many more.”  Notes to Editors:     About Sadler’s Wells  Sadler's Wells is a world-leading dance organisation. We strive to make and share dance that inspires us all. Our acclaimed year-round programme spans dance of every kind, from contemporary to flamenco, Bollywood to ballet, salsa to street dance and tango to tap.    We commission, produce and present more dance than any other organisation in the world. Since 2005, we have helped to bring close to 200 new dance works to the stage, embracing both the popular and the unknown.    Each year, over half a million people visit our three London theatres - Sadler’s Wells Theatre, Lilian Baylis Studio and Peacock Theatre. Millions more attend our touring productions nationally and internationally or explore our digital platforms, including Sadler’s Wells Digital Stage. In 2023 we’re opening a fourth London venue in Stratford’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Sadler’s Wells East will house a 550-seat mid-scale theatre, as well as facilities for the Choreographic School and Hip Hop Theatre Academy.    Supporting artists is at the heart of our work. We have associate artists and companies, which nurture some of the most exciting talent working in dance today. We host the National Youth Dance Company, which draws together some of the brightest young dancers from across the country. Sadler’s Wells Breakin' Convention runs professional development programmes to champion and develop the world’s best hip hop artists, as well as producing, programming and touring groundbreaking hip hop performances.    Around 30,000 people take part in our learning and engagement programmes every year. We support schools local to our theatres in Islington and Stratford, designing experiences for children and young people to watch, explore and critically engage with the arts. We also run Company of Elders, a resident performance company of dancers aged over 60 who rehearse with renowned artists to make new work for public performances locally, nationally and internationally.    Sadler’s Wells is an Arts Council England National Portfolio Organisation.  www.sadlerswells.com  Stay up to date with everything Sadler’s Wells on social media  Facebook: @SadlersWells  Twitter: @Sadlers_Wells  Instagram: @sadlers_wells  YouTube: Sadler’s Wells Theatre         About Barclays    Barclays is a British universal bank. We are diversified by business, by different types of customers and clients, and by geography. Our businesses include consumer banking and payments operations around the world, as well as a top-tier, full service, global corporate and investment bank, all of which are supported by our service company which provides technology, operations and functional services across the Group.     For further information about Barclays, please visit our website www.barclays.com        About New Adventures  New Adventures is an iconic, ground-breaking British dance-theatre company, famous for telling stories with a unique theatrical twist. Since 1987 New Adventures has changed the popularity of dance in Britain, creating works that have altered the public perception of what is possible when it comes to telling stories without words.      New Adventures has received numerous international awards and an incredible 6 Olivier Awards and 12 Nominations. New Adventures has created 13 full-length productions and a triple-bill of short works. The company tours nationally and internationally, our award-winning repertoire inspiring and thrilling millions of people worldwide.        New Adventures is a charity, and its principal funder is Arts Council England. We are passionate about diversifying the dance landscape and investing in the future of dance through delivering inclusive projects for people of all ages, abilities, and backgrounds alongside development opportunities for emerging artists.     Following several unprecedented years for the world and our industry, New Adventures made an extraordinary comeback last season.  We produced 3 shows, including the world-premiere of The Midnight Bell, a 20-year anniversary Nutcracker! UK tour and 14 full-scale performances of The Car Man reimagined for the gladiatorial arena of the Royal Albert Hall.  In total, we played to 220,000 people, across 250 performances, with only 6 shows lost to Covid precautions. We performed in 27 venues throughout the UK, supporting 84 dancers and 138 creatives, musicians, and technical crew.  Our Take Part programmes delivered a wealth of transformative workshops, intensives, and masterclasses to over 3600 participants, delighting and inspiring them as part of New Adventures’ commitment to access for all.