A leading dance theatre in Islington, London, with a 1,500-seat main stage, a studio, the Peacock Theatre and a new east London venue.
Sadler's Wells is a London theatre devoted mainly to dance. Wikipedia describes it as a venue that hosts visiting companies and also produces work with associated artists and companies. The theatre says it creates and shares more new work than any other dance organisation in the world. Its main auditorium holds 1,500 seats on three levels, and the Lilian Baylis Studio holds 200. It also runs the Peacock Theatre in the West End, and in 2025 opened Sadler's Wells East in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, with a focus on dance. Breakin' Convention, a hip-hop dance festival, joined the theatre in 2004.
The site has a long history. It began as a spa and pleasure garden in Islington in the late 17th century, usually dated to 1683, though sources differ. The theatre has been through many uses, including water spectacles, pantomime and Shakespeare seasons under Samuel Phelps from 1844 to 1862. After years of decline and closure, Lilian Baylis led the campaign to reopen it, and it reopened in 1931 with Twelfth Night. Her companies later grew into the Royal Ballet, the National Theatre and English National Opera. The opera company left in 1968 and dance became the main focus.
The present building opened in October 1998. It was designed by the Arts Team of RHWL, uses the skeleton of the 1931 theatre, is Grade II listed and is owned by the Sadlers Wells Trust. It stands in Islington, north London, with the Peacock Theatre in Holborn and the newer venue in east London. Alistair Spalding became director in 2004, and his stated goal is for Sadler's Wells to do for contemporary dance what the National Theatre and English National Opera do for drama and opera. We did not find a formal values statement or a staff number.
We read little about working culture, so we cannot say what daily life is like beyond the nature of the work. A dance theatre of this kind involves artists and choreographers, but also producers who plan and fund new work, technical teams for lighting, sound and stage, front-of-house and box office staff, marketing and communications teams, learning and community staff who work with young people, and finance and development staff. A larger site in east London adds more roles in programming and operations.
For a student, Sadler's Wells shows how many different jobs sit behind a single performance. You do not need to be a dancer to work in dance. If you enjoy design, technology, teaching, event organisation, marketing or looking after audiences, a theatre like this uses all of them. The Sadler's Wells website is the best place to look at current departments and openings.
Website: www.sadlerswells.com
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