Hiraeth, a Welsh word, has no direct translation in English.
It’s used to express a deep longing for a home or place that’s become idealised in the mind – a kind of yearning nostalgia tinged with melancholy. It expresses connection.
Last year I was lucky enough to travel to Japan and experience just a few of its wonders.
The trip included a visit to an area riddled with hot volcanic springs – onsen – that the locals bathe in and use to gently boil eggs.
These are left bobbing in specially built pools by the side of the path with passers-by welcome to take one and pay via an honesty box system.
The memory was just one of a heap of glittering jewels from that trip, but one that rose to the surface sat in a recently opened restaurant in Stratford upon seeing the words “onsen tamago” as part of the accompaniment to its wagyu beef.
The trip to Japan was taken in the wake of my mother’s death and in grief we look for signs.
The flash of hiraeth came both from the recall of place but also that the meat’s place of origin – Miyazaki – is the surname of the director who made one of her favourite animations, the joyful My Neighbour Totoro.
While these are deeply personal coincidences, I mention them because the dishes of chef Daisuke Shimoyama at Kokin are so beautifully put together, so finely honed in fire that they are more than capable of living up to the kind of perfection hiraeth expects.
Miyazaki wagyu beef with tamago at Kokin – image by Kokin
simply perfect
On the plate – a piece of fine white porcelain softly glistening with a pattern based on ice crystals – the wagyu is simply perfect.
A delicate huddle of flesh and vegetables bathing gracefully and butter-soft on the tongue, it’s deep, rich and savoury.
This really is cooking of the very highest quality and, like any restaurant at that end of the scale, Kokin has the power to dance with emotions – and dance it does.
Our meal actually begins not with beef but with extraordinary joy – quite probably the prettiest platter of starters available in east London (or perhaps the whole city).
This tray of wonders includes oysters snuggling under a blanket of apple and jelly, single bites of steaming tofu, grilled tuna with egg yolk curry sauce, smoked mackerel sushi and chawanmushi – a wonderful savoury custard.
The tastes and flavours are as bright as the garland of flowers decorating the tray.
It’s a thrill of a platter, each little bowl revealing new dimensions to the world, different textures and colours.
Daisuke is a subtle chef.
His dishes are simple on paper, beautiful to look at but astonishingly complex on the tongue.
While the presentation may appear chaotic at times, there’s little doubt that every ingredient, each little ferny leaf of garnish, is present intentionally and is part of the palette in a wider painting.
Three types of tuna plus salmon roe waiting to be made into sushi by diners – image by Jon Massey
celebrating the tuna
Wild bluefin tuna from Portugal is the star of the show.
We eat it as sashimi, on the bone in a dish of the fish’s collar and in Temae – a make-your-own sushi course with three cuts blended in a kind of salad with the orange pearls of salmon roe.
Time and again we’re transported as plates arrive.
Flavours and smells evoke memories and stir feelings of fun and excitement that confound the expectation of straight-laced fine dining.
Wood-fired ice cream bamboozles the senses in a lake of fermented raspberries.
A tray of “chef’s desserts” land somewhere between afternoon tea and jelly for a kid’s party.
Throughout, the staff are faultless, rapid and smooth delivering these culinary wonders with accuracy and dedication.
Kokin is not cheap, but it is exceptional value, so worth saving up for.
Set lunch menus start at £26, but with cooking of this quality it’s worth setting aside a budget and really going for it.
With an open heart, you won’t be disappointed.
5/5 *****
The collar of tuna served on the bone at Kokin – image by Jon Massey
key details: Kokin
Kokin is located on the seventh floor of The Stratford hotel in east London and is open from noon-2pm for lunch and from 5pm for dinner every day except Mondays.
We catch up with the company’s CEO, Adrian Quine, on its ambition to run services to Paris and Brussels from Stratford International in east London
A Eurostar train sits on the track outside Stratford International in east London. The company has never stopped its services at the station – image by Jon Massey
Could Stratford International station finally live up to its name?
Plans for Eurostar services to stop in east London never came to fruition and no other operator has thus far come in to offer overseas destinations to passengers.
However, all that could be about to change thanks to an EU directive which aims to ensure equal access to tracks and stations for third parties looking to run services.
While this doesn’t alter the state of play in the UK, it does apply to routes across the continent, including infrastructure in France owned by state operator SNCF, which runs Eurostar – the only company running international services from Britain.
The change in European law, as well as a relaxation of the rules around what kind of trains can run through the Channel Tunnel, have paved the way for new ideas – something that has long been the foundation of the regeneration of east London.
Enter Gemini Trains – a company led by chair Lord Tony Berkeley, public affairs manager of Eurotunnel during the undersea link’s construction and a former chair of the Rail Freight Group, and CEO Adrian Quine, a journalist, broadcaster and co-founder of Alliance Rail Holdings.
Gemini Trains CEO, Adrian Quine – image by Gemini Trains
Gemini Trains’ proposition
“We’ve spent two years modelling new services through the Channel Tunnel to see where the opportunities are – looking at stations that haven’t been used, have been mothballed or, in the case of Stratford, were never used for international services,” said Adrian.
“With all the growth in east London it seemed sensible to look at creating something a bit new rather than trying to emulate what’s already at St Pancras.
“Stratford itself is now the second busiest station in Britain with the Elizabeth Line plus the DLR, Jubilee, Central and Overground making it the most connected in London.
“It’s a hugely important area and it’s where the growth is – you see all these businesses moving east and we feel there’s a great opportunity.
“Stratford International is also a bit of a blank canvas for us.
“It’s easier to manage than St Pancras, which has major issues in boarding at the lower level, although these are now being addressed.
“That’s why we’ve commissioned an architects’ report – a full feasibility study to look at how we can manage the passenger flow because Stratford International was originally designed as an intermediate station and not as a terminus.
“We believe Stratford is definitely achievable but we need to wait for the report to confirm the station can cope with 500 passengers – you couldn’t, for example, operate with a single escalator with that number of people, so we have to be sure.”
Underused: At present no services from Stratford International actually leave the country – image by Jon Massey
room to grow
Gemini says its plans fit with capacity already available on the high speed tracks that go under the English Channel.
Its proposal – to launch in 2029 – was further buoyed by a report from the Office Of Rail And Road (ORR), which said on June 5, 2025, that Temple Mills International Depot (TMI) had capacity for either Eurostar to grow its operations at the site or for another company to come in alongside it at the facility.
ORR is now inviting Eurostar and other companies to provide details of their plans so it can decide what will happen at TMI.
“The growing appetite to provide international rail services is great news for passengers,” said Martin Jones, deputy director, access and international at ORR.
“We now need operators to set out more detail on their proposals at pace, and will work quickly and as thoroughly as possible to determine the best use of capacity at TMI.”
Gemini Trains trackside at Stratford International – image by Gemini Trains
an east London connection
For Gemini, the case for Stratford International is about offering something different to Eurostar – an alternative way to travel overseas out of London and at a lower cost, primarily coaxing passengers off aeroplanes to travel into Europe.
“There you have a small operation, more manageable than Heathrow, Gatwick or Stansted.
“It’s a pleasure to fly from, because it’s well organised – we really want to get Stratford International to work along similar lines.
“We’re absolutely looking to offer cheaper fares too.
“We’ve modelled our business on a high utilisation of the rolling stock, which means the trains will do more trips per day and we can get our seat price down.
“The trains will be carrying more passengers so we can pass that saving on to travellers.
“We think this will create a market shift, particularly from aviation.
“We’re not trying to poach passengers from Eurostar – they are often overbooked and full on most trains in any case.
“We think that the capacity isn’t there on these routes at the moment but the demand is – people are currently flying because they can’t get an affordable train fare unless they book far in advance.”
Adrian said Gemini’s plans would also benefit the local area, with the services attractive for residents and pulling in travellers to boost business.
Gemini Trains – a catalyst for regeneration?
“While Stratford International is not physically linked directly to the main station, it’s only a short walk and the DLR connects the two as well,” he said.
“Some passengers will wish to walk through Westfield Stratford City if they feel they have time.
“As soon as the feasibility report comes back, we’ll be looking to engage with local people and organisations.
“This could be a massive growth opportunity for east London.”
Ultimately the ORR will be responsible for deciding which operator gets access to the line, thus deciding the fate for Gemini and Uber’s plans.
There are competing operations.
Perhaps the regulator, however, will heed the words of politicians and companies down the years who have all called for Stratford International to fulfil its intended purpose as a way of supercharging the growth and prosperity of an area that’s already driving east London regeneration.
But these arrivals are very much in the vanguard of a cascade of launches to come.
With Union Square acting as a wide boulevard through to the eastern edge of the estate – picnic and ping pong tables already attracting a healthy flow of Wharfers – it’s perhaps the ideal time for Signorelli to arrive in the neighbourhood.
“The message is simple,” said Rebecca Rosmini, CEO of Signorelli, which she founded with husband Alberto a little over 10 years ago.
“We do great coffee, pastries, focaccia, cakes, cookies and biscuits.
“In Italy, you have places where you buy your croissant and your coffee, have a chat with a neighbour and then go on with your day.
“Our recipes are Italian-inspired – the ethos is very much from Alberto’s mum’s way of cooking – but we’ve adapted them for the UK market.
“Our coffee is fantastic, Italian blends and roasts, different to much of east London where there has been a trend for darker roasts.
“Our espresso is really lovely.”
Signorelli co-founder and CEO, Rebecca Rosmini – image by Jon Massey
the learning curve of Signorelli
Wood Wharf will be the fifth branch in what has become a finely tuned east London operation.
However, Signorelli’s genesis was not without its learning curve.
“My background is as a surveyor in commercial real estate,” said Rebecca, originally from Hartlepool.
“My mum started investing in residential property in the 1990s and needed a mini-me to go around building Ikea furniture for her.
“I still like doing that – it gives me a very tangible before-and-after feeling and you can see the results immediately.”
Joining the Tesco graduate scheme having mastered the allen key, Rebecca forged a career with the supermarket giant before a move to Sainsbury’s property team.
She then founded RSR, her own commercial real estate advisory company, that has since worked with the likes of Deliveroo, Asda, Boots and local authorities.
“After starting the business, I met Alberto, an agronomist – he moved to London to look for a job because it wasn’t the right time for me to relocate,” said Rebecca.
“Then he started baking at home. He can be very obsessive and it got a bit out of control.
“We started giving out baked goods to our neighbours, then we started doing picnics and having big dinner parties at home in our tiny flat in Camden.
Freshly baked loaves for sale – image by Jon Massey
“People started joking that we should have our own catering company.
“One day, an Italian pizzeria company approached me to find a site in London and they were looking for a manager, so I put my husband forward.
“We went on a journey with them and went through the process of finding locations but we discovered they wanted to import frozen food from Italy and defrost it here to serve.
“That wasn’t what we wanted, so we parted ways.
“Alberto was so disappointed. He’d spent six months developing recipes and was really down, so we thought: ‘Stuff it, let’s do it ourselves’.
“I knew that East Village in Stratford was launching retail units and thought we should go and have a look.
“I hadn’t been back since my time at Sainsbury’s and it was October 2014, windy, cold and empty.
“There could have been tumbleweed.
“There was no transport hub, no retail – I just didn’t see it. But Alberto thought it was perfect.
“He said I should imagine it, that it was just like Italy – pedestrianised with water and trees – that it would all be about people walking, talking and interacting.
“I made peace with it.
“We designed the unit ourselves, it immediately felt like home and we had friends popping in to help.
“The Ikea skills came back too and then the vinyls came down, even though I didn’t really feel ready to have people in.”
Filled focaccia at Signorelli – image by Jon Massey
opening the doors
“It was carnage,” said Rebecca.
“We had no idea what we were doing and, before we opened, I suddenly decided we were going to do scrambled eggs, because that was what people needed.
“We looked up how Jamie Oliver did them and then we opened.
“We forgot to hire people, so we had a queue out of the door and people came to help us.
“We had lawyers and accountants, some vegetarian, cooking sausages – we didn’t even know that you had to prep food ahead of service.
“We were cooking like you would at home – we just thought it would be the same.
“We went on a three-year learning curve and there were so many terrible stories along the way.
“I think it was the community that made us survive – we had so many people rooting for us.
“People wanted us to succeed and I was blinded to how crap we were. It took a long time.”
Latte art on the coffee – image by Jon Massey
fighting for Signorelli
In the end, the pandemic was part of the solution. The first lockdown provided a forced stop, time to rest, regroup and rethink.
“I always say we’ve had two businesses – the crap one from 2015 to 2020 and then 2.0,” said Rebecca.
“We decided we were determined to fight for Signorelli – we had put so much into it and we weren’t just going to kill it.”
Salvation began with a serendipitous decision taken in 2019 to install a serving window out onto the street.
This reopened in April 2020 to serve pastries and coffee. People queued in socially distance fashion.
Back as a small team, with Alberto – as ever – baking overnight, Signorelli had two baristas serving and Rebecca doing deliveries in her trusty 25-year-old SEAT. It was a fresh foundation.
Suffering “PTSD” from the smell of burnt eggs, they resolved never to offer brunch again and set out on a new path – baked goods, coffee and alcoholic drinks for later in the day.
The arrival of the couple’s second child prompted another change as Signorelli opened its Bakehouse, centralising production in part to allow Alberto to work fewer antisocial hours.
Instead, the new direction was the catalyst for creating the current shape of the business, allowing greater capacity for more staff and the founders to step back a bit from the day-to-day.
The cafe serves coffee, pastries, sweet treats and savoury options – image by Jon Massey
a complex symphony
“No-one in our baking team trained as a baker – they have all learned in our business and they’re doing an amazing job,” said Rebecca.
“It’s like a perfect symphony – you just watch them and everyone knows their role.
“We chose Canary Wharf for our latest expansion because it’s about 15 minutes from the bakehouse by cargo bike for deliveries.
“In lockdown, my husband, me and our little boy came to E14 a lot – we used to do these really long walks along the canal.
“Both Alberto and I grew up by the sea, so being close to the water felt familiar.
“Our strategy now is about creating mini pods of branches to grow Signorelli and we’d love to create one in Canary Wharf.
“It’s always been my husband’s dream to recreate the town squares of Italy in the UK, bringing people back to the table, to conversation.
“The Wharf allows us to share that energy.
“We are so much about getting people together, getting them off their phones and getting them to talk to one another.
“It requires patience and you can’t go into it expecting a quick turnaround.
“It’s a journey that you go on with the landlord, with the community, and everyone needs to work together to make it come alive.”
Stuffed with tomatoes, pesto and mozzarella – image by Jon Massey
sustainable baking
Signorelli’s arrival in Canary Wharf also brings with it catering services and celebratory cakes, all delivered with a consistent focus on sustainability and healthy ingredients.
“The Italian philosophy is to have really good raw produce from rich soils, then you can create something really amazing from just three or four ingredients,” said Rebecca.
“We’re not about cutting costs to produce a better margin.
“We’re really happy to accept less profit on our baked goods to deliver better quality.
“My rule is that if I wouldn’t feed it to my three-year old, then I will not feed it to my customers.
“We guard massively against ultra-processed foods, although we haven’t yet found an alternative to Nutella, so there is one naughty thing.
“We also monitor our waste really carefully.
“We’re always looking to re-use anything that goes unsold, but is still delicious.”
Signorelli Wood Wharf is located in West Lane off Union Square, Wood Wharf – image by Jon Massey
key details: Signorelli Wood Wharf
Signorelli Wood Wharf is located at 5 West Lane off Union Square and is open every day from 7am-7pm.
The bakery and cafe operates a “once it’s gone, it’s gone” policy to minimise food waste with customers seeking pastries advised to visit before noon for the full range.
The public is invited to UCL East Marshgate – the university’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park campus that forms one fifth of East Bank – over the next few weeks to experience five installations.
A Place Of Our Making: A Multisensory Exhibition About East Londonshowcases the work of five partnerships between artists and UCL researchers, who have collaborated with east London residents for a project aimed at exploring ways to improve the lives of those in this part of the capital.
Free to view and experience, visitors can shake the hand of a seven-foot puppet and smell a bagel brick, amongst many other sensory wonders.
The installations have been created through UCL’s Trellis programme, which pairs up academics and creatives.
The breadth and scope of this fifth iteration of the scheme is too great to be comprehensive here, so instead we sat down with artist Laura Copsey, who teamed up with associate professor of palliative medicine in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department at UCLH, Sarah Yardley, to create Rewilding Healthcare.
Central to their collaboration is water and its use as a metaphor for patients and those working in the care sector.
Associate professor of palliative medicine in the Marie Curie Palliative Care Research Department at UCLH, Sarah Yardley – image by Jon Massey
Rewilding Healthcare: an investigation
“I’m always trying to investigate how we can make things better for people by being authentic and meeting people’s needs,” said Sarah.
“My research is about gaps between expectation and experience.
“When we were sounding out ideas with each other, we discovered we both had a love of sailing and all things maritime and nautical – the project really progressed from there.
“I am a sailor, but the metaphor came from some of my research – a study on how we conceptualise ideas of safety, risk of harm and what success looks like for people who needed palliative care and those with severe mental illness.
“Through that work, I interviewed and observed many sides of the healthcare system and I brought the study to Laura.
“Carers would talk about uncharted waters and stormy seas, while patients would talk about how it was impossible to navigate the system.”
Laura said: “We found common ground straight away because the work I do as an artist is generally very watery.
“I grew up with my dad who used to run a ferry on the River Deben.
“I describe myself as an illustrator of stories, but my pieces don’t tend to look like things people usually think of when they hear the word illustration.
“They’re more like a collection of objects that communicate meaning.
“You could call it a disembodied comic with lots of different fragments. I call it ‘hydro-fiction’.”
Artist Laura Copsey – image by Jon Massey
a multitude of metaphors
In the case of Rewilding Healthcare, the display includes images in portholes circled with rope, sewn flags and a fabric map suspended from sections of a boat’s mast, a reimagining of the Shipping Forecast, a specially created newspaper, an altered life preserver and even postcards for viewers to express their thoughts.
All have been made through collaborative workshops at ecological regeneration project Cody Dock, just down the Lea from UCL East Marshgate.
“We ran sessions monthly, each with a different theme,” said Laura.
“They were aimed at trying to start conversations about health based on Sarah’s research.
“We sewed to make signal flags, created boats, made collage, drew and took photographs.
“It was an experiment to see what sorts of activities would generate conversations – it turned out that pretty much all of them did.
“What people will see in our part of the exhibition are things you would associate with safety, but layered with new meaning or made to look a bit unusual.
“I hope our audience will see them as familiar, but then ask why they’re presented in this new way and what that could mean.
“Much of the work is subtle or works on multiple levels – waiting room chairs upholstered to look like rocks, for example.”
Part of Rewilding Healthcare at UCL East Marshgate featuring photography and materials from Cody Dock – image by Jon Massey
sparking conversations
Laura and Sarah had help from playground creator and APE director, John O’Driscoll, who is based at Cody Dock and supplied nautical props to assist with the project – helping make the maritime metaphors flesh.
“We were surprised from the very first workshop to see how the symbolism all this stuff – buoys, fenders, anchors – had with regard to people’s experience of healthcare,” said Laura.
“The conversation was rich. Initially I thought the experiment would be hard, but people got it immediately.”
Sarah added: “There were about 45 participants in total – some dropped in and out and around 10 were with us from start to finish.
“There are many layers and metaphors in what we’ve created together.
“Using nautical and maritime language expresses something about healthcare systems in a different way and we hope that this will allow people to open up and express what they think about their own experiences.
“All the way along, people have said to us that these are difficult conversations, which can be distressing, but we absolutely need to have them.
“For some people, Rewilding Healthcare might carry a really personal meaning, but for others – including medical colleagues – it could be to ask themselves what they can do to create the meaning people are looking for.
“When we do a workshop, I say to people, imagine we’re a lifeboat crew and we’re all together.
“On an island – and thinking about archipelagos has been a big part of the project – if the sirens go off, we’re all part of the crew.
“Sometimes you’ll be the person needing to be rescued, sometimes you’ll be the rescuer, but it will create a real dialogue.”
Laura added: “There are so many parallels between sailing a boat and healthcare. You have to work together and you need people with different skills, but you’re also at sea and you can’t control the weather.
“There are risks, but it’s often positive risk-taking.”
key details: Rewilding Healthcare at UCL East
A Place Of Our Making: A Multisensory Exhibition About East London features Rewilding Healthcare and is on show at UCL East Marshgate until April 13, 2025.
The show is open from 10am-6pm daily and is free to visit. The exhibition is also open until 8pm on Thursdays.
A series of workshops are set to be held focused on specific exhibits.
Serge Laurent isn’t, in most senses of the word, a performer.
His professional background hasn’t been one of gracefully bending his body to music or the beat of some internal rhythm.
Nor is he a choreographer, guiding lithe, athletic individuals to move their forms to an exacting design.
He works for a fine French jewellery company.
Headquartered in Paris, it’s a brand that celebrates its 129th birthday this year.
As director of dance and culture programmes at Van Cleef & Arpels, history is important to Serge, especially in his delivery of Dance Reflections, a festival that’s set to bathe London in movement from March 12 to April 8, 2025.
But why is a company dealing in design, precious metals and gems involved in dance at all?
“When I was first contacted by the maison, they told me about their association with dance,” said Serge, who had spent the best part of two decades as live arts curator at the Centre Pompidou in Paris and around the world.
“I studied the story of Van Cleef & Arpels and found out it had a strong history in the field of dance as a source of inspiration.
“That dates back to the 1920s – and was quite intriguing to me.
“I found out that the connection became even stronger when Claude Arpels met with a very famous choreographer in the 1960s – co-founder of the New York City Ballet, George Balanchine – and that he’d been inspired to create a piece called Jewels in 1967.
“Today we continue to emphasise the maison’s commitment to dance and to write his story with Dance Reflections.”
The festival, as Serge says, is just the tip of the iceberg – the public-facing element of collaborations and sponsorship initiatives around the world.
But things go a lot deeper than funding and brand awareness.
LA(HORDE) and Ballet National De Marseille are set to present Age Of Content at Sadler’s Wells East as part of the festival – image by Blandine Soulage
the power of transmission at Dance Reflections
“Looking at the maison, it struck me that it’s work has very similar values to the world of dance,” said Serge.
“There’s the value of creation, which is obvious, but also of transmission.
“The savoir-faire of the maison can only be perpetuated by valuing transmission.
“It’s exactly the same in dance, which is an immaterial art form. After the show, nothing is left.
“If you want to preserve a dance, you have to transmit it.
“When I was first creating a Van Cleef workshop, I saw a young guy working with and watching an older jeweller – he was transmitting those gestures and that history.
“The third value is education.
“I’m an art historian by training and if you have that background, you know how important it is to communicate with people – to give them clues so they understand what they’re seeing.
“It’s always a challenge to approach different audiences – contemporary art is like a new language so you have to help people see that they’re discovering that when they’re in front of a piece.
“You have to explain that what they’re seeing doesn’t come from nowhere, that it’s part of evolution through the ages.
“I always say that when Vaslav Nijinsky presented the Rite Of Spring for the first time in Paris in 1912, at the Theatre De Champs-Elysee, it was a scandal, and now it’s a masterpiece.
“When Pina Bausch danced in her Paris debut at the Theatre De La Ville, people left the auditorium and now she is hailed as a goddess of dance.
“I always try to teach people that, when they come to the festival they will probably know some things, but they will also see new names and new approaches.
“They should think about what has happened before and why the artist is doing what they are now, even if it looks a bit strange.
“It doesn’t come from nowhere, it is the result of history.
“That’s the reason I like to do this job as a curator – it’s not only to select artists who are good for people to know about, it’s also to showcase work that contributes to this art form and to help enlarge its vocabulary.
“The festival is a way to talk about something. It’s not enough for a curator to say: ‘This is my shortlist, these are my discoveries’. It’s a responsibility and a context to talk about dance and artistic approaches.
“People can like it or not – my main goal is they understand what an approach is.”
The London iteration of Dance Reflections will feature performances across Sadler’s Wells’ three venues – including the freshly minted Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford – as well as at the Royal Opera House, Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre.
The programme is extensive, including work by Balanchine, presented in partnership with the Royal Ballet from March 28-April 8 and Hagay Dreaming – a piece about ancient myths and futuristic technologies by Shu Lea Cheang and Dondon Hounwn – in the South Tank venue at the former power station on the Thames.
It’s perhaps testament to the importance of the opening of Sadler’s Wells East that such a major festival will also touch E20 alongside London’s other major cultural centres.
It’s also evidence of the importance of legacy and long-term partnership.
Sadler’s Wells East will host Join by Ioannis Mandafounis and Dresden Dance Company as part of Dance Reflections on March 22 and 23, 2025 – image by Stephan Floss
Dance Reflections – the tip of the iceberg
“We have about 60 different partners in 16 different countries,” said Serge.
“The festival is the tip of the iceberg, and the rest you don’t see – that’s OK.
“For me, Dance Reflections is a way to celebrate what we do all year round.
“My idea is to present audiences with the diversity of dance through an historical approach. Usually in a festival you focus on one kind of artists.
“Here I want to combine different generations and there is one common point between all of them, that in their own time they have found their own voice and way of writing dance.
“I like people inventing a vocabulary and, with dance, it’s very exciting because it’s always using the same medium – the body.
“You can invent a lot of languages for that and as a curator it’s a practice I want to support and intensify.
“I think our history with Sadler’s Wells goes back to 2007 when we supported them to present Jewels for its 40th anniversary so there’s that connection.
“For this festival, of the nine performances that will take place across its three venues, it’s very important that two of the artists will be presenting their first work and that audiences can understand their connection to the history of dance.
“It’s very important to make people understand that dance is an art form that can happen anywhere – that’s why we’re working with Tate Modern, for example.
“That’s what I like about it – you can present dance on a stage, in a public space, on the streets, in an art gallery, everywhere.
“It’s also about the art of space and that notion is key.
“This is one of the reasons I really appreciate the opportunity to collaborate with Sadler’s Wells East because upstairs in their new building they opened studios and a school.
“While the festival is on we also organise workshops for amateurs and professionals alike and it’s perfect for that.
“It’s commensurate with our three values – creation, transmission and education.”
teasing out the history
This lineage from past to present is clearly visible in Serge’s programming of nine performances across Sadler’s Wells’ venues – its main auditorium and the Lilian Bayliss Studio theatre in Islington and Sadler’s Wells East at East Bank on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
“For example, I’m very excited about the opening days of the festival,” said Serge. “For this I always try to combine different approaches with a specific approach.
“We start in Islington on March 12 and 13, 2025, with a very intimate dance piece for the Lilian Bayliss Studio – Sakinan Göze Çöp Batar (An over-protected eye always gets sand in it) by Christian Rizzo at 6.30pm before moving to the main theatre at 8pm.
“There we see a piece called Working Title by the Trisha Brown Dance Company from 1985, which is very New York.
“It’s also a story of transmission because after the interval, we present In The Fall, created by young French choreographer Noé Soulier – only the second commission by the company.
“It’s wonderful that this dance company still exists after Trisha passed away and that it maintains her approach.
“This notion of continuation after a choreographer has died is very important.
“Then, connected by the same history, we have (LA)HORDE and Ballet National De Marseille, presenting Age Of Content at Sadler’s Wells East on March 14 and 16, 2025.
“While this is the new approach, it is still connected and I hope audiences will see that.”
Beyond that, it’s also Serge’s aim to join the work of the jewellers to the dancers on the stage.
“I’m just a go-between, in fact,” he said.
“I have a tool in my hands to mediate between two different worlds, and that’s what interests me the most.
“It’s my job to teach the associates of the maison about dance and explain to our clients why we are so committed to it.”
key details: Dance Relections
Dance Reflections is set to run at Sadler’s Wells, the Royal Opera House, Tate Modern and the Southbank Centre with performances from March 12 to April 8, 2025.
Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford will host performances on March 14-16, March 22-23 and March 27-28 as part of the festival.
It’s an important year in the ongoing story of east London.
The launch of Sadler’s Wells East will be the first truly public-facing slice of East Bank to open on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, marking the advent of the 2012 Games’ most significant cultural legacy.
Its first season will kick off with Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Our Mighty Groove from February 6-9, 2025 – the first show to attract audiences to a building designed to pull people in with a bright neon welcome sign.
Its ground floor bar and cafe have the feel of the Southbank centre and, thanks to a free programme of performances on its foyer dance floor, will doubtless soon attract a troop of regulars.
The listings for the main auditorium, which has a seated capacity of up to 550, are packed with transformations of the space for shows planned to include immersive nightclubs and a skatepark.
Suitable for ages seven and up, the solo 40-minute show features a highly physical turn from dancer Kévin Coquelard and a beaten up Volkswagen.
“I created Birdboy for my daughter,” said Emma, who makes work from her base in Carlow, a little over an hour outside Dublin.
“I’ve always admired people who create work for kids but before this I never had. As an audience they’re not polite, they’re honest.
“I’d seen one or two beautiful pieces of work made for children and I had them up on a pedestal, so it always felt like it was something I had to work my way up to.
“It took me a few years to take the plunge.
“I had ideas for working around themes like loneliness and getting to grips with yourself as a person in the world.
“My daughter was eight at the time – it’s the age when children start to see themselves in relation to others.
“I started to see how she related to people and to the world, figuring out who she was. I went into a room with Kévin, a dancer I hadn’t worked with before, but had often seen performing.
“We started with a few images and it started growing – a true collaboration between us. Birdboy grew out of that process.
“It’s a story, told in a non-linear way about a character who has an interior and exterior world.
“There’s bullying happening and he feels a lot of negative emotions, but he has all these different devices to distract himself.
“He eventually finds a way to relieve himself of his worries and confront them.”
Choreographer Emma Martin of United Fall – image Ferdia Mooney
from Carlow to Sadler’s Wells East
Emma began her career as a ballet dancer before stepping away after getting “a bit of a wake-up call and taking a break before I hated it”.
She studied drama, theatre and Russian at university with a plan to be “a one-woman show, lighting, directing and making my own work” as a choreographer.
It’s more or less what she’s done since 2012.
“I have my own company now, United Fall, which since 2018 has been the production machine behind what I make,” she said.
“I create a show roughly every two years, depending on the rhythm of the piece.
“It is a long time and I tend to do it in stages.
“There might be two weeks and then another meeting two months later.
“It gives me time to test ideas – I find I like my work better if I have had time to have a love affair with it, to sit with it.
“It’s important that it doesn’t feel like a transient idea, but something I’ll always believe in.
“We’re funded by Arts Council Ireland so that’s easier.
“We don’t have tons of money but it’s a luxury and somehow we make it happen.
“It used to be that you’d do four weeks and then you’d have an audience – I don’t feel that serves the work.
“I prefer things to be slower so there’s more time to realise the technical side too.”
The performance is suitable for audiences aged 7+
a metaphor for the interior world
For Birdboy, that includes ensuring the automobile that accompanies Kévin on stage is suitably reinforced and able to play its part in the production, which has now been touring for 18 months.
“The car comes from an idea I had for the show of one human left in the world, completely alone, surrounded by debris from human beings,” said Emma.
“We were talking about doing it in a junk yard environment, but I decided in the end to do it in an empty space.
“Then the car came back, because I was thinking about being inside the character’s head in contrast to the outside world.
“I rang the designer one day and we put a car onstage, and that’s how it came about.
“It looks like a car and functions like a car in some ways but it’s a metaphor for our interior worlds.
“The idea of Birdboy taps into the bird imagery that is so ubiquitous in children’s literature.
“You have this idea of being human and not being able to get up and fly away – so, if you could have one superpower, would it be to fly away and see the world from a great height?
“A lot of superheroes can fly, so it’s what the character is wishing for.
“When he experiences difficulties, he wishes that he could just fly away.
“My daughter was also quite involved in the process.
“We were making it in Carlow, so I would bring her and her pal to see it.
“There are a lot of nods to her world, like SpongeBob and YouTube – cartoony references, so I was constantly testing her, to see what she thought.
“She liked it, but I don’t think she necessarily saw herself in it.
“A lot of people have read the character as neuro-divergent.
“My kid is not, but has plenty of friends who are, so she felt an empathy there.
“That’s really what I want audiences to feel – that it’s OK to be different because everyone has something to offer.
“It’s a very high-energy performance, using really raw physicality in combination with lots of emotion, that hopefully should give young people an understanding of the character.
“We’re using hardcore dancing, so the car has many places where it needs to be reinforced.
“I think it speaks to both adults and children and I’d love to see people of all ages there.
“We’re all children really – while I was making it, I was thinking about everyone’s inner child.”
The work is Emma’s first piece for children
key details: Birdboy at Sadler’s Wells East
Birdboy comes to Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford for six shows over February 20-22.
A s I walk into Hera in Stratford for the first time, I receive a warm, unabashed and vocal welcome from the staff.
While the interior of its expansive, double-height space has been filled with high-end decor, it immediately manages the challenging trick of coming off as welcoming.
Its owners might be from a different part of the Mediterranean, but they’ve successfully extracted the bonhomie from a bustling Athenian taverna and transplanted it to a ground floor restaurant at Stratford Cross.
Located off the main drag between Westfield and the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Hera has opened its doors with a weather eye on the future.
It’s opposite V&A East Museum, which is set to become a major pull for visitors from 2026 and is right beside a new footbridge to the cultural and educational hub whose full complement of organisations will include the London College Of Fashion, BBC Music Studios and Sadler’s Wells East.
Visitors and students need to eat and drink and the owners are betting Hera, with its views over the park to the Hackney Wick skyline, will be well-placed to serve them.
Hera’s main dining room
elevating Greek cuisine
“There aren’t many options in London for elevated dining when it comes to Greek food,” said Stefan Petrushev, the establishment’s marketing manager.
“While we look in some senses like a fine dining restaurant, we wanted to make our food and drink accessible – Stratford Cross is a modern area and we wanted to reflect that.
“The menu is Greek through-and-through, using seasonal ingredients with beautiful presentation on the plate.
“With the menu, we wanted to reflect different aspects of Greek cuisine such as seafood, vegetables and meat, but to make the dishes a little more intricate and sophisticated than you’d find in a casual dining setting.
“For example, with our starter of melitzano salata, everything is made fresh. It’s about taking people’s expectations and going beyond them with the flavours and the way the dishes look.
“One of the wonderful things about Greek cuisine is that there’s a simplicity to it – you can really taste everything that goes in.”
Marketing manager at Hera, Stefan Petrushev
small plates at Hera
Hera’s menu is split into starters ranging in price from £4 to £9.
Beyond that, it’s essentially a small-ish plates place with dishes split into Cold And Raw, Garden, Farm and Sea.
There’s a bone-in sirloin for £40 and a whole grilled sea bass for £35, but the majority come in between the mid-teens and mid-20s.
The aim is to encourage sharing and sampling, with dishes arriving when ready rather than in sequence.
“In the run up to our official launch, we’ve tried to think of everything,” said Stefan, who grew up in Canning Town.
“It’s lovely during the day but at night it’s especially beautiful with all the lights visible through the window.
“The location doesn’t seem perfect yet, but it will be.
“With all of the openings at East Bank, we’re playing the long game.
“We’ll be right in the heart of it, especially with the unveiling of the new bridge, which will be the quickest way to reach the park from Stratford International station.
“In addition to the restaurant we will also have a winter garden which will be enclosed and fully heated in the winter and can then be opened up in the summer and that will be great.
“We’re also set on making sure we don’t replicate the formality of a West End restaurant.
“In terms of hospitality, we’re taking the things that work to ensure people get a professional service, but also the warmth of the Greek welcome.
“We’ll have the perfect lighting and the sexy groove of the music in the evening but without that intimidating atmosphere some restaurants can have.”
A warm, sweet pillow of Feta Saganaki, £13
indulging in drinks
Beyond the food, there are the drinks and Hera boasts an illuminated wall filled with colourful, inviting bottles.
“We felt there was a space for a really nice wine and cocktail bar in Stratford,” said Stefan.
“We only have our signature cocktails on the list alongside plenty of Greek wines – sparkling, white, red and orange.
“They’re so nice they can be a little dangerous to play with, especially the white.”
It’s a list designed to pair well with the dishes on offer, which feature a panoply of Greek flavours.
There’s a dish of baked feta, wrapped in kataifi and bathed in a rich bath of lemon honey.
Grilled octopus comes with a thick mashed swirl of fava beans, while beef meatballs are rich with mint and jazzed up by a little pile of tzatziki.
These are dishes to dip in and out of, a less stuffy and traditional take on a series of well-known classics.
Everywhere there’s honey, thyme and aubergine.
Stefan said: “If you’ve never really tried Greek food, we’re a great place to start because we focus on making things just that bit more special.
“If you’re going to a restaurant, you want to have an experience and that’s what we offer.
“We have an incredible space here and we want people to feel that personal touch – that this is food made by people who really care.”
Grilled octopus with fava beans at Hera, £19.90
key details: Hera
Hera is located on Arber Way at Stratford Cross and is within easy walking distance from Stratford International and Stratford stations.
It’s open daily from 11am-11.30pm. The winter garden is set to open in due course.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“I hope it will feel welcoming, but I also really like the idea of visitors wondering if they’re really allowed access to all these space, that maybe they’re somewhere they shouldn’t be,” said Tim Reeve, deputy director and COO of the V&A and chair of the East Bank Board.
We’re talking about the first of two sites that the museum is set to open in Stratford as it expands its offering across the capital.
V&A East Museum is set to launch in spring 2026 at East Bank and will celebrate making and the power of creativity to effect change in the world.
V&A East Storehouse, however, goes far beyond conventional displays and promises something entirely new.
Housed at Here East about a 10-minute walk across the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park from East Bank itself, the V&A is creating a vast publicly accessible facility where its diverse non-display collection and archives can be looked after for the next century.
Spread over some 173,000sq ft, it is set to arrive first, opening its doors to the public on May 31, 2025.
V&A COO and deputy director Tim Reeve – image Jon Massey
a second site
“While we were engaged in the process of working out what V&A East Museum would be – how it would be distinctive and reflect the local geography and demographic of the people around East Bank – we were also talking to the Government about the future of Blythe House,” said Tim.
“That’s the place in West Kensington where we stored all our non-display collections – about 250,000 objects, 350,000 books and 1,000 archives.
“It was made clear to us, along with the Science Museum and British Museum – which also use it as store – that we needed to leave because the building was to be redeveloped.
“That was a pain, because you don’t want to be moving a collection of our sort more often than you have to, due of the delicacy of the objects and the expense.
“However, it was also a clarifying moment for the V&A East project with the idea that we could find a place for our Blythe House objects, books and archives and that we could create two sites in east London.
“We just needed to find a space big enough and close enough to East Bank to make sense. Looking at the two sites together, you get a complete 360-degree view of the contemporary museum world.”
An artist’s impression of V&A East Storehouse – image Diller Scofidio + Renfro
tucked away: V&A East Storehouse
While V&A East Museum, with the dramatic angles of its purpose-built home at East Bank, will be the more visually striking, in content it will probably feel the more familiar of the two with galleries, exhibitions, a cafe and a shop.
Somewhat tucked away in the former Media And Broadcast Centre built for the 2012 Olympics, V&A Storehouse is deliberately radical.
Storehouse will be a place where our objects live and where we look after them,” said Tim. “We know people want to see what they’ve been told they can’t – where the magic happens.
“So V&A East Storehouse has been created to facilitate people’s exploration of the bit of our organisation that would normally be hidden – a visitor experience that’s self-guided and free every day of the year.
“We have an absolutely enormous, amazing space, where we can fit everything in, with some space to spare as the collection grows.
“We’re building some of our showpiece objects into it such as architectural fragments from the Robin Hood Gardens estate and we’ve come up with a public network of spaces intertwined with the collection.
“That will be a 60 to 90-minute, self-guided tour of exploration as people burrow their way up through the building and arrive in this incredible atrium.
“From there you can keep exploring and see how far you can get – it’s been designed to allow visitors to get as far as possible.
“Moving all our stuff from Blythe House is incredibly expensive, so we thought we might as well create a new world with it and that’s what we’ve done at Storehouse.
“The idea is you will breathe the same air as the objects we hold.
“A visit is the start of a journey and we hope people will come back when they realise they can browse as much as they like.
“Here East is a warehouse, an industrial building – not a marble-clad museum. It’s humble and we want as many people as possible to visit.
“It’s also a source to be mined and returned to, constantly changing as it’s also a working building with objects going out on loan or for conservation.”
A section of the Robin Hood Gardens estate is installed at Storehouse – image by V&A
east London influence
Designed by architects Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, Storehouse will be home to an extensive and varied collection including creative works from The Glastonbury Festival Archive, PJ Harvey and Elton John’s costumes, vintage football shirts, Dior and Schiaparelli haute couture, Roman frescos, samurai swords, mid century furniture and the iPhone.
A dedicated David Bowie Centre will showcase artefacts from the musician and performer’s archive with rotating displays set to open in September.
More than 100 miniature displays on the ends of storage systems will highlight specific exhibits including those relating to this part of the capital.
“There will be lots of east London influence in the way we’re displaying and interpreting the collection,” said Tim.
“Our piece of Robin Hood Gardens was the first thing we installed here because it’s so enormous.
“It’s one of the first things visitors will see when they climb the stairs.
“Our collection is international and so we want to bring out its full splendour, depth and range and there are some really wonderful east London stories we want to showcase, drawing inspiration from the connections with the local community we have built.
“I think walking in on opening day will be a really emotional moment.
“Colleagues across the institution have poured so much time and energy into it, through some really tricky moments, of which we’ve had more than our fair share.
“It’s the most important thing I’ve done in my professional life, and will probably be the most important thing I ever do.
“I feel I’ve been really lucky to be involved in creating such a project since 2013.
“You have a light bulb moment and think what it would be like to see it happen – to be around from beginning to end.
“There were moments when it felt like it might never happen.
“But as an institutional lift, it doesn’t get any better.
“And we are here for the long term.
vWe have a 100-year lease at Here East and 200 at East Bank.
“One of the biggest treats for us is seeing people who were here before the Olympics realising that these things are being created for their benefit.
“The interplay between the different types of organisations at East Bank make the future very interesting – a special destination.”
An artist’s impression of the David Bowie Centre – image by IDK
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
“We’ve been talking about it for so long, now is the time to do it,” said Rob Jones, associate artistic director at Sadler’s Wells.
“We want people in the building, for them to be curious, to come along and have a cup of tea and meet friends – everyone’s welcome and we want them here.”
We’re discussing the opening of Sadler’s Wells East in Stratford.
While construction issues and re-jigs have delayed the launch, dates have now been released for the venue’s inaugural programme.
One of five organisations that make up East Bank on the edge of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the opening is especially significant for the campus as it’s the first building on site with a clear mission to bring visitors in.
For Rob and the team, it offers a theatre and facilities created specifically to address demand in London’s dance sector.
But it’s equally important to them that the new venue makes good on links the organisation has been building locally.
“We’ve been working with community groups for about six years now – a lot of groundwork to lay foundations,” he said.
“The content of the programme is important – we wanted to make sure there were multiple moments where local people could come and be in the theatre, whether that’s to watch performers on the community dance floor, take part in a monthly disco or just be in the space by visiting the cafe.
“Even in our first season we’ve included community casts for shows such as Our Mighty Groove, which will open the venue or Skatepark (April 10-12, 2025), where Danish choreographer Mette Ingvartsen has worked with local skaters.
“It’s about making sure we have those connections, going into local schools, for instance, with balletLORENT from Newcastle for their production of Snow White (April 16-19, 2025).
“We’ve been trying to make sure there’s something for everyone with as many access points as possible – not self-indulgent programming, but good quality dance.
“I think it’s going to feel really exciting and this first season is a test for us, in a way – we want to see how the community connects with the theatre and the programme, especially the free elements.
“That’s where the work really begins – making sure that the theatre belongs to local people.”
Sadler’s Wells East is set to open in February 2025 – image David Hewitt
an opening spectacle at Sadler’s Wells East
Sadler’s Wells East will kick off its first season with Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Our Mighty Groove with five performances split over February 6-9, 2025.
Inspired by New York club culture, it includes local dancers in the cast, with plans to bring it to the stage for more than a year.
“It’s existed in an immersive format before, but this is a new version and it’s had a whole revamp,” said Rob, who joined Sadler’s Wells a little over two years ago having worked extensively as a producer for the likes of Dance Umbrella, Roundhouse and Brighton Dome And Festival.
“It’s difficult to pick highlights, because you can’t have favourites but we’ve got a lot of work from companies in London coming to Stratford.
“For example, there’s Impact Driver (April 24-26, 2025) by artist and performance maker Eve Stainton where the seats in the theatre go away and it takes place in a container in the middle of the space.
“It’s an incredible immersive happening.
“It’s got live welding, guitars and sound systems set up on either side.
“When I first saw it, I wasn’t sure I would get it, but it’s one of the most magnetic performances I’ve watched in a long time – it’s really beautiful.
“Completely different, is a piece by choreographer Emma Martin from Ireland making her Sadler’s Wells debut as we spotlight international voices.
“Birdboy (February 20-22, 2025) is a work for family, suitable for ages 7+ all about being a loner and an outsider.
“But the character is also a superhero – a mash up of Batman – with a car that’s a time machine and a projector. It’s very vivid.”
Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Our Mighty Groove will open the venue – image Camilla Greenwell
shows and education
The venue has announced more than 20 shows for its first season, including eight UK premieres and 10 commissions or co-commissions from the theatre.
That’s a statement of intent in itself, with a sense that Sadler’s Wells is firmly focused on making the most of the facility now it’s finally arrived.
“It’s a project that’s been a long time in the making,” said Rob.
“It began more than a decade ago as part of the legacy of the Olympic Games.
“The main space at Sadler’s Wells East has 550 seats and a stage that’s as large and agile as our main auditorium in Islington.
“Those seats can also go away so you have a giant black box that can host completely immersive productions.
“This reflects how people are working in dance now – increasingly moving away from traditional formats.
“Within the building, we also have studios and a very large space, which is the same size as the stage, where we can make projects to perform in the theatre.
“We’ve never had this facility before.
“There will also be two schools based at Sadler’s Wells East.
“The Rose Choreographic School supports artists to explore their practice and is led by leading choreographers.
“Then there’s Academy Breakin’ Convention, which will offer the UK’s first free Level 3 Extended Diploma In Performance And Production Arts specific to hip hop theatre to 16-to-19-year-olds.”
Emma Martin’s Birdboy will be performed in February – image by Luca Truffarelli
open to the community
“There are also the public-facing parts of the building,” added Rob.
“It’s really exciting, because people will have the opportunity to be more creative than they may have had in other dance spaces in the city.
“There’s a huge community dance-floor in the foyer, and you can see into one of the studios.
“I had this realisation earlier in the year – I’d been to see ABBA Voyage near Pudding Mill Lane and walking back it was clear that passers-by would be able to see people working and dancing at Sadler’s Wells East when we’re open.
“Often when visiting theatres you might see dancers milling around but unless you’re in the auditorium, you don’t see them dancing or get a real sense of the incredible magic which is being created in the building.
“That’s why this new space will have a completely different energy.
“It will be open all day and there will be an ‘always on’ feel.
“It will be a social space alongside all these other cultural institutions at East Bank.
“I think it’s going to be a crucial part of the hub.
“The five organisations at East Bank already meet monthly to discuss how we can collaborate and we’re all looking forward to being fully open.
“For Sadler’s Wells, the new venue is also going to broaden the lens of what we can do.
“With everything that’s going on in the world and how difficult arts funding is in the UK, artists need to be able to dance at mid-scale venues like this one.
“Our theatre in Islington has a capacity of 1,500 and there’s a studio that seats 80.
“This gives us something in the middle, which is important because we can support artists at the start of their careers, as they grow and at the top.
“There aren’t many places of this mid-scale size in London, so this provides a whole new facility for what’s possible in the capital and it’s a really exciting moment both for artists in the UK and internationally.”
Impact Driver features live welding as part of the performance – image by Anne Tetzlaff
Top of the tree is obviously Our Mighty Groove, the show selected to open the venue – complete with local performers in the cast. Catch it from February 6-9, 2025
Looking further ahead, Inside Giovanni’s Room by Phoenix Dance Theatre tackles the themes of love, sexuality, guilt and self-acceptance in James Baldwin’s novel. See it June 11-14, 2025
Then, Over And Over (And Over Again) by Candoco and Dan Daw promises to take audiences to a place where “everyone is welcome; where you love doing something so much that you never want to stop”. July 2-4, 2025
key details: Sadler’s Wells East
Sadler’s Wells East will officially open its doors on February 6-9 , 2025, with five performances of Vicki Igbokwe-Ozoagu’s Our Mighty Groove.
Tickets for this (from £15) and other shows will be on sale later this month.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
In charge since the very first show, artistic director Bradley Hemmings and his team have put together a series of blockbusters and smaller happenings aimed at delighting residents, local workers and visitors.
We sat down with him to go over a few of the highlights to help you plan your diary.
“We’ve long been associated with very surprising and unusual events that pop-up and happen in locations across Greenwich and east London,” he said.
“This year we’re opening with a phenomenal performance by a French company – Les Commandos Percu.
“The show is called Silence and will take place at 8.30pm on August 23 at the Royal Artillery Barracks in Woolwich.
“This awesome parade ground space will be filled with a fusion of pyrotechnics and percussion.
“With people going though difficult times, having something joyous and uplifting like that will be just the tonic.
“They’re a company we’ve worked with before – way back in 2016 – so we’re very much looking forward to welcoming them back.”
GDIF will feature World Kiosk in Green Street
Greenwich + Docklands International Festival – the small things
“We work across all sorts of different scales, it’s not all about large spectacles,” said Bradley
“For many people who come to the festival, it’s about having transformational experiences that disrupt the rhythm of the everyday.
“This year’s theme is All Change – we’re inspired by Gandhi’s message to be the change you want to see.
“We’re going through seismic times and something that brings people together to reflect, think and have a great time is really important.
“One of the highlights for me will be smaller in scale, but very intimate and considered.
“It invites people to take a breath – a moment outside the busyness of life – and provides a window into other people’s lives.
“Visitors are welcomed to the kiosk, which then serves them tea in a very ritualistic and beautiful way.
“Then they listen in to voices from people in other parts of the country who have been through this same process, sharing stories.
“It’s a sublime and beautiful experience, a wonderful reprieve from daily life.”
Thaw takes place on top of a 2.5 tonne block of ice suspended from a crane
melting away
“At the other end of the scale, at Royal Albert Dock, we have an extraordinary spectacle from an Australian company called Legs On The Wall called Thaw,” said Bradley
“This production takes place on a 2.5 tonne block of ice suspended above the dock on a crane.
“Each day it runs for eight hours with a performer on top trying to navigate the changing shape of the block as it starts to melt.
“There’s a sense of jeopardy but also a wonderful soundscape that provides a chance to reflect and think very hard about what’s happening to the planet and the climate emergency.
“I think this will be one of the abiding images of this year’s festival – it runs on August 24 and 25, from 1pm-9pm at the University Of East London’s Royal Docks campus.”
Dancing City is set to take place in Stratford this year
miraculous movement
On September 7, from 1pm-6pm, a number of areas in Stratford will be awash with many forms of movement.
“We set it up at Canary Wharf in 2003 and people have come to really love that event.
“This year it will take place at East Bank, the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and in Stratford town centre.
“There’s a phenomenal range of dance companies taking part.
“We’re working very closely with Sadler’s Wells East and East London Dance as well as other partners including Stratford Cross, UCL and the London College Of Fashion.
“What will be wonderful about it is that it will be taking place in the midst of the Paralympic Games in Paris.
“I co-directed the London 2012 Paralympic opening ceremony, so there’s a personal history there and we’ll be presenting work led by deaf disabled artists.
“It feels wonderful to be continuing that Olympic legacy 12 years later.
“One of the pieces is called Synergy and has been choreographed by Mark Smith, who worked on the Paralympics with me.”
Parkworks is set to bring a day of family fun to Stratford
this year and the future
“One of the things that we will be doing next year is marking our 30th anniversary,” said Bradley.
“It’s enormously satisfying to see that GDIF is still there thanks to our partners.
“It seems to me that this will be a moment where we should be taking stock and thinking about what the next three decades will look like.
“It typifies what we aim to do – to create something miraculous and wonderful that reveals the story of this emerging part of London.
“Dante Or Die have created a piece around a clock tower, which originally sat in Deptford before the GLC transported it by barge down the Thames and rebuilt it as the centrepiece of Thamesead town centre.
“An 18th century structure improbably located in the middle of the 1980s development.
“Then my final highlight is festival of family fun – Parkworks, which takes place on August 25 and 26 from 1pm-6pm in Stratford Park.
“There will be a giant interactive climbing frame built from bamboo and parents with prams choreographed with headsets.”
key details: Greenwich + Docklands International Festival
The Greenwich + Docklands International Festival runs from August 23 to September 8, 2024.
All events are free to attend. These highlights are the tip of the iceberg.
- Jon Massey is co-founder and editorial director of Wharf Life and writes about a wide range of subjects in Canary Wharf, Docklands and east London - contact via jon.massey@wharf-life.com
