2001 – Cassa Pancho’s Ballet Black founded

Cassa Pancho was born in London to British and Trinidadian parents. Completing her dissertation at Durham University on Black women in ballet proved the catalyst for establishing a company that provided dancers and students of Black and Asian descent with opportunities in classical ballet.

Pancho established her company, Ballet Black, at the age of 21. The company gave its first performance at the Royal Academy of Dance in 1991 with choreography by Pancho herself and founding ballet master, Denzil Bailey. The company aimed to redress the conspicuous lack of presence of any dancers of colour in companies and vocational schools across Britain. Ballet Black became an associate company of the Royal Opera House, part of the institution’s ROH2 initiative headed by former Royal Ballet principal Deborah Bull. In 2018, Ballet Black was given National Portfolio Organisation status by the Arts Council. The company places an emphasis on producing interesting new work from a range of choreographers working in both the classical and contemporary spheres.