Romeo and Juliet in Swing
The 2026 Battersea Jazz Festival begins with a jazz ballet, featuring new jazz arrangements of Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet with a cast of top class professional dancers from Battersea's very own E33 Dance Company..
The 2026 Battersea Jazz Festival will begin with a bang: A jazz ballet! The Hugo Jennings Big Band will perform original arrangements from Sergei Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, accompanying dancers from Battersea's very own E33 Dance Company. Expect a night of swinging music, world-class dance, and storytelling in this interpretation of one of William Shakespeare's most iconic plays and one of the most legendary ballets of the 20th Century.
The original ballet for Romeo and Juliet, with music by the great Russian composer Sergei Prokofiev, was first performed in the Soviet Union in 1940. This jazz re-imagining of the music will be written by Battersea Jazz Festival Founder, pianist and singer Hugo Jennings, with inspiration from jazz heroes such as Duke Ellington. The Hugo Jennings Big Band features some of the very finest musicians in British jazz, and the brand new choreography from E33 Dance Company will be performed by some of the top professional dancers in London today.
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