2024 - Kate Whitley // Seeta Patel // Birmingham Royal Ballet
LEARNING TO DREAM BIG from LUNA explores how education is a powerful force for good and can open minds and hearts. A collaboration between Kate Whitley and Seeta Patel, it forms part of a six-scene ballet, Luna which is inspired by the pioneering and socially enterprising women of Birmingham who have contributed to the shape of the city that is home to Birmingham Royal Ballet. The score for Learning to Dream Big is supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance, and performed by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and soprano soloist. The movement language fuses ballet and South Indian classical dance from Bharatanatyam, with its intricate, rhythmic footwork, geometric and dynamic movements, and expressive gestures.

Composer - Kate Whitley
Choreographer - Seeta Patel

First staged performance: 3-5 October 2024, Birmingham Hippodrome, with subsequent performances 22-23 October 2024, Sadler’s Wells Theatre, London.

2024 - Stefano Ancora // Frauke Requardt // The Place
ANATOMY OF SURVIVAL by choreographer Frauke Requardt & writer Vivienne Franzmann is a new dance-theatre show, depicting 28 eyewitness accounts about a scenario that takes place in a café. The show examines the intimate ways in which the nervous system can shape our reactions and understandings of reality. The RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance is supporting the collaboration with composer Stefano Ancora who will also perform on drums live during the show, using music to depict the experiences of the witnesses alongside two dancers and an actor. Anatomy of Survival is an exciting new collaboration between choreographer, writer and composer, creating a multi-disciplinary and highly engaging performance. This show has been commissioned by The Place and Royal Court Theatre and produced by The Place.

Composer - Stefano Ancora
Choreographer - Frauke Requardt

First staged performance: 11-12 September 2025, Shoreditch Town Hall, with subsequent performances 23-24 September at The Place, London.

2024 - Chloe Knibbs // Klaudia Wittmann // KWAM Collective
THEATRES OF HYSTERIA by composer Chloe Knibbs and choreographer Klaudia Wittmann is a collaboration between new music and contemporary dance exploring artistic elaborations of hysteria. Taking inspiration from French visual artist Louise Bourgeois, Theatres of Hysteria is concerned with reinventing the hysterical body in its multiple dimensions: sexuality, materiality, as well as inscriptions of social violence. Produced by KWAM Collective and in collaboration with two dance artists, a singer, and a cellist, the research will experiment with the interplay of sound, image and physicality.

Composer - Chloe Knibbs
Choreographer - Klaudia Wittmann

Research and Development for this project was supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance in 2024.

2024 - Dickson Mbi 
TELLUS is a new work for stage created by composer and choreographer Dickson Mbi. A self-taught, rising voice in contemporary classical music, Dickson Mbi writes intuitively, seeking emotional connection with audiences and fusing his Cameroon heritage with his East London upbringing and background in street dance. This is the first time that Dickson has both composed and choreographed for his own company, in this project which draws inspiration from courageous women in Dickson’s life, their influences and the role they play in society, as well as our wider relationship with Mother Earth.

Composer and choreographer - Dickson Mbi

Research and Development for this project was supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance in 2024.

2024 - Torben Sylvest // Chandenie Gobardhan
CAUGHT AGAIN IN THE NET OF REBIRTH is a dynamic collaboration between composer Torben Sylvest and choreographer Chandenie Gobardhan. Throughout summer and autumn 2024, these artists will join forces to experiment and craft the soundtrack for Chandenie's latest piece, Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth. Blending classical Indian, street, and contemporary dance, Chandenie’s work delves into Trimurti – a complex concept of creation, preservation, and destruction. The creative and collaborative processes will unfold in London and during a September residency at Korzo Theatre in The Hague, featuring musicians Avi Kishna (sarod) and Raj Mohan (vocalist), unlocking new avenues for creativity.

Composer - Torben Sylvest
Choreographer - Chandenie Gobardhan

Research and Development for this project was supported by the RPS Drummond Lockyer Fund for Dance in 2024.

2023 - Echo Collective // AΦE
ORPHEUS Inspired by Jean Cocteau’s film Orphée, this new live stage production will explore the relationship between humans and machines and the transformation from one state to the other. The work tells the story of Lilith, frozen after her death and reincarnated a billion years later in digital form, and her father, Orpheus, as he seek ways to communicate with her as his grief takes over his life. This piece is part of AΦE’s longterm research project REBOOT which explores the future of humanity.

Composer - Echo Collective
Choreographers - Esteban Lecoq and Aoi Nakamura

2023 - Alex Ho // Julia Cheng // Tangram
UNTOLD examines the racialised experiences of transnational Chinese communities. Responding to the urgent need to shed critical light on what it means to be Chinese today, Untold explores a theme of ‘not fitting in’ by adapting the Chinese folkstory of Ye Xian, one of the early precursors to the Cinderella fairytale. The first performance took place in Antwerp, Rotterdam in 2023. Choreographer Julia Cheng was recently nominated for an Olivier Award for choreographing the acclaimed West End production of Cabaret.

Composer - Alex Ho
Choreographer - Julia Cheng

First staged performance: 18 May 2023, O. festival, Rotterdam, with subsequent UK concert performance: 17 July 2025, Southbank Centre, London.

2022 - Anna Appleby // Joss Arnott Dance // Psappha
TIN MAN A new family dance show, which resonates with children and adult audiences alike, casting a new slant on a much-loved character from The Wizard of Oz.

Composer - Anna Appleby
Choreographer - Joss Arnott

First staged performance: 26 March 2022, The Lowry, Salford, and on tour from 2 April - 8 July.

2022 - Kareem Roustom // Shobana Jeyasingh Dance
CLORINDA AGONISTES In this production, Claudio Monteverdi's celebrated work Il Combattimento is fused with a new retelling of its heroine's story - with music by Syrian American composer Kareem Roustom. Performed live by a string quartet including Middle Eastern dabke rhythms and the haunting voice of Syrian contralto Dima Orsho, the cast also included dancers Adam Cooper and Jemima Brown, and tenor Ed Lyon.

Composer - Kareem Roustom
Choreographer - Shobana Jeyasingh
Conductor - Robert Hollingworth

First staged performance: 13 July 2022, The Grange Festival.
First London performances: 8 and 9 Sep 2022, Sadler's Wells.

2021 - Ayanna Witter-Johnson // Alesandra Seutin // Vocab Dance
BOY BREAKING GLASS Through blending traditional African dances with contemporary language, this live dance theatre piece - created by Ayanna Witter-Johnson and Alesandra Seutin - asks, 'How does one survive in a system that does not always embrace you?' A poem of the same name was written by Gwendolyn Brooks, the first black female poet in the United States to receive a Pulitzer Prize. Ayanna and Alesandra hope it speaks to and inspires audiences of all colours, especially those who do not often see themselves represented on stage. The work was first performed in Belgium in 2020 before receiving it's UK premiere in October 2021.

Composer - Ayanna Witter-Johnson
Choreographer - Alesandra Seutin
Producer -Grace Okereke

First staged performance (with recorded music): 24 April 2020, KVS Belgium 
First UK performances: 2 October 2021, Riley Theatre, Leeds; 5 October 2021, The Place, London

2020 - Daniel Elms // Alexander Whitley // Manchester Collective
THE AGE OF SPIRITUAL MACHINES Daniel Elms and Alexander Whitley are each making a name for their orthodoxy-challenging and genre-stretching practices. In this Drummond Fund commission they addressed issues of geographical and cultural inaccessibility to contemporary art through a nimble and intimate work, free from the restrictions of tradition. The Age of Spiritual Machines was first performed by Alexander Whitley Dance Company and Manchester Collective, in May 2022 at Queen Elizabeth Hall, London.

Composer - Daniel Elms
Choreographer - Alexander Whitley 

First staged performance: 14 May 2022, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London

2019 - Gabriel Prokofiev // Didy Veldman // Birmingham Royal Ballet
[UN]LEASHED is the latest Drummond Fund commission, for performance at Birmingham Hippodrome and Sadlers Wells in London in June 2019. The Fund not only supported the commission but also helped the creative team embark on a residency to share ideas and shape the work.

Composer - Gabriel Prokofiev
Choreographer - Didy Veldman 

First staged performance: 12 June 2019, Birmingham Hippodrome

2016 - David Sawer // Aletta Collins // Royal Ballet // London Sinfonietta
APRIL \ MARCH co-commissioned by the RPS Drummond Fund and BBC Radio 3, with support from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. First musically performed before a thrilling digital installation at the Roundhouse as part of the BBC Proms in 2019, the long-intended first ballet performance was finally fulfilled by the Royal Ballet on the re-opening of its sumptuously-renovated Linbury Theatre in 2019.

Composer - David Sawer
Choreographer - Aletta Collins

World premiere: 20 August 2016, BBC Proms, Roundhouse, London (concert performance)
First staged performance: 6 February 2019, Royal Ballet, Linbury Theatre, Covent Garden, London.

2015 - Elena Kats-Chernin // Shobana Jeyasingh // Smith Quartet
MATERIAL MEN is a virtuoso piece for two dazzling performers, Sooraj Subramaniam and Shailesh Bahoran of the Indian diaspora, who contrast in style between classical and hip hop in a dynamic exploration of rhythm, location and shared history.

Composer - Elena Kats-Chernin
Choreographer - Shobana Jeyasingh

World premiere: 16 September 2015, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre, London

2011 - Kenneth Hesketh // Sharon Watson // Phoenix Dance // Psappha
FORMS ENTANGLED, SHAPES COLLIDED is the title of the score written for Repetition of Change. The collaboration takes its inspiration from Greek philosophy and the theory of atomism – the idea that the world consists of two fundamental principles; atoms and void.

Composer - Kenneth Hesketh
Choreographer - Sharon Watson

2011 - Dario Palermo // Ben Duke // Dance Umbrella 
THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE was inspired by Chris Marker’s 1962 film La Jetée, this piece explores time travel, the power of the imagination and the relationship between the physical body and virtual reality.

Composer - Dario Palermo
Choreographer - Ben Duke

 

2011 - Julian Philips // Mickael Marso Riviere // Company Declage // Aurora Orchestra
MAXAMORPHOSIS juxtaposes ‘breaking’ (breakdance) and orchestral music. The piece was created especially for Aurora's Principal Viola Max Baillie - a trained dancer as well as an instrumentalist.

Composer - Julian Philips
Choreographer - Mickael Marso Riviere

 

2008 - Terry Mann // Rosemary Lee Projects // Greenwich Dance
COMMON DANCE is a 30-minute large-scale folk dance and music performance for a mixed–age cast of fifty professional and non-professional dancers, co-produced by Greenwich Dance.

Composer - Terry Mann
Choreographer - Rosemary Lee

 

2008 - Julian Anderson // Mark Baldwin // Rambert Dance
COMEDY OF CHANGE is a 30-minute concert work to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s The Origin of Species, commissioned by the RPS Drummond Fund and Asko Ensemble.

Composer - Julian Anderson
Choreographer - Mark Baldwin