The Playground

The Playground The Playground is a free platform for professional artists to come together and share the space with

The Playground is the initiative of Rambert dancer Simone Damberg Würtz, and this page is run by The Playground Τeam which consists of Simone, alongside Rambert dancer Nancy Nerantzi and former Rambert dancer Julia Gillespie. Professional artists can download a sign-up form here:
rambert.org.uk/Playground-sign-up-form-Word rambert.org.uk/Playground-sign-up-form-pdf

✨ ADÉL BÁLINT & WILLIAM SOUTH ✨This Friday at The Playground, Adél Bálint Adél Bálint is back and will explore the human...
16/09/2026

✨ ADÉL BÁLINT & WILLIAM SOUTH ✨

This Friday at The Playground, Adél Bálint Adél Bálint is back and will explore the human desire to always want something more, constantly moving towards the next thing while struggling to stay present.

We want what we don’t have, and once we have it, we begin to want something else. We leave places, people and moments behind, only to miss them once they’re gone — caught between what we’ve lost, what we have now, and what we imagine might come next.

Working with a small group through improvisation, play and physical tasks, Adél will explore wanting, chasing, resisting, being stuck, leaving and returning. Playing with instinct, repetition, following, attraction and avoidance, dancers will explore the tension between wanting to stay and wanting to move.

Adél is a dancer, choreographer and teacher. Trained at the Hungarian Dance Academy, she has danced with Szeged Contemporary Dance Company, Pécs Ballet and Győr Ballet, worked on projects with Hofesh Shechter Company, and spent eight years with Rambert. Her choreography has been presented at The Place, Rambert and, most recently, Győr Ballet.

Joining Adél is William South William South a composer and musician whose career spans nearly 40 years across TV, film and live performance. Following his work as co-composer and musical director on Punchdrunk’s The Drowned Man, William has specialised increasingly in contemporary dance and ballet, working with organisations including English National Ballet and Trinity Laban.

Together, Adél and William will explore the relationship between movement, rhythm, musicality and impulse — and that very human feeling of always reaching for what comes next.

📍 The Playground at Rambert
📅 Friday 18 September
🕡 6:30–9pm

The session is currently fully booked, but you can join the waiting list via the link in our bio.

✨ MARIE CHABERT, TOMMY KHOSLA, RICH THORNTON & MIA OSTINELLI ✨This Friday at The Playground, Marie Chabert Marie Chabert...
14/09/2026

✨ MARIE CHABERT, TOMMY KHOSLA, RICH THORNTON & MIA OSTINELLI ✨

This Friday at The Playground, Marie Chabert Marie Chabert will be exploring rest, dreaming and collective imagination through Contact Improvisation, somatic exploration and devising, with pillows as the starting point. ☁️💭

Beginning from a somatic dreaming state, dancers will tune into weight, touch, sensation and imagery — exploring floating, collective rest, and bodies gathering and stacking in space.
From there, the group will explore the physical properties of pillows and how their weight, texture and density might echo, alter or extend our own physicality. Through Contact Improvisation and choreographic tasks, they’ll play with pillows and bodies in motion — throwing, catching, bouncing, falling and suspending — developing both improvisational scores and set choreography.

💭 How might our bodies collectively dream, rehearse or embody possible futures?

Marie Chabert is a performer, choreographer, Contact Improviser and teacher whose multidisciplinary practice explores touch, space, bodies, gravity and liveness through somatic and experiential approaches.

Joining Marie is Tommy Khosla Tommy Khosla , sitarist, composer and founder of interdisciplinary collective JAWARI; Rich Thornton Richard J Thornton , artist, anthropologist and theatre director, bringing together anthropology, theatre and body-focused storytelling; and Mia Ostinelli Mia Ostinelli supporting the research through assistant dance and photography.

Together, they’ll bring these different practices into the studio for an evening of movement, music, experimentation and collective dreaming. ☁️

📍 The Playground at Rambert
📅 Friday 18 September
🕡 6:30–9pm

The session is currently fully booked, but you can join the waiting list via the link in our bio.

Image credit | Adam T Deen | Moe Matoba Moe Matoba |

✨ STEPHANIE BURRELL & MICHAEL MENDONES ✨For our first PLAYGROUND back after the summer break, we’re delighted to welcome...
12/09/2026

✨ STEPHANIE BURRELL & MICHAEL MENDONES ✨

For our first PLAYGROUND back after the summer break, we’re delighted to welcome Stephanie Burrell Steph 🔐 & Michael Mendones Michael Mendones into the space!

Stephanie is a conceptual artist working across dance, theatre and film, and together with Michael they will be exploring the choreographic and thematic elements of ‘Gregor’, a film sequence from Michael Mendones’ (be)longing.

Inspired by Kafka’s The Trial and Metamorphosis, ‘Gregor’ moves between system and anomaly — exploring bureaucratic repetition, social absurdity, and the tension between internal logic and external misunderstanding through surreal movement and cyclical choreography.

Michael describes himself as an “accidental dance filmmaker”, exploring the outer reaches of human emotion by fusing music, text and movement. His 2023 film Oscillations explored bipolar disorder, while (be)longing (2026) explores late autism diagnosis and the neurodivergent experience.

In the studio, expect to learn choreographic material alongside task-based generative phrases, giving you the freedom to make the movement as complex or as simple as you wish. Some material will play with proprioceptive awareness, but adaptation is very much welcomed.

✨ All levels of movers are welcome.
And there’s a rather lovely full-circle moment behind this collaboration: Stephanie and Michael first connected at The Playground, when Stephanie approached Michael to compliment his musical accompaniment. Now, she is developing ‘Gregor’ further as part of her own work — with Michael returning to support her exploration in the very space where they first met. 💥

📅 Friday 18 September
⏰ 18:30–21:00
📍 Rambert

SEE YOU AT THE PLAYGROUND 🤍

WE’RE BACK! 💥✨ Summer break is officially OVER and The Playground is back in the studios! 🕺🔥Our September Playground is ...
04/09/2026

WE’RE BACK! 💥✨

Summer break is officially OVER and The Playground is back in the studios! 🕺🔥

Our September Playground is coming and BOOKING IS NOW OPEN! 🎉

📅 Friday 18 September 2026
⏰ 18:30–21:00
📍 Rambert, London
🎟️ FREE — booking via Momence link in BIO

We’ve missed you and we cannot WAIT to play, create, experiment and be back together again. ❤️

⚡ This session is limited to just 70 artists, so grab your spot!

SEE YOU AT THE PLAYGROUND! 💥

Image by the late photographer Elliott Franks Elliott Franks 🕊️

In November 2017, The Playground was just beginning.These photographs were taken at our very first session by photograph...
30/08/2026

In November 2017, The Playground was just beginning.

These photographs were taken at our very first session by photographer Elliott Franks, who sadly is no longer with us 🕊️

Founder Simone Simone Damberg Würtz still remember Elliott looking at her during that very first Playground when moving from space to space to capture it all and saying, “This is bonkers.” ❤️

And we think he was right. There was something a little bonkers about it, a room full of artists coming together to experiment, create, take risks and play, with no real idea of what The Playground might become.

It’s special to be able look back at these, before we could ever have known how many artists would pass through the doors, how many connections would be made, or how many moments of creativity and play would follow.

We feel incredibly lucky to have these photographs and that Elliott was there to document that first chapter of our story, and we will be forever grateful.

Thank you, Elliott, for capturing the beginning and for being part of it. May you rest in peace.
Elliott will always be part of The Playground’s history❤️

📸 Elliott Franks
The first ever Playground — 10th November 2017

18/07/2026

✨ Let’s get real about last night at The Playground…

What a beautiful way to end our season before the summer break. 💛

A huge thank you to every single dancer, observer, photographer, fine and visual artist and supporter who came along and filled the studios with such generosity, curiosity and care. It was another reminder of why this community means so much to us.

A special thank you to our wonderful choreographers, Jessie Cotgrove Neus Gil Cortes and Narina Bira .lorena for sharing your ideas so openly and inviting us into your creative worlds. And to our brilliant musicians, Heft and Bobby thank you for your incredible collaborations and for bringing such a rich musical energy to the evening.

And of course, thank you to our amazing Playground team. ❤️ None of this would happen without your time, kindness and hard work behind the scenes. We appreciate you all so much Sarah Rubidge, .white .jett ✨

To everyone who has joined us this season, whether once or every month, thank you for making The Playground the welcoming, inspiring and ever-evolving space that it is. We can’t wait to create with you all again.

We’re now taking a little summer break and will be back in September for the next Playground. 🌿

The team will also be taking some well-earned holidays over the next few weeks, so if you don’t hear from us straight away, that’s why! We’ll get back to you as soon as we can.

Have the most wonderful summer. Rest, recharge, create, explore, and we’ll see you all in September. 💛

We’re so excited to welcome Heft Heft to The Playground tomorrow night🤍 Heft is joining Choreographer Neus Gil Cortés Ne...
16/07/2026

We’re so excited to welcome Heft Heft to The Playground tomorrow night🤍
Heft is joining Choreographer Neus Gil Cortés Neus Gil Cortes for a live collaboration. ✨

Heft is a London-based Burmese artist, producer and sound designer creating immersive post-club music that blends ethereal textures with cinematic composition and the intensity of heavy music. His work inhabits the space between fragility and power, inviting deeply physical and emotional experiences.

We can’t wait to see what unfolds when these two artists come together. 💫

See you tomorrow ☀️

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨We’re thrilled to welcome Choreographer Neus Gil Cortes Neus Gil Cortes back to The Playgr...
15/07/2026

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

We’re thrilled to welcome Choreographer Neus Gil Cortes Neus Gil Cortes back to The Playground! 🤍

📅 Friday 17th July 2026
🕕 18:00–21:00
Rambert HQ

Neus is a London-based choreographer, dramaturg and leadership coach, and the founder of Nua Dance Choreographer Neus Gil Cortes🧡
Following a performing career with companies including Hofesh Shechter Company, National Dance Company Wales and Dance Works Rotterdam, she has developed a distinctive choreographic voice rooted in curiosity, imagination and embodied storytelling.
Alongside her choreographic work, Neus is a creature movement specialist, with credits including The Mummy, His Dark Materials and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom.

For this Playground session, Neus will introduce us to her movement practice, Delicate Beast.
Together we’ll explore the creature - the monster. Monsters are often feared because they’re misunderstood, yet they frequently reveal something deeply human. Through fully embodied improvisation, we’ll investigate timing, tension, drive and vulnerability, allowing imagination to guide us into unexpected physical worlds.

The session is open to everyone, including dancers, actors and anyone curious about creature-based movement and physical storytelling.

We can’t wait to welcome Neus back into the studio and discover where this imaginative exploration takes us.

Image credits | Lola Garcia Spanish Photographer in London | Weddings & Events Courtesy of productions from The Mummy and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom |

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨We’re delighted to welcome Narina Bira Narina Bîra to The Playground 🤍📅 Friday 17th July 2...
11/07/2026

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

We’re delighted to welcome Narina Bira Narina Bîra to The Playground 🤍

📅 Friday 17th July 2026
🕕 18:00–21:00
Rambert HQ

Narina is a Romanian dance artist whose work celebrates the beauty of connection, harmony and our shared human experience. Rooted in ballet, Humphrey, Graham and release techniques, her creative practice is deeply influenced by improvisation, musicality and moving from within.
In this session, Narina will be sharing material from her new work, Healing Chant, currently in development. Together we’ll explore themes of connection, ancestral wisdom and the sharing of energy through movement.

Drawing inspiration from the Romanian folk dance Hora, alongside influences from ballet and contemporary dance, the session will be full of joyful group movement, circles, skipping, jumping and repeated patterns that invite us to move together as one.
The class is open to everyone. The movement isn’t highly technical, but it will be very energetic, so come ready to move, connect and have fun!

🎶 We’re thrilled that bobby demers bobby demers will be joining the session as a live musician and collaborator. Originally from Toronto, bobby is an e-drummer and multi-instrumentalist who has been creating music for dancers since he was just 16 years old. He regularly accompanies classes at Trinity Laban and The Place and has been a much-loved part of The Playground for the past five years, bringing decades of musical experience, creativity and infectious energy into the studio.

Image credits | Gabija Grisiute Gabija Grisiute | Serena Mary | Ashleigh Stohr | Henry Curtis Henry Curtis |

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨We’re so excited to welcome Choreographer Jessie Cotgrove Jessie Cotgrove back to The Play...
08/07/2026

✨ CHOREOGRAPHER ANNOUNCEMENT ✨

We’re so excited to welcome Choreographer Jessie Cotgrove Jessie Cotgrove back to The Playground! 🤍

📅 Friday 17th July 2026
🕕 18:00–21:00
Rambert HQ

Jessie will be leading an emotionally driven movement exploration centred around unity, release and transformation.

“Together we’ll explore what it means to be part of something greater than ourselves, and what happens when consciousness, colour and sense begin to break free after life. Through guided improvisation and physical exploration, we’ll investigate connection, holding on, and letting go, using the ballet barre as both a physical and creative stimulus before developing the material into a final sharing.”

This is a session for anyone who loves diving into ideas, emotion and storytelling through movement.

✨ We can’t wait to have Jessie back in the studio and to see where this beautiful exploration takes us.

📸 Photographers & videographers: If you’d like to capture Jessie’s rehearsal or final sharing, please get in touch with Jessie directly via Instagram Jessie Cotgrove.

Address

99 Upper Ground
London
SE19PP

Opening Hours

6:30pm - 9pm

Telephone

+442086300600

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