A mighty groove: Sadler’s Wells sets up new dance home in east London

(Fourth from left): Sadler’s Wells executive director Britannia Morton, artistic director Alistair Spalding, deputy mayor for culture Justine Simons and Breakin’ Convention’s Jonzi D pose with hip-hop group EASTablishment at a ‘topping out’ ceremony of Sadler’s Wells East. Photograph: Hollie Adams/Getty Images

The sun is beaming across London’s Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. Next to West Ham’s London Stadium is the tangled red steel of the Orbit; nearby, a line of swan pedalos wait to be paddled up the River Lea. There are cranes everywhere, busy building. This is the view from the top-floor studios of a new theatre for dance, Sadler’s Wells East, a sister venue to the original Sadler’s Wells in Islington.

The O’Donnell + Tuomey-designed building has just celebrated its “topping out”, the completion of its concrete structure. It’s a significant milestone for Sadler’s Wells’ artistic director Sir Alistair Spalding, the wry, affable, recently knighted 64-year-old who is a driving force in UK dance. “This has been my mission all the time at Sadler’s Wells, to really put dance at the centre of cultural life in London,” he says. This new theatre is definitely in the cultural thick of things: due to open in November 2023, it is part of the £1.1bn East Bank project that includes a branch of the V&A, BBC studios and a vast new home for the London College of Fashion.