Funded by a £245,500 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund, Into the Light: Pioneers of Black British Ballet brings together archive photography, film, newspaper articles and posters alongside new video and audio interviews to trace the history of black British ballet in a groundbreaking touring exhibition.

A unique partnership between creative agency Oxygen Arts and Libraries Connected, the exhibition will visit 25 libraries. It opened in Stockport and Redbridge in October 2024 and continues until November 2025.

The exhibition will be accompanied by performances of Island Movements, an original Windrush-themed ballet, in autumn 2024. There will also be dance, writing and photography workshops, talks, panel events and a virtual exhibition by Birmingham Open Media that will include a motion capture ballet performance.

Into the Light: Pioneers of Black British Ballet is based on the research of Dr Sandie Bourne, a dancer, choreographer and academic specialising in the historic under-representation of black artists in British ballet institutions.