‘Dancing is the best therapy’ - Sadler’s Wells’ Company of Elders stars gear up for double bill

Since 1989, Sadler’s Wells’ Company of Elders has brought together talented dancers over the age of 60 for annual performances which celebrate the power of movement in later life.

This year, the company will perform at the theatre in Angel, presenting an exciting double bill as part of the theatre’s Elixir Festival.

Former Sadler’s Wells Young Associate John-William Watson will present They Look Like People, while celebrated Swedish choreographer and dancer Charlotta Öfverholm is back with a new work.

Taking part in the performances - for the first and last time respectively - are dancers Ros Reeder and Roberto Ishii.

Ishii joined the troupe in 2019. Sitting down with East End Review in a top-floor studio at Sadler’s Wells East, he says: “I’ve always, always loved dance”.

“For me, dancing is the best therapy that I have ever tried”.

Reeder adds: “I was taken to see dance and music and musicals and theatre by my parents; I was probably taken to Sadler's Wells. I did classes all the way up to sort of my teens, but then I just stopped.“I started working in the ticket office at Sadler's Wells in 1999, and I heard about the Company of Elders.

“It was always a joke, in my head and with my colleagues, that when I was 60 I would join. I was really intrigued. 

“When I turned 60, I applied. I had to go through two auditions and there were lots and lots of people. By that time, I really wanted to do it. And I got in last October”.

Asked about how preparation for the show is going, Reeder says: “It’s a little bit scary [preparing to perform in front of an audience]. But it’s great fun.

“When I was younger, it was all about technique. Ballet is quite strict, and I was never the perfect ballet student. I was sort of fighting that all the time and it wasn’t joyful.

“Now, it's all about joy. I'm not going to be correct; obviously, I'm going to be corrected if I get some choreography wrong or something, but it's not about technique.

“It's not about being the perfect shape or doing the perfect thing with your feet or your arms”. Motioning to her heart, she continues: “It's more about what's in here”.

“Every time we are rehearsing before the performance, it's so exciting, but I'm anxious and worried about everything being perfect because we have to give the best to the audience”, Ishii adds.

“It’s the best thing when you're performing and you can see the delighted faces in the crowd. This is the best prize for us”.

For Ishii, dance has proven an invaluable outlet during a difficult transitional period. In 2021, he had a major heart attack and underwent six surgeries in two weeks - five of which were on his leg.

“I can’t walk properly [anymore]”, he adds. “But I try to dance as much as I can. I said, you know what? Sadler's Wells is giving me another chance. My foot is not working properly, but I have other parts that work. So let's do it.

“This is the best therapy ever because you focus your mind, trying to remember all the steps and listening to the music. I’m in pain 24/7, but for at least two hours of the rehearsal, I forget because I'm so concentrated on the steps, the music and dancing.

“Life is so short. You have to enjoy everything”.

Company of Elders - Mixed Bill
Elixir Festival, 7-27 April 2026
Sadler’s Wells
Rosebery Ave
EC1R 4TN
Book here