Britain's first dance company to celebrate 100

Rambert premiered its first original choreography in 1926, making 2026 the year it becomes Britain's first dance company to celebrate 100 years. What began as a group of talented artists coming together for regular Sunday performances at the Mercury Theatre in Notting Hill Gate grew into one of the world's most celebrated dance institutions. In 1935, the company formally adopted the name "Ballet Rambert," blending restagings of works from the Ballets Russes with new creations by choreographers including Frederick Ashton and Antony Tudor. Over the following decades, the company continually reinvented itself, eventually evolving into the leading contemporary dance force it is today, known simply as Rambert. Dame Marie Rambert was born Cyvia Rambam on 20 February 1888 in Warsaw, Poland, and died on 12 June 1982 in London, aged 94. After moving to Paris, she studied eurhythmics with Émile Jaques-Dalcroze, and in 1912 was hired by Serge Diaghilev as assistant to choreographer Vaslav Nijinsky to help the dancers of his Ballets Russes understand the complex rhythms of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring. With the outbreak of World War I, she emigrated to London, married the English playwright Ashley Dukes in 1918, and opened her own ballet school in 1920. She established a ballet school using the teaching methods of Enrico Cecchetti, and in 1926 produced the first ballet choreographed by her student Frederick Ashton, who went on to become one of the world's most eminent choreographers. As Ballet Rambert's director, she was known for her willingness to experiment and her desire to develop the unique style of each dancer, giving strong support to young British choreographers including Ashton, Antony Tudor, and Andrée Howard. She was awarded the CBE in 1953 and made a Dame (DBE) in 1962 for her services to ballet. She remains one of the most transformative figures in British dance history, and the company she founded carries her name to this day.