Boy Blue © Carl Fox
©Photo: Carl Fox
Boy Blue © Carl Fox
©Photo: Carl Fox
Boy Blue © Carl Fox
©Photo: Carl Fox

Boy Blue

Dance Companies

“Boy Blue have propelled a dance form known for show-off stunts into theatrical vigour, unspooling stories and excavating ideas.”

(Sunday Times on REDD, 2019)

Founded in London in 2001, Boy Blue, the award-winning brainchild of composer Michael ​‘Mikey J’ Asante and choreographer Kenrick ​‘H2O’ Sandy MBE, encapsulates the pulse of the city it was born in. 

Weaving frontline stage and screen work around the elevation of hip-hop culture, Boy Blue are an Associate Artist of the Barbican, London. Since 2007 they have created Pied Piper (2007), which won a Laurence Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliated Theatre, Legacy (2011), Touch (2011), The Five & The Prophecy of Prana (2013), A Night With Boy Blue (2013, 2015, 2016, 2018), the Olivier nominated Blak Whyte Gray (2017), Outliers (2018) — Asante’s musical debut in the Barbican Concert Hall — and REDD, which premiered at the Barbican in 2019. Film work includes R.E.B.E.L, commissioned by Sky Arts and ​‘Art50’ in 2018.

Outside of the theatre, Boy Blue collaborated with Danny Boyle to contribute to the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics, Sandy leading hundreds of young dancers before staging the handover of the Olympic torch and the lighting of the Cauldron. 

Blak Whyte Gray trailer
Blak Whyte Gray trailer © Boy Blue

In 2021 Boy Blue worked with Good Chance Theatre Company to create a mass dance piece performed in Trafalgar Square, celebrating Little Amal’s 10th birthday as part of The Walk With Amal project.

With a company ethos befitting of the founder’s roots, and a long-term commitment to education, Boy Blue can be found running a highly respected dance education programme in east London. Using a typically unique approach, they enable more than 100 young dancers to train weekly alongside professionals. In addition, their work Emancipation of Expressionism is a set work of the AQA GCSE Dance syllabus – the first hip-hop dance theatre piece to be included – and was filmed in 2017 by Director Danny Boyle and subsequently screened on the BBC. 

“Exceptionally tight … a powerful piece of hip-hop theatre”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, New York Times 2018)

“A remarkable triple bill”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, The Observer 2017)

“A triumph from start to finish.”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, The Scotsman 2017)

“Pure physical poetry.”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, The Stage)

“Boy Blue have propelled a dance form known for show-off stunts into theatrical vigour, unspooling stories and excavating ideas.”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, Sunday Times on REDD, 2019)

“There can be few people to whom British hip hop dancing owes a greater debt than choreographer Kenrick Sandy and composer Michael Asante.”

(Referring to Blak Whyte Gray, Evening Standard 2018)