Led by Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, Olivier Award-winning Boy Blue marks 25 years of impact, friendship and nurturing talent as the UK’s most celebrated hip-hop dance theatre company in 2026. Kicking off its anniversary year, an explosive revival of its international hit show ‘Cycles’ shares its first music collaboration with seven exceptional musicians performing live with the dancers. Boy Blue’s ‘Cycles’ is presented by Roundhouse Three Sixty in association with Barbican, London.
25 Years of Boy Blue has:
- Welcomed over 10,000 young people taking dance classes
- Performed in over 57 venues in 36 cities across the world
- Created over 100 pieces for stage, film, festivals, music videos and cultural touchstones such as the Olympics Opening Ceremony and Factory International’s launch show ‘Free Your Mind’
- Been on the GCSE Dance Syllabus for 10 years
- Received 2 MBEs, 2 honorary degrees from Guildhall School of Music and Drama and a Companionship from LIPA
- Run training sessions featuring dancers from ages 4 to 60+
- Worked across all 12 inner London boroughs and the majority of outer ones
Co-founding Artistic Director, Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy, says: “Our friendship was at the base of it all. One of our biggest strengths as Boy Blue is that social energy, the social economics – the idea that everyone belongs. Dance has access codes – it opens everything. The hunger was there, and we invested in the craft. We started the style of performing in mass; we always came as a massive unit.
People have come from all over the UK just to dance with us – we created a tribe. Encouragement was given to us that we want to give to others. It’s always been about fun, family, and community: community success, and community coming together and being who we are.”
Co-founding Artistic Director, Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante, says: “These 25 years have been a direct result of community and our dedication to the sustenance it needs. Boy Blue was a feeling and an emotion, supporting what was happening in our area, and it grew around that love and joy. Kenrick and I were like big brothers. We saw it as a responsibility that was ours, and dance was a way to empower our community. Hip-hop is this cultural feeling that I think resides in everyone, and Boy Blue was always connected directly with the idea of creating opportunity.
Never about looking over there. It was saying: This is our excellence. We never ever see a young person as ‘they can’t’. We’ve never changed, because the authenticity aspect is key to how we see what we do. It’s real work with real people making real changes. Boy Blue is all the people we have ever worked with and supported.”
Celebrating 25 years of pushing boundaries with hip-hop
Boy Blue are marking their 25 years with a year-long, international programme of live performances and storytelling that begins with a landmark performance of their acclaimed show, ‘Cycles’, at London’s Roundhouse in April 2026. Following this, a curated set of anniversary commissions and projects is being planned.
‘Cycles’ was conceived by composer Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante as ‘a joyful celebration of hip-hop dance in all its forms’. Boy Blue will restage the show for the Roundhouse’s unique 270-degree space, as part of their weekend takeover for the annual youth culture festival, ‘Roundhouse Three Sixty’. For the first time, a dynamic, seven-piece band curated and conducted by Asante will perform live with the dancers, including special guest musicians and Roundhouse alumni, to be announced ahead of the shows.
Kenrick ‘H2O’ Sandy’s choreography summons up a living cypher with nine dancers from Boy Blue’s professional cohort. Together they showcase movement at its most fluid – with precise, pulsating ensemble sequences, distilled through a series of solos in each performer’s highly-technical signature style.
With every major live production, Boy Blue provides opportunities through its core practice of youth engagement and talent development ethos. Continuing this tradition, Boy Blue and Roundhouse will collaborate to form a new young people’s dance collective. Joined by Roundhouse’s Music Production Drop In and Poetry Collective, their first dance theatre work, ‘Project rEVOLUTION’, premieres on the main stage during the ‘Cycles’ performance weekend.
