This 26th and 27^th July weekend, Certain Blacks presents the Ensemble Festival 2025 in London’s historic Royal Victoria Docks. This is a free outdoor, waterside celebration of circus, dance, physical theatre and street art.

2025 highlights include Hydropunk, an interactive water installation by outdoor arts veterans Artizani. Hunky queer circus/performance artist Sadiq Ali also has an exciting performance planned, blending the breathtaking art of Chinese pole acrobatics with physical storytelling to confront the stigma surrounding HIV. Sadiq says: “This show is where two threads of my life meet: circus and HIV activism. For the first time, I’ve been able to bring these parts of myself into one space — a space that’s physical, honest, joyful, and a little defiant.”

Miss High Leg Kick, another queer performer, delivers a multi-sensory flashback to a night out in late 1950s British dance halls. The offbeat, interactive show celebrates the collective excitement of teenage nights then and now. A Duckie stalwart and Olivier Award winner, Miss High Leg Kick says: “I created Palais de Danse – with its references to a British 1950s fantasy dancehall – after hearing my mum and her friend’s stories about going out dancing as teenagers. Their stories inspired me – I hope the audience can feel a bit of that glamour and excitement that my mum passed on to me…”  

Inventive physical comedian Tiago Fonseca performs NoMo, a topical clown show about contemporary screen addiction. Legendary theatre director David Glass joins forces with renowned artist Vidya Thirunarayan to co-present Holy Dirt, uniting earth, myth and movement in a piece combining Indian performance styles with modern physical theatre forms, such as bouffon and melodrama. Closing the weekend with radical joy, TRUTH by outdoor artists Ramshacklicious and inclusive theatre company Hijinxare are set to transform the docks into a revolutionary street theatre extravaganza.

There’s lots more going on too so check it out.