Sadé and Kristina Alleyne are London based dancers and choreographers – who also happen to be twins. They have collaborated to create work internationally with Akram Khan and Martha Graham Dance Company. Now, they are collaborating with the National Youth Dance Company.
“We celebrate versatility,” says Sadé.
“We like visibility. We want people and artists to see themselves on big London stages,” adds Kristina.
“That requires a range of bodies and a range of abilities and styles on stage,” says Sadé.
“We give them training. To develop their identities of movement,” notes Kristina. “Our morning class has the style of how to be athletic, and how to be musical, how to be storytelling physically. For example, with body percussion, you are creating a rhythm, as well as being in relation to music. That’s kind of our language.”
She adds, “Boy Blue dance theatre and Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante opened up the space of hip hop with the NYDC. We had a range of movers in the space after the Boy Blue collaboration with National Youth Dance Company. Some of these hip hop artists stayed in the NYDC.”
Sadé and Kristina began working with NYDC as movement assistants, to stage Akram Khan’s work. They have remained connected to NYDC productions through teaching and alumni connections.
“From a dancers’ perspective, working with your twin makes the room feel a bit more like home,” says Kristina. “We talk a lot out loud to each other, and the dancers feel like they can propose ideas as well.”
She continues, “We are very honest and competitive in a good way. It’s a healthy competition. Sadé will always encourage me to do better: ‘This is not working; let’s try a different approach.’ We can communicate without worrying about the consequences. And that allows freedom. I really believe that the kids can feel that they have that freedom as well. We are trying to encourage the dancers to collaborate in that way as well.”
Seventeen-year-old Isla Morris Pratt, from South East London, auditioned for NYDC in summer 2025. “It was a two-round process,” says Morris Pratt, “and for our second round, we got to learn from the Alleyne twins which gave us a taste for what dancing in the company would be like. Alleyne Dance have their own movement vocabulary. As we went through the residency, we learnt their style through physical practice and our warm-ups which we then implemented into our ensemble sections.”
Morris Pratt adds, “The music is entirely original for Memory Keepers, so dancing to it feels so excitingWe began creating the solos before adding any music and so we haven’t fit most of them directly to the score. For our ensemble group sections, the music feels at the heart of our movement with each section evoking a different feeling.”
Process is very important to NYDC. “It is not just about this piece,” says Sadé. “It is about laying the foundations for the rest of their life. Regardless of whether they dance or not.”
“I aim to be as versatile as possible,” says Morris Pratt. “It is one of my main priorities and goals as a dancer, and through NYDC I feel I am developing this.”
NYDC tour dates and venues for 2026 include: Ipswich (DanceEast, 11 April), London (Sadler’s Wells Theatre, 30 May), Leeds (Leeds Playhouse, 27 June), Cornwall (AMATA Falmouth, 14 – 15 July), London (Sadler’s Wells East, 18 July), and Coventry (The Belgrade Theatre, 23 July).
For more information, visit nydc.org.uk/project/2026-production-memory-keepers-by-sade-and-kristina-alleyne.
By Tamara Searle of Dance Informa.
