Germán Cornejo brings Tango After Dark back to London for a five-day run at Sadler's Wells, with this summer's newly crowned world champions, Nicolás Schell and Nair Schinca Rosas, among his ten dancers. Here is everything you need to know before you book.
Argentine tango carries its history in every step, and Germán Cornejo's company has spent years proving that a form born in the dance halls of Buenos Aires can fill a large theatre without losing its intimacy. Tango After Dark returns to London for a short run at Sadler's Wells from Thursday 5 to Monday 9 November 2026, opening on Bonfire Night with ten dancers, five musicians and two singers, all of it played live. The show is no stranger to the capital: we reported its season at the Peacock Theatre in 2022.
Who is starring in Tango After Dark?
The headline is a new title. Nicolás Schell and Nair Schinca Rosas were crowned World Tango Champions at the 2026 championships in Buenos Aires this summer, so they reach Sadler's Wells with the honour only a few months old. Schell will be a familiar face to the company's London audience, having danced in one of the five couples on the Peacock Theatre visit.
Germán Cornejo, who leads the company, dances with Noelia Pizzo. The other three couples are Esteban Simón and María Luján Leopardi, Guido Palacios and Flor Zarate Castilla, and Juan Cupini and Erica Rossi.
The band is led by musical director Diego Ramos, with Gemma Scalia, Matías Rubino, Tomás Falasca and Jerónimo Izarrualde. The two singers are Vanina Tagini and Jesús Hidalgo, the latter another returning member of the 2022 company.
Spotlight on Germán Cornejo
Cornejo became World Tango Champion in 2005, and his partnership with Gisela Galeassi, herself a world champion, has been at the centre of his company for well over a decade. Audiences outside Argentina first met the pair on television: they were among the winning finalists of Q'Viva! The Chosen, the talent search led by Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony, and went on to the Las Vegas stage show that grew out of it in 2012. The stage, though, is where his reputation rests. The show has been made in the traditional way of Argentine tango, with each couple shaping its own solos and Cornejo refining the steps alongside them, which is why the evening offers five distinct styles rather than one house manner. On this visit his role is a double one: he directs and choreographs the company, and he also takes the floor with Noelia Pizzo, so the man who set the evening is out there executing it. It is a rare chance to see a choreographer dance his own work, and Tango After Dark is booking now.
What is Tango After Dark about?
There is no plot to follow. The evening is built as a sequence of dances for the full company, for couples and for soloists, set to music inspired by Astor Piazzolla, the composer who carried tango out of the dance hall and into the concert hall in the middle of the last century. The drama lies in the contrasts the form thrives on: the close embrace against the sudden, flung lift, and long-held tension released in a burst of speed.
The company bills it as tango at its most raw and intimate, and pitches it at the devotee and the newcomer alike. Nobody needs to know an ocho from a gancho to follow it.
Who is behind the production?
Germán Cornejo is artistic director and choreographer, with Gisela Galeassi as assistant choreographer. Lighting is designed by Charlie Morgan Jones and sound by Gastón Briski, with Nahuel Delgado as associate sound designer and sound operator. Diego Ramos is musical director. The production managers are Laura Stevens and Ian Dixon-Wilkinson, Jacqueline Aviles Díaz is wardrobe manager, and Sandra Castell García is executive producer.
When and where can I see it?
Tango After Dark runs at Sadler's Wells Theatre on Rosebery Avenue, EC1R 4TN, from Thursday 5 to Monday 9 November 2026. The press performance is the opening night, on Thursday 5 November at 7.30pm. The show runs for approximately two hours, including an interval. Tickets currently start at £18 on our Tango After Dark page.
What else should I book if I like it?
- Matthew Bourne's Cinderella brings you back to the same theatre from 1 December 2026 - 17 January 2027, for dance theatre that tells a whole story without a word spoken.
- The Nutcracker from English National Ballet runs at the London Coliseum from 17 December 2026 - 10 January 2027, the seasonal choice if this whets your appetite for more dance.
- Ballet de Santiago Swan Lake brings a South American company to the London Coliseum from 21-25 September 2027.
- Buena Vista Social Club, the musical built around the Cuban music of the famous recordings, is on its way to London in 2027 for anyone who wants Latin rhythms with a story attached.
