Love the Barbican? Then your Friday nights are about to get a whole lot better. The London institution has announced Anyone Can Dance, a new late-night party series launching in February 2026 with an opening night curated by UK-based creative collective Eastern Margins – a platform dedicated to championing alternative East and South East Asian (ESEA) culture.
The series celebrates global club music as heard through UK diasporas, spotlighting dance floor sounds from around the world refracted through local scenes. The first of five nights planned for 2026 takes place on Friday 20 February, when the Barbican’s Level -1 foyer will be transformed into an intimate dance floor, open until 3am.
Eastern Margins is known for foregrounding alternative and grassroots Asian culture across genres including J-pop, hyperpop, techno, rap, pop-punk, jazz and grime. Their Barbican takeover highlights the ongoing dialogue between diaspora and place, bringing together bedroom-DJ Nick Cheo, Seoul’s Bass Queen Kollin and rising talents Jianbo and Meyy. Fresh from hosting the second edition of their Margins United festival, Eastern Margins now brings its boundary-pushing energy to the Barbican after hours.
The announcement of Anyone Can Dance follows the success of two sold-out late-night parties at the Barbican in 2025, hosted by Rinse FM and Club Stamina. The new series builds on the centre’s expanding nocturnal programme, reflecting its unique position at the intersection of heritage, experimentation and subculture. As one of Europe’s largest multi-arts centres – housed within Chamberlin, Powell and Bon’s famously divisive brutalist landmark, set for a revamp in 2028 – the Barbican has long balanced institutional gravitas with a commitment to artistic risk.
While its programme spans classical music, theatre, cinema and visual arts, the Barbican has also cultivated a reputation for platforming contemporary and hybrid culture, from underground club scenes – 2025’s In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats offered a virtual reality trip in an illegal Acid House rave – and experimental sound to diasporic storytelling and youth-led movements.
Anyone Can Dance promises nights of escapism, community and joy – championing emerging artists, new sounds and the shared experience of the dance floor.
Tickets for ‘Anyone Can Dance’ are now on sale via the Barbican’s website
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