Sadler's Wells is renowned for its dynamic artistic work and the unparalleled reputation of its community and learning programme, Connect. Dance United has a formidable track record of working with the marginalised, a journey that has taken it from the streets of Ethiopia to the heart of the criminal justice system in the UK. Both companies believe in the transformational power of dance and Destino was an artistic collaboration that celebrated this shared conviction.

Destino featured new work by two Sadler's Wells Associates, Russell Maliphant and Hofesh Shechter, which introduced award-winning Ethiopian dancers Addisu Demissie and Junaid Jemal Sendi to London. Addisu and Junaid share a powerful story of lives utterly transformed by dance.

At the heart of the Destino was a community work, featuring 130 people from the communities surrounding Sadler's Wells. The cast, aged from nine to 89, included local Islington primary school children, older people and college students. The experience and achievements of these Junaid, Addisu and the community cast underlined the central theme of Destino: that the arts, in this case, contemporary dance, can be transformational and life-affirming.

Destino received three ground-breaking performances at Sadler's Wells in March 2009 and has taken to the road with six week-long residencies in UK cities.

Watch the Destino video podcasts