 On leaving the college in 1944 Salzedo immediately became a freelance composer, supplementing his earnings by playing violin with the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Royal Philharmonic.He worked closely with the Ballet Rambert, for whom his first ballet, "The Fugitive", was commissioned in 1944, receiving over 400 performances over the following six years.In 1945 Salzedo married the dancer Pat Clover, and the two of them were both closely involved with Les Ballets Nègres, a mostly black dance group founded in 1946 by Berto Pasuka and Richie Riley.