UK / WEST END DANCE NEWS COVERAGE

Before I Go, first seen during the Brixton House's Housemates Festival in summer 2023, is a one hour work written by Tobi King Bakare that centres on Ajani, a young, black man who has issues with communication when it really matters....

National Youth Dance Company has been running since 2013, and acts as “England’s Flagship youth dance company”, the brainchild of, and run by Sadler’s Wells. The (Guest) Artistic Directors read like a who’s who of present day contemporary dance royalty, and 23/24 sees Oona Doherty take up the presti...

The Next Generation Festival continues at the Royal Opera House with Rambert School. The programme includes six new commissions for the third-year, graduate students, and the restaging of three Akram Khan works for the second-years....

Debut Sounds: Sound in Motion is the London Philharmonic Orchestra’s annual concert showcasing the LPO’s Young Composers. The concept sees five composers and eight choreographers collaborating to create the final works shown, with the music played by musicians from the LPO Foyle Future Firsts Devel...

The Next Generation Festival continues at the Royal Opera House with two performances by the BundesJugendBallett AKA German National Youth Ballet. The group was founded by Hamburg Ballet director and chief choreographer, John Neumeier in 2011, and has been directed by Kevin Haigen since its inaugur...

Zhang Quan’s Acrobatic Swan Lake is so much more than its title suggests. The show originated in China in 2004 and, in the intervening decades, has travelled the world and was updated in 2019 under director Yan Hongxia. As choreographer and artistic director, Quan has created a work which seamlessly...

The Next Generation Festival at the Royal Opera House continues with the first outing for The Royal Ballet School's annual performance dates...

Derek Deane’s Swan Lake has quite the reputation. First premiered in 1997 it became known for its corps de ballet of 60 swans (with freelancers hired to beef up ENB’s ranks) and then in 2010, a BBC documentary tracked its rehearsals and opening night, not always depicting everyone in the most flatte...

We're back for more Ashton, with a variation on the initial Royal Ballet programme...

The final Ashton Worldwide bill at the Royal Opera House (23-24 season) was a Gala programme performed by the Sarasota Ballet in the Linbury Theatre...

The Ashton Worldwide (2024-2028) international festival continues at the Royal Opera House with the Royal Ballet on the mainstage in Ashton Celebrated. The company is performing two mixed bills with slight repertoire changes....

'wit, charm and elegance' are the words used to describe the work of Royal Ballet founding choreographer Sir Frederick Ashton (1904-1988). English ballet, or rather style wouldn't exist without him, so The Frederick Ashton Foundation have understandably instigated the Ashton Worldwide (2024-2028) in...

Leeds based Northern Ballet always pack a punch when they visit London every May, and this time was no different, with Massimo Moricone’s slick and captivating Romeo and Juliet. This year’s touring production held extra poignancy, with the costumes and set requiring full restoration and repair from ...

English National Ballet’s Emerging Dancer award returned to Sadler’s Wells after a two year absence, with a unique opportunity for the most junior members of the company to shine. With his feet now firmly under the desk, Artistic Director Aaron S. Watkin hosted the evening, the first of his tenure, ...

Marin is regarded as a major force in French modern dance, and one can understand why when appreciating the work's overall accomplished structuring…but that doesn't mean it will be an unequivocally enjoyable experience for all....

Part violent psychodrama, part sunny romcom, The Winter’s Tale was not the most obvious of plays for the Royal Ballet to take on....

With their new work Cycles, it is clear that Boy Blue are at something of a crossroads....

Is there anything similar to The Sleeping Beauty overture? With Tchaikovsky filling the theatre with full-blown fairy tale drama - it's quite the opener. ...

“When are we old? How can experience and embodied knowledge be brought into creative play? And what is the role of dance in questioning the idealisation of youth in our culture?” ...

Created by cabaret artist Jack Sears and Royal Ballet soloist Hannah Grennell, Giselle:Remix fuses dance and lip sync....

The Elixir Festival returns to Sadler’s Wells with the same, integral mission: “rethinking perceptions around dance and age.”...

The evening includes ten works and the premise is an important, and pressing one: where is ballet (as we know it) going…? ...

The Velveteen Rabbit is a story which needs little introduction, and which retains wide appeal. This retelling by Ben Crompton for balletLORENT pops with life as a man reacquaints himself with childhood toys, notably a beloved rabbit. Aimed at a family audience, this is a delightful way to while awa...

Original programming continues at the Royal Opera House, Linbury Theatre with the ever original Yorke Dance Project...

The entire evening confirms MacMillan’s scope as a choreographer, but we knew that already right? ...

Getting to grips with what a mute medium like dance is trying to convey is never easy even when there is a recognisable concept like Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal....

Wayne McGregor has been working with digital intelligence in relation to creativity since 2017, and why not? This is the digital age after all. Who needs humans?!...

New York City Ballet are at Sadler’s Wells for the very first time, and returning to London for the first time since 2008 in a rare event for dance fans in the capital. Now under the direction of Jonathan Stafford, they arrive with a diverse quadruple bill, presumably designed to offer something for...

If you came for anything other than wall-to-wall superlatives for the Royal Ballet’s A-team and Liam Scarlett’s superior production of Swan Lake then you’ll be disappointed with this review, because yet again, for the fourth time in six years, ballet heaven is delivered with a side of perfection. It...

From the outset, the word/concept heavy narration often doesn't relate to the disjointed movement being executed, so disconnection feels apparent...

With an eclectic programme including an immersive dreamscape, an intense two-hander and a revolutionary footstomper, the Ballet national de Marseille present a six-pack of impressive dance pieces....

In the 2024 UK premiere of his 2020 work, INK, we see Papaioannou himself and Šuka Horn perform a “nightmarish manhunt…testing the limits of reality.”...

Some people only need one name: Cher, Madonna etc. In dance we have Pina - as in Bausch, the revered German dancer, choreographer and Director of Tanztheater Wuppertal until her death in 2009. ...

Appearing as part of their Festival of New Choreography, the Royal Ballet have partnered with the National Ballet of Canada for Dark With Excessive Bright, an extraordinarily intimate experiment which allows audience to experience the art form in a radical way....

Considering the São Paulo Dance Company was founded in 2008, it’s taken them 16 years to perform in the UK! But the wait is over. ...

The entire evening was a poignant reminder of the power of dance. How it feels to do, and to watch, with all the work exuding expression, joy and freedom, which shouldn't be underestimated ...

Filled with a couple of operas’ worth of tragedy, Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the d’Urbervilles is not the likeliest source of inspiration for a dramatic circus show but Ockham's Razor are here to prove us wrong. ...

Internationally recognised star of The Royal Ballet, Melissa Hamilton, and renowned businessman and property developer, Michael Christou, have announced the launch of Hamilton Christou Productions....

The Xi'an Acrobatic Troupe's The Acrobatic Swan Lake has dazzled sold-out audiences around the world since its premiere in 2004 and is now returning to London this Summer for a strictly limited run....

The Royal Opera House is partnering with the charity, the MS Society, to host a ballet residency for volunteer dancers living with multiple sclerosis (MS)....