Review: BALLET TO BROADWAY: WHEELDON WORKS, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Matthew Paluch - May 12, 2025
It's a big deal to have an entire evening dedicated to your work, so kudos to Christopher Wheeldon, who's achieved this accolade in his early 50s.
Wheeldon deserves recognition, as he's a renowned choreographer of skill and range with an ever-increasing canon. And Ballet to Broadway: Wheeldon Works...
Review: RAMBERT X (LA)HORDE: BRING YOUR OWN, Southbank Centre
by Matthew Paluch - May 08, 2025
Collaborations are very now, and the Rambert x (LA)HORDE combination is a very worthwhile experiment. It brings together the UK's longest running contemporary dance company (with classical ballet beginnings) and one of France's most of the moment collectives (who also run the Ballet National de Mars...
Review: THE FORSYTHE PROGRAMME, Sadler's Wells
by Vikki Jane Vile - April 11, 2025
Back in 2018, English National Ballet premiered Playlist (Track 1, 2) as part of their Voices of America programme. It was William Forsythe’s first new work for a British company in 20 years....
Review: INTERNATIONAL DRAFT WORKS 2025, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Matthew Paluch - April 10, 2025
Choreography isn't easy, so choreographic platforms like International Draft Works (2025) are of the utmost importance. The movement lab returns to the Royal Ballet and Opera's Linbury Theatre for another insight into where present day choreography, of ballet companies, is going.
...
Review: WAKE - THISISPOPBABY, Peacock Theatre
by Matthew Paluch - April 03, 2025
Forgive the urban legend - but they say no one does a funeral like the Irish…and WAKE by THISISPOPBABY, a UK debut now showing at the Peacock Theatre, would suggest this statement is indeed fact rather than hearsay.
...
Review: BALANCHINE: THREE SIGNATURE WORKS, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Matthew Paluch - March 31, 2025
The Royal Ballet continue The Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival with Balanchine: Three Signature Works. And the triple bill is also an excuse to celebrate Patricia Neary. Neary has been setting Balanchine works for 57 years, and been a member of the RB family for a long time. This pro...
Review: LYON OPERA BALLET: MERCE CUNNINGHAM FOREVER, Sadler’s Wells
by Matthew Paluch - March 20, 2025
The Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels Festival continues across venues in London with the Lyon Opera Ballet presenting Merce Cunningham Forever.
Cunningham needs no introduction…yet somehow we see very little of his work performed in the UK. It comes down to the Europeans (again) giving us ...
Review: DRUM TAO: THE DREAM, Peacock Theatre
by Matthew Paluch - March 12, 2025
Oh Drum TAO…what to say? There's many good things about their show The Dream - but then there's some undeniable, less positive realities. The troop are from Oita, Japan. Formed 31 years ago, and has been on the road since. Bizarrely the current shows at the Peacock Theatre are their long-awaited L...
Review: BALLET ICONS GALA 2025, London Coliseum
by Matthew Paluch - March 10, 2025
Galas aren't always the easiest of watches; endless pas de deux with bravado at the forefront of proceedings. That said - some rosters are too good to pass on…hence why I attended the Ballet Icons Gala 2025 at the London Coliseum on March 9th.
...
Review: OSIPOVA / LINBURY, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Vikki Jane Vile - March 08, 2025
Natalia Osipova is not a dancer who likes to play by the rules. A dancer who never felt she fitted the mould of a perfect ballerina growing up in Russia where being long-limbed and tall was the expectation. These days, she’s a much loved Principal of the Royal Ballet, she only does the things she ...
Review: JASMIN VARDIMON: NOW, Sadler's Wells East
by Louise Penn - March 06, 2025
With NOW standing for many nows, thens, nowheres, future nows, past nows, and present nows, Jasmin Vardimon offers up revisited classic choreography fused with new material to create a beautiful and intense way to celebrate the company's 25th anniversary. Offering a window into the world through mov...
Review: ROMEO AND JULIET, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Vikki Jane Vile - March 05, 2025
Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet continues to enjoy endless popularity, this being its third run by the Royal Ballet since 2019, but when the results are as good, there’s no reason why not. The depth and quality in the ranks was evident as the cast relished the challenges of the Covent G...
Review: DEEPSTARIA, Sadler's Wells
by Gary Naylor - February 28, 2025
A work that uses the darkest of dark sets to shed light on the possibilities inherent in creative work, right here, right now...
Review: BIRDBOY, Sadler's Wells
by Matthew Paluch - February 21, 2025
February 2025 is the inaugural month of Sadler’s Wells East, London’s newest dance house with a 550-seat theatre, six dance studios, and a public performance space all under one roof. Dance has found a new home in East Bank, Stratford/London’s latest cultural and educational district, and Iri...
Review: CINDERELLA, Birmingham Hippodrome
by Vikki Jane Vile - February 21, 2025
Sir David Bintley’s 2010 production of Cinderella has been long overdue an outing, and based on Wednesday’s opening night at Birmingham Hippodrome it is worth the wait. Thanks to Birmingham Royal Ballet’s fundraising efforts, the work now returns refreshed with restored costumes and a dazzling...
Review: LIGHT OF PASSAGE, Royal Ballet And Opera
by Louise Penn - February 21, 2025
Crystal Pite’s deeply moving work has themes of safe passage, displacement, community and mortality. Light of Passage, taken as a whole work with the three sections together, builds into a cohesive whole on the theme of who we are, where we are going, and what we feel.
Although there are moments...