UK / WEST END DANCE NEWS COVERAGE - PAGE 4

A sweet revival of Frederick Ashton's best-known and loved ballet returns to Sadler's Wells. Showcasing both comedy and complexity in its solos and routines, La Fille mal gardée brings a splash of sunshine to the stage. Beatrice Parma makes a striking debut as Principal dancer in the role of cheeky...

Guided by the vision of five female, international choreographers, Luna narrates the complexities of womanhood-its beauty, struggles, and power. While Luna has some notably powerful moments, and the music is beautiful, it ultimately falls short in its current form. ...

The Royal Ballet season continues with its first modern bill - Encounters: Four contemporary ballets. For some, like me, the four works presented are all new, but in actuality only two of the four are premières. And one of those is in fact a development of an existing (2022) pas de deux into a bigg...

Dance Umbrella continues in London with Radioactive Practice by Abby Z (Abby Zbikowski) and the New Utility. Sadler’s Wells is transformed for the work with three banks of seats placed on the stage and the upper two circles of the auditorium closed. Some audience members still sit in the stalls, b...

It can be a mistake to get overexcited. If then disappointed, the reality is tough to take. Case in point: Four by the Young Associates at Sadler’s Wells. Read our review... ...

As his latest production Theatre Of Dreams amply demonstrates, it’s probably easier to pin strawberry jelly to a wall than to precisely pin down Hofesh Shechter’s exuberant full-on style. ...

Dance Umbrella 2024 opened at the Barbican last night for the 46th year of the cutting-edge dance festival. People have come to expect the opportunity to see experimental work during the run, and last night didn't disappoint in this sense. ...

The Place welcomes back the National Dance Company Wales in a double bill: Frontiers. See what our critic had to say. ...

One person shows aren't easy things to do, and the Theatre Royal Drury Lane is a big space to fill, so Maria Caruso has all the cards stacked against her for her new solo performance Incarnation. ...

The Royal Ballet 24/25 season opened on September 28 with Christopher Wheeldon’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. When first created in 2011 the ballet was made up of two acts, by 2012 Wheeldon had reworked things into three and this is what we find in the 2024 revival. See what our critic thin...

Charles Mingus originally intended for his iconic 1963 jazz album The Black Saint and The Sinner Lady to be accompanied by dancers and, thanks to performance company Clod Ensemble and the Nu Civilisation Orchestra, it becomes the inspiration for a vibrant and inclusive show....

Almost thirty years since they last performed, London City Ballet are making a return to their former home at Sadler's Wells this week. Artistic director Christopher Marney has assembled a small company of talented dancers and in this Resurgence programme, a mixture of classic pieces half-forgotte...

I've said it before, and I'm sure I'll say it again…but what The Coronet Theatre is doing feels new, relevant and exciting. Currently on show is The Belt - Past & Future by Korea's Ambiguous Dance Company. The work is The Coronet's first-ever site-specific event, and I think it's an absolute corke...

It's not often one comes across theatre that's transformative; but when you do, you know. Case in point: ZooNation’s The Mad Hatter's Tea Party....

It's a significant cultural moment for the State Ballet of Georgia, who come to London for the first time in their 175 year history to perform the iconic Swan Lake....

Matthew Bourne's New Adventures, in partnership with Farnham Maltings, has revealed the return of Doorstep Duets, touring to communities across the South-East this summer from 13 August to 10 September 2024....

RG Live will present the return of the celebrated Varna International Ballet and Orchestra to the UK following a breathtaking debut tour in 2023. The company will visit 20 venues around the UK in 2025 with beloved classics Swan Lake, The Nutcracker and Romeo and Juliet....

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 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 D...

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 seamless...

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 fl...

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 f...

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 tenu...

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...