“When it comes to a dance roundup, you surely won’t be able to come up with a Top Ten, will you? Even a Top Five might be a stretch”. This from a naysayer who clearly hasn’t been out much this past year. From where we stand, dance looks to have been doing rather well, and this despite the economic strictures we all know about. While it’s true that international touring is not what it was, and ballet fans can no longer get their summer fix from the Russians (and should probably give up hope of seeing a live performance by the Bolshoi or Mariinsky Ballet ever again), the Royal Opera House came to the rescue in July by hosting the first ever British visit of the National Ballet of Japan, whose feted production of Giselle easily made it onto the list below.
As did a handful of sparkling mixed bills from across the spectrum of British companies, with Northern Ballet and London City Ballet nudging out work by major players. Sadler’s Wells East, the latest addition to the capital’s dance stages, hit its stride in its first full year of programming with range and imagination, from family hip hop jams to visits from the European avant-garde, and a remarkable UK premiere from an theartsdesk favourite, the Irish director-choreographer-visionary-cum standup Michael Keegan-Dolan. As ever, the year had its share of fine revivals, but only one of these – a Matthew Bourne – has made it into our Top Ten, principally because there were so many good new dance productions. The following are listed in order of their appearance through the year.
Northern Ballet, Three Short Ballets, Linbury Theatre
The Leeds-based company has built a reputation for fine dancers who can act. Federico Bonelli, the former Royal Ballet principal who took over as director in 2022, is proving a worthy steward of this tradition. Two of the pieces on the bill were commissioned by him. Fools by Mthuthuzeli November told the familiar story of star-crossed lovers, but set it among the tin-roofed shacks of a township, using a mashup of European and African music and a mix of moves from jeté to jitterbug. It all had a thrilling energy, especially in the fight scenes, the full company going at it with sticks and brooms. Helen Hawkins
Phaedra + Minotaur, Linbury Theatre
Greek myths were all over theatre stages early in the year, their fierce, vengeful stories offering unnerving parallels with events in our modern world. This rare joint project between the two Covent Garden companies yielded a pithy double bill of opera and dance, both halves featuring the half-man, half-bull Minotaur and the havoc he wreaks, even in death. Kim Brandstrup's choreography for the second work exploited the special skill sets of contemporary dancer Jonathan Goddard and hiphop whizz Tommy Franzén, who doubled as the Minotaur and the god Dionysus (pictured above). His slow, smooth, headfirst descent of a wall to the slow movement of a Schubert piano sonata is a thing I won't forget for a long time. Jenny Gilbert
Balanchine: Three Signature Works, Royal Ballet
Is the Royal Ballet a “Balanchine company”? The question was posed at an Insight evening early in the year to Patricia Neary, the tireless dancer who has helped keep the choreographer’s legacy intact since his death in 1983. Neary has been working with the RB as a coach, advisor and stager of Balanchine’s work for the past 57 years. “Oh yes!” was her emphatic answer. In its new all-Balanchine triple bill (pictured above), the company showed how thoroughly it had ingested her teaching. The three items were a proving ground of all the skills required in this work: speed, control, precision, musicality. HH
The Forsythe Programme, English National Ballet
ENB was late to the party, but it has been making up for lost time, commissioning new works and dipping into the back catalogue of the American iconoclast William Forsythe, a choreographer who, at 76, continues to spring surprises. The three pieces presented in this programme spanned more than 30 years and offered something of everything: brains, beauty and bravura. But Playlist EP (main picture) was what everyone was waiting for: a fresh iteration of his effusive foray onto the disco floor, singable, jiggle-in-your-seat numbers by Lion Babe, Khalid, Barry White, Natalie Cole et al propelling phalanxes of dancers across the stage. The more louche the sounds and the more funky the beat, the more tightly classical the steps, give or take the odd hip swerve. It’s a fabulous combination, and it raised the roof.
The Midnight Bell, Sadler’s Wells and tour
Inspired by the novels of Patrick Hamilton set in dingy 1930s Soho, this latest from Matthew Bourne, enjoying a first revival, was an unlikely hit (pictured below). There is no single narrative and, 20 minutes in, it’s still unclear where the story might be heading, or whether there's going to be one at all. This is adult theatre on adult themes, with subtlety baked into every scene. The score by Terry Davies evokes the pre-war era and ratchets up the emotional tension. JG
Giselle, National Ballet of Japan, Royal Opera House
A new Giselle? Not quite: the production that Japan’s national company brought over for its first British visit wasn’t a radical makeover. What it offered was a tasteful refreshing of an evergreen favourite, like meeting an old friend with a new haircut. This was a Giselle with many local connections, most importantly the company’s artistic director, Miyako Yoshida, once a popular principal at both Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet, where she danced the title role countless times. What distinguished her production was the degree of artistry at every level, from the principal dancers to the Wilis of the corps, the latter precision-matched in height and build, moving impressively as one. HH
R:evolution, English National Ballet, Sadler’s Wells
Confidence has been high at ENB. This mixed bill featured two distinct voices from the 1940s, George Balanchine and Martha Graham, another catalyst from the 1980s, William Forsythe, and a grandly conceived new work from David Dawson. In an already meaty evening, Dawson’s Four Last Songs (set to Richard Strauss’s song cycle) arrived like the main dish you ordered but then wondered if you’d have room for. It was monumental, with swathes of bodies repeatedly driven across the space like autumn leaves. All you could do was give yourself up to the stream of imagery and the enormous, gorgeous sweep of orchestral sound. JG
A Single Man, Linbury Theatre
Dancers Ed Watson and Jonathan Goddard (both pictured above) were superb in Jonathan Watkins’ dance theatre adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s novel. Set in 1962, it concerns the struggle of a middle-aged gay man, a university lecturer in California, to come to terms with the death of his long-term partner. It’s basically a story about grief, but George feels unable to express that grief to any living person, instead finding solace in imagined conversations with his late partner. It’s these all-in-the-mind encounters that spur choreographer and cast to their best work, finding super-fine nuance in the pair’s tender exchanges. JG
How to be a Dancer in 72,000 Easy Lessons, Sadler’s Wells East
This has to have been the most curious item of the year. Not a dance show as such, more standup comedy laced with lapsed-Catholic confessional, the occasional song and poem, topped off by a wild, bruising 15-minute solo dance improv to Ravel's Boléro, then a seated meditation on the orchestral finale of Stravinsky's Firebird. Conceived and performed by Michael Keegan-Dolan and his muse Rachel Poirier, the evening was small in scale and uncategorisable in nature, but sent its audience home delighted. Watch out for MK-D's fabulous, unhinged Irish folk extravaganza MÁM, due to tour the UK in the spring. JG
Rebirth, London City Ballet, Linbury Theatre
The ballet world will soon run out of titles signifying a renaissance. After ENB’s recent Re:evolution came London City Ballet’s Rebirth, following its debut programme last year called Resurgence. In this case, it’s a fact, the company having resurfaced after a 30-year hiatus. On its second time out, LCB fielded 12 dancers, all exceptional. Works by Jerome Robbins, Ashley Page and a world premiere from Tasha Chu culminated in Alexei Ratmansky’s Pictures at an Exhibition. A witty recycling of styles ranging from Russian folk dance to Balanchine’s neo-classicism, it was a zinger. HH
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