tue 07/10/2025

dance

Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, Sadler's Wells review - Still more Revelations

Jenny Gilbert

There is no equivalent of the Ailey phenomenon. This is a modern dance company with a New York square named after it. It’s a dance company that has performed at the inauguration of two presidents.

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Matthew Bourne's Romeo and Juliet, Sadler's Wells review - heart-stopping drama

Hanna Weibye

Your first thought on hearing there's a new Matthew Bourne Romeo and Juliet might well be 'doesn't it exist already?' So obvious does this marriage of high drama, lush iconic score, and Britain's premier dance maker seem that you might well be forgiven for assuming it had happened years...

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The Bright Stream, Bolshoi Ballet review - a gem of a comedy

Hanna Weibye

Why is Alexei Ratmansky one of the greatest living choreographers of classical ballet?

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Spartacus, Bolshoi Ballet, Royal Opera House review - no other company could pull this off

Hanna Weibye

The Bolshoi juggernaut has rolled into town and will be dominating the thoughts of ballet fans in and around the capital for the next three weeks. And what could be more dominating - or more quintessentially Bolshoi - than Yuri Grigorovitch's 1968 Spartacus?

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Ballet Flamenco Sara Baras, Sadler's Wells review - storming opening to flamenco festival

Jenny Gilbert

Crowned queen of the percussive heel and the trouser suit, Sara Baras has the audience on its feet long before the final number of her show Sombras (Shadows). The Spanish superstar is a familiar presence at Sadler’s Wells, having fronted its annual two-week flamenco festival several times before. She’s a natural headliner with her big, glossy theatrics. Her current offering, though, is a thing of deep contrasts: light and dark, sound and silence, conviviality and yes, loneliness.

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Mari review - bittersweet drama with flair

Owen Richards

Mari is one part kitchen sink drama, one part dance performance, bringing a refreshing take on bereavement and family.

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The Mother, QEH review - Natalia goes psycho

Jenny Gilbert

The publicity said it would be dark. But who would have guessed The Mother would be this dark?

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Cinderella, English National Ballet, Royal Albert Hall review - big, bright and bankable

Jenny Gilbert

It might seem odd to laud the entrances and exits of a ballet, but when it comes to stagecraft Christopher Wheeldon is second to none. You lose count of the ingenious ways he finds to shift up to 130 dancers in and out of view at the Albert Hall.

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The Firebird triple bill, Royal Ballet review - generous programme with Russian flavour

Hanna Weibye

You can’t accuse the Royal Ballet of lightweight programming: the three juicy pieces in the triple bill that opened at the Royal Opera House on Tuesday add up to a three-hour running time. That’s a lot of ballet for your buck. Whether they actually go together is another question.

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San Francisco Ballet, Liang/Marston/Pita, Sadler's Wells - elemental, ethereal and kitschy, too

Matt Wolf

Sun, snow, and some unadorned silliness danced to the music of Björk: no one can accuse San Francisco of casting an insufficiently wide tonal (or climatic) net in this second of four programmes on view from San Francisco Ballet as part of their Sadler's Wells season (continuing to June 8). Having largely thrilled to their all-Shostakovich opener, I found this line-up more of a literally mixed bag.

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