sun 23/03/2025

Dance reviews, news & interviews

Help to give theartsdesk a future!

Theartsdesk

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.It followed some hectic and intensive months when a disparate and eclectic team of arts and culture writers went ahead with an ambitious plan – to launch a dedicated internet site devoted to coverage of the UK arts scene.

Romeo and Juliet, Royal Ballet review - Shakespeare without the words, with music to die for

Jenny Gilbert

1965 was a year of change in Britain. It saw the abolition of the death penalty and the arrival of the Race Relations Act. It was the year of the Mary Quant miniskirt and “Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones. While cinema-goers queued around the block to see The Sound of Music (a critical flop), the Royal Opera House had another kind of hit on its hands.

Light of Passage, Royal Ballet review - Crystal...

David Nice

“Cry sorrow, sorrow, but let the good prevail”. The refrain of Aeschylus’s chorus near the start of the Oresteia is alive and honoured in Henryk...

Vollmond, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch +...

Florence Roberts

Imagine: you take your seat at the best restaurant in town, the waiter arrives with a flourish to fill your water glass, you hold it out and he pours...

Phaedra + Minotaur, Royal Ballet and Opera,...

Jenny Gilbert

Greek myths are all over theatre stages at the moment, their fierce, vengeful stories offering unnerving parallels with events in our modern world....

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

Onegin, Royal Ballet review - a poignant lesson about the perils of youth

Jenny Gilbert

John Cranko was the greatest choreographer British ballet never had. His masterpiece is now 60 years old

Northern Ballet: Three Short Ballets, Linbury Theatre review - thrilling dancing in a mix of styles

Helen Hawkins

The Leeds-based company act as impressively as they dance

Best of 2024: Dance

Jenny Gilbert

It was a year for visiting past glories, but not for new ones

Nutcracker, English National Ballet, Coliseum review - Tchaikovsky and his sweet tooth rule supreme

Jenny Gilbert

New production's music, sweets, and hordes of exuberant children make this a hot ticket

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, New Adventures, Sadler's Wells review - 30 years on, as bold and brilliant as ever

Helen Hawkins

A masterly reinvention has become a classic itself

Ballet Shoes, Olivier Theatre review - reimagined classic with a lively contemporary feel

Helen Hawkins

The basics of Streatfield's original aren't lost in this bold, inventive production

Cinderella, Royal Ballet review - inspiring dancing, but not quite casting the desired spell

Helen Hawkins

A fairytale in need of a dramaturgical transformation

First Person: singer-songwriter Sam Amidon on working in Dingle with Teaċ Daṁsa on 'Nobodaddy'

Sam Amidon

Michael Keegan-Dolan’s mind-boggling total work of art arrives at Sadlers Wells this week

Akram Khan, GIGENIS, Sadler’s Wells review - now 50, Khan returns to his roots

Jenny Gilbert

The dancer-choreographer goes epic in a show that unites South Asian dance styles

Maddaddam, Royal Ballet review - superb dancing in a confusing frame

Helen Hawkins

Wayne McGregor's version of Margaret Atwood's dystopia needs a clearer map

Pina Bausch’s The Rite of Spring/common ground[s], Sadler’s Wells review - raw and devastating

Jenny Gilbert

Returning dancers from 13 African countries deliver celebrated vision with blistering force

Legacy, Linbury Theatre review - an exceptional display of black dance prowess

Jenny Gilbert

An all-too-fleeting celebration of black and brown ballet talent that demands a reprise

Encounters, Royal Ballet review - exciting mixed bill with a gem of a premiere

Helen Hawkins

Pam Tanowitz's latest piece is a stunner that larkily subverts the rules

National Ballet of Canada, Sadler's Wells review - see this, and know what dance can do

Jenny Gilbert

Yet again, Crystal Pite proves herself a ferocious creative force, alongside fellow Canadian exports James Kudelka and Emma Portner

Nobodaddy, Teaċ Daṁsa, Dublin Theatre Festival review - supernatural song and dance odyssey

David Nice

Michael Keegan-Dolan’s genius guides us through death, separation and loss

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, Royal Ballet review - big, bold and ultimately brash

Jenny Gilbert

It may be box-office gold, but Christopher Wheeldon's adaptation fails to find a beating heart down the rabbit hole

Resurgence, London City Ballet, Sadler’s Wells review - the phoenix rises yet again

Jenny Gilbert

A new 14-strong company reviving a much-loved name is taking ballet to smaller theatres

The Mad Hatter's Tea Party, ZooNation, Linbury Theatre review - a joyous celebration of differentness

Jenny Gilbert

Kate Prince's hip hop take on Lewis Carroll is energetic, charming and moving by turns

Ballet Nights #006, Cadogan Hall review - a mixed bag of excellence

Jenny Gilbert

Gala enterprise, 12 months on, will be a stayer if it keeps up this level of excitement

theartsdesk Q&A: Nina Ananiashvili, founder of the State Ballet of Georgia

Ismene Brown

Bolshoi superstar who made her name in London returns with a new generation

Ashton Celebrated, Royal Ballet review - peerless delights from the master step-smith

Jenny Gilbert

A delicious triple bill kicks off a worldwide Fred-fest

Rocio Molina, Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival review - mystery and dark magic, with a giggle

Jenny Gilbert

Annual Spanish showcase opens with a dancer intent on subversion by edgy games

The Winter's Tale, Royal Ballet review - what a story, and what a way to tell it!

Jenny Gilbert

A compelling case for ROH's ballet-friendly rebrand

All You Need Is Death review - a future folk horror classic

Justine Elias

Irish folkies seek a cursed ancient song in Paul Duane's impressive fiction debut

Footnote: a brief history of dance in Britain

Britain's reputation as one of the world's great ballet nations has been swiftly won, as home-grown classical ballet started here only in the 1930s. Yet within 30 years the Royal Ballet was recognised as the equal of the greatest and oldest companies in France, Russia or Italy. Now the extraordinary range in British dance from classical ballet to contemporary dance-theatre, from experimental new choreography in small spaces to mass arena-ballet spectaculars, can't be matched in the US or Russia, where nothing like the Arts Council subsidy system exists to encourage new work.

Fonteyn_OndineWhile foreign stars have long been adored by British audiences, from Anna Pavlova and Rudolf Nureyev to Sylvie Guillem, the British ballet and dance movements were offspring of the movement towards a national subsidised theatre. This was first activated in the Thirties by Lilian Baylis and Ninette de Valois in a tie-up between the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells, and led to the founding of what became the Royal Ballet, English National Opera and the National Theatre. From 1926 Marie Rambert's Ballet Club operated out of the tiny Mercury Theatre, Notting Hill, a creative crucible producing early stars such as choreographer Frederick Ashton and ballerina Alicia Markova and which eventually grew into Ballet Rambert and today's Rambert Dance. From all these roots developed Sadlers Wells Theatre Ballet (now Birmingham Royal Ballet), London Festival Ballet (now English National Ballet), and Western Theatre Ballet which became Scottish Ballet.

Margot Fonteyn's dominance in the post-war ballet scene (pictured in Ashton's Ondine) and the granting of a Royal charter in 1956 to the Royal Ballet and its school brought the "English ballet" world renown, massively increased when Soviet star Rudolf Nureyev defected from the Kirov Ballet in 1961 and formed with Fonteyn the most iconic partnership in dance history.

The Sixties ballet boom was complemented by the introduction of American abstract modern dance to London, and a mushrooming of independent modern choreographers drawing on fashion and club music (Michael Clark), art and classical music (Richard Alston), movies (Matthew Bourne) and science (Wayne McGregor). Hip-hop, salsa and TV dance shows have recently given a dynamic new twist to contemporary dance. The Arts Desk offers the fastest overnight reviews and ticket booking links for last night's openings, as well as the most thoughtful close-up interviews with major creative figures and performers. Our critics include Ismene Brown, Judith Flanders, David Nice, Matt Wolf and James Woodall

Close Footnote

Advertising feature

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

latest in today

Help to give theartsdesk a future!

It all started on 09/09/09. That memorable date, September 9 2009, marked the debut of theartsdesk.com.

It followed some...

Lauren Mayberry, Barrowland, Glasgow review - solo star stay...

It took until the last song before Lauren Mayberry started to well up onstage, which was good going. The singer had mentioned early on the...

Music Reissues Weekly: Too Far Out - Beat, Mod & R&B...

The thrill of hearing “Crawdaddy Simone” never wears off. As the September 1965 B-side of the third single by North London R&B band The...

Naumov, SCO, Egarr, Queen's Hall, Edinburgh review - or...

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra has had to put up with its fair share of artist cancellations over the last month, and the ensuing games of musical...

Brief History of a Family review - glossy Chinese psychologi...

Brief History of a Family is a psychological thriller with a story familiar to anyone who has seen Ripley, ...

Album: Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco - I Said I Love You Fir...

Selena Gomez is the enormously successful Disney child star who grew up to be a Hollywood actor and global pop sensation. As notably, she’s the...

Die Zauberflöte, Royal Academy of Music review - first-rate...

Tamino in the operating theatre hallucinating serpents? Sarastro’s acolytes wheeling lit-up plasma packs? From the central part of the Overture...

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other review - a portr...

Two Strangers Trying Not to Kill Each Other is a documentary portrait of photographer Joel Meyerowitz, acclaimed for his...

The Alto Knights review - double dose of De Niro doesn'...

The power struggle between New York crime bosses Vito Genovese and Frank Costello is one of the foundational stories of the American Mafia, though...

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters