sat 08/02/2025

Sadler's Wells

Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, Sadler's Wells

In 1995 a new avian species with unfamiliar markings, the Bourne swan, drew unexpectedly large crowds to a run-down old Islington theatre. I remember it well: seats in the gods were being worn so tight then that feet attached to long legs couldn't...

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The Taming of the Shrew, Stuttgart Ballet, Sadler's Wells

“Comedy in ballet can be notoriously difficult to get right.” So warns the programme note for The Taming of the Shrew, choreographer John Cranko’s 1969 adaptation of Shakespeare, with which Stuttgart Ballet chose to end their run at Sadler’s Wells...

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Made in Germany, Stuttgart Ballet, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Stuttgart Ballet, one of Europe's most highly respected companies, is clearly determined to show London its best sides – all of them. Thirteen pieces in one performance is less a mixed bill than a tasting menu, and one that aims to impress: this...

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Milonga, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Sadler's Wells

Can tango ever really be interesting as a pure dance stage show? After all, like most forms of social dance, its truest incarnation is in the fleeting and contingent encounters of the dance hall, the public ball, the open-to-all-comers late night...

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Sadler's Wells, 2014 Highlights announced

Crystal Pite returns to Sadler's Wells as their 16th Associate Artist, with a UK premiere of her The Tempest Replica, in April.29-30 January: Borish Charmatz's enfant.7-16 February: Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch returns with 1980: A Piece by...

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Sadler’s Wells, Ambitious New Plans

Alastair Spalding, Sadler’s Wells’ Chief Executive and Artistic Director, today announced that the theatre is looking for a fourth London venue, which it hopes will open in just four years’ time.Not content with two proscenium spaces (the main stage...

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Hofesh Shechter, Sun, Sadler’s Wells

The first time you see a Shechter piece, you feel it, literally as well as figuratively: percussive is a mild word for his forceful choreography, the stamping, churning, yearning of his sweeping shapes and rhythms. Percussive is the music, too (...

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In A Deep Dark Wood, Gobbledegook and Moko Dance, Lilian Baylis Studio Theatre

Most children's theatre productions are usually either heavily branded (think Peppa Pig's roadshow) or - particularly with dance - saccharine to the point of patronising (think My First Cinderella). It is refreshing then, to see a kid's company that...

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Rambert Triple Bill, Sadler's Wells

After a busy year, moving their headquarters from Chiswick to new premises on the South Bank, Rambert dance company have managed to keep momentum working with stalwarts such as Ashley Page and Mark Baldwin as well as branching out with...

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The Sleeping Beauty, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good. Sometimes, of course, it’s even better to be both. And Birmingham Royal Ballet, in their all-too-brief London season, have been both lucky and good. Lucky, because they have Peter Wright’s little jewel of...

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Bintley Triple Bill, Birmingham Royal Ballet, Sadler’s Wells

Is David Bintley the one that got away, the wrong turning the Royal Ballet took in the early 1990s? I have long thought so, and watching their current triple bill, the feeling only grows. Bintley trained at the Royal Ballet School, graduated into...

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Atomos, Wayne McGregor|Random Dance, Sadler's Wells Theatre

Some choreographers get turned on by stories; others by music; yet others by the unpredictable magic of rehearsal room chemistry between dancers. Wayne McGregor, the shaven-headed, lanky, black clad superstar of British contemporary ballet,...

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