Find articles | Antonia Salib

The fourth annual Emerging Dancer Award was a spectacular showcase for English National Ballet’s rising stars. The evening included performances from six members of the company, as well as a magnificent interlude from previous winners Yonah Acosta and Shiori Kase. Prizes on offer were Emerging Dancer and the People’s Choice, voted for by the public.

It would be hard to find someone who has not heard of Anna Pavlova. The name alone conjures up words such as elegant, visionary, iconic. Her acclaim results from a career in ballet spanning over 30 years, in which she had a tremendous influence over the world of classical dance and earned her place as one of the finest Russian ballerinas in history.

This year’s Royal Ballet’s Draft Works at the Linbury Studio Theatre offers up an eclectic mix of pieces from seven of the Company’s dancers, as well as three non-Company members. Some pieces more fully-formed than others, the evening presents short sections of choreography by the likes of Principal Ballerina Tamara Rojo and Thomas Whitehead in a very informal setting.

If you are looking for a show for all the family this Christmas, look no further. Magical Night is a heart-warming production of dance-theatre in which one night a host of toys come to life. Along with two children, the lovable Chimpy the monkey, Sir Green Knight, baby Tumble Tot, Fire Flame and Mighty Robot have a great adventure.

Choreographer Rafael Bonachela and composer Ezio Bosso have collaborated with tremendous success once again to create 6 Breaths. Performed by the Sydney Dance Company, 6 Breaths is a composition inspired by six forms of breath. It was followed by a second work called LANDforms, an emotional response to the effect of weather elements on landscapes.