Dance

Dancer of the Month

Carlos Acosta celebrates 30 extraordinary years in dance

Our December dancer is the great Carlos Acosta, whose unique journey and extraordinary international career now continue with Acosta Danza, a professional platform for Cuban dancers which he founded in Havana and many other projects. Carlos Acosta is here interviewed by Graham Watts

Acosta, here rehearsing *Don Quixote* at the Royal Ballet

Recent reviews

The Zurich Ballet premieres Christian Spuck's <i>Winterresie</i> © Gregory Bartadon

The Zurich Ballet premieres Christian Spuck's Winterresie

Polina Semionova and Alejandro Virelles open Alexei Ratmansky's <i>Bayadère</i> at Staatsballett Berlin © Yan Revazov

Polina Semionova and Alejandro Virelles open Alexei Ratmansky's Bayadère at Staatsballett Berlin

Scottish Ballet's Cinderella* (ch: Christopher Hampson) lights up Edinburgh this December

Polina Semionova and Alejandro Virelles open Alexei Ratmansky's Bayadère at Staatsballett Berlin

Scottish Ballet's Cinderella* (ch: Christopher Hampson) lights up Edinburgh this December

****1

London: RB Nutcracker launches the festive season

***11

NY: Whiteside and Trenary star in Arthur Pita's The Tenant

***11

Sydney: Emerging choreographers in New Breed

***11

London: Marriott's poignant tribute for RB

*****

Berlin: No Body left behind in Sasha Waltz and Guests' Körper

***11

Basel: Wherlock’s Tevyje premieres

Ballet ABC

Marie Taglioni in La Sylphide, 1832

Classical Ballet, a French Affair?

A little History of the French Style

Italian Influence on Russian Ballet

Carlotta Grisi and Marius Petipa, La Valse, Giselle © Wikicommons | Source: Bibliothèque nationale de France

A Story book World of Ballet

Portrait of Sergei Diaghilev by Valentin Serov © Wikimedia Commons

Diaghilev's Ballets Russes: Cultural Avant Garde

A Swan's Tale

SB: Symphonic Storytelling

Casting a Christmas Spell

Upcoming eventsSee more...

HamburgDer Nussknacker - Magische Performance

Laeiszhalle: Großer Saal, Mon 17 Dec at 19:30

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker Suite, Op.71a

Alexandra Dăriescu; Désirée Ballantyne

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Dutch National Opera and Ballet, Dec 17 20:00, Dec 19 20:00, Dec 20 20:00, Dec 22 20:00, Dec 23 14:00, Dec 24 14:00, Dec 26 14:00, Dec 27 14:00, 20:00, Dec 29 14:00, 20:00, Dec 30 14:00, Dec 31 14:00, 2019 Jan 01 20:00

Prokofiev: Cinderella

Christopher Wheeldon; Jacquelin Barrett; Dutch National Ballet; Martin West; Julian Crouch

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Volksoper Vienna, Dec 17 19:00, Dec 21 18:30, 2019 Jan 03 18:30, Jan 15 19:00, Jan 20 18:00

Mussorgsky, Rimsky-Korsakov

Andrey Kaydanovskiy; Vesna Orlic; Vienna State Ballet; Alfred Eschwé; Karoline Hogl; Alexandra Burgstaller

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Stadttheater, Dec 18 19:30, Dec 20 19:30, Dec 23 18:00, Dec 28 19:30, Dec 30 18:00, 2019 Jan 04 19:30, Jan 11 19:30, Jan 13 18:00

Richter: The Four Seasons

Estefania Miranda; Bern:Ballett; Hans Christoph Bünger; Till Kuhnert; Bern Symphony Orchestra

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Opernhaus, Dec 18 19:30, Dec 19 11:00, Dec 23 18:00, Dec 25 18:00, 2019 Jan 01 18:00, Jan 05 19:00

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker

Jean-Philippe Dury; Leipziger Ballet; Yoko Seyama; Aleksandar Noshpal; Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra; Leipzig Opera Children's Choir

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New National Theatre, Tokyo: Opera House, Dec 18 13:00, Dec 21 19:00, Dec 22 13:00, 18:00, Dec 23 13:00, 18:00, Dec 24 14:00

Tchaikovsky: The Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Wayne Eagling; National Ballet of Tokyo; Alexei Baklan; Naoji Kawaguchi; Ayako Maeda; Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra

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Latest reviewsSee more...

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake takes flight once again

Matthew Ball (Swan) and Liam Mower (Prince) © Johan Persson

Mark Pullinger, 12 Dec

Bourne's radical reworking of Swan Lake returns to Sadler's Wells, 23 years after its premiere.

*****

Yen Han and Matthew Knight (Clowns) and William Moore (Nutcracker), Nutcracker and the Mouse King © Gregory Batardon

Sarah Batschelet, 11 Dec

In Zurich, ballet director Christian Spuck recently launched the second season of the multi-layered ballet he choreographed to the great P.I. Tchaikovsky score.

****1

Roses in Scottish Ballet's Cinderella © Andy Ross

Graham Watts, 08 Dec

A welcome revival of Christopher Hampson's imaginative reworking of this perennial fairy tale

***11

Cristina de Lucas, 08 Dec

Ballet National de España (BNE) celebrates its 40th anniversary with a vibrant gala that brings together old and new landmarks of its repertory. Madrid’s Teatro de la Zarzuela hosts the event.

****1

Katja Vaghi, 06 Dec

A mesmerising catalogue of the body’s uses and abuses in our society, Sasha Waltz & Guest presents Körper an old-time favourite at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele.

*****

Gary Avis (Drosselmeyer) © ROH | Bill Cooper (2013)

Mark Pullinger, 03 Dec

What marks the start of Christmas? For many, it's when the Christmas tree magically grows in The Royal Ballet's Nutcracker...

****1

HamburgDer Nussknacker - Magische Performance

AmsterdamCinderella

ViennaWiener Staatsballet in der Volksoper: Märchenwelt Ballett

BernThe Four Seasons

LeipzigDer Nussknacker

TokyoThe Nutcracker and the Mouse King

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake takes flight once again

The Nutcracker and the Mouse King: A redesign in Zürich

Scottish Ballet's Cinderella lights up Edinburgh

Ballet Nacional de España presents a vibrant 40th anniversary gala

No body left behind: Sasha Waltz & Guest and Hans Peter Kuhn Körper

Sugar and spice: The Nutcracker returns