Performer: James Forbat

English National Ballet's ambitious triple bill does not disappoint; it shows a company on the rise. 

There is much to like about the English National Ballet Nutcracker, but it could be so much more.

Death lurks around every corner in Rudolf Nureyev’s Romeo and Juliet, created for English National Ballet (then named London Festival Ballet) back in 1977 and energetically revived here.

For their second show in the London Coliseum this year, English National Ballet has presented the first programme entirely designed by its new artistic director Tamara Rojo. In the line of her vision of enriching the company’s repertory with new works, while at the same time honouring the classics, the triple bill built for the occasion is a fascinating combination of old and recent masterpieces.