Find ballet and dance reviews

Dark Emu is a beautifully choreographed dance response to Bruce Pascoe's award-winning book.  In combining current debate with millenia-old living tradition, it is both topical and profoundly poetic.

Opening this short Saison Russe in Berlin is Boris Eifman’s most iconic ballet, Red Giselle, a skilful tribute of the choreographer to the great Russian ballerina Olga Spessivtseva.

It is good to see Birmingham Royal Ballet in such fine fettle. This triple bill is well conceived and deftly performed. Not always flawless in its execution, but a five star programme nonetheless.

Like meeting the near-identical twin of that much-loved friend: BRB's fine performance of their unique take on Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet 

Sasha Mukhamedov, James Stout and their fellow dancers succeed to drag us off to a romantic tragedy on the British isles on a June evening.

A mix of new and tried and tested works by Karole Armitage, Jacqulyn Buglisi, Carolyn Dorfman and Jennifer Muller

The overall quality of Emerging Dancer continues an upwards trajectory from year-to-year and presents a very enjoyable gala of classical ballet and contemporary dance 

Ballet Black delights the Glasgow Tramway with a contrasting double-bill of Shakespearian envy and whimsy.

It’s the end of the 17/18 season for most ballet companies and for many, this means rounding off with a glitzy gala night. I feel these performances always go in one of two directions: they’re either a Greatest Hits or a bit of a patchwork quilt. 

A dutiful revival of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s Sleeping Beauty from English National Ballet.

The German word Betroffenheit doesn’t translate easily to English. Any German-English dictionary will spit out approximations like "shocked" and "dismayed", but for a real translation, see Crystal Pite and Jonathan Young’s challenging, beautiful work by the same name. 

In a production that proposes a revision of flamenco from its roots, stripping it of all the clichés and stereotypes that are currently weakening its essence, Fernandez’s mighty dancing and Pericet’s farsighted crafting and superb performance are extraordinary examples of the best artistic proposals that flamenco dancing can produce nowadays.

Ratmansky's staging is more than a reconstruction. It's a staging that's moving and joyful in its own right.

Labelled a “permanent irritation” in her home country of South Africa, Robyn Orlin takes the epithet as a compliment. She’s the grain of sand that makes a pearl! An imperfect one, but still.

A youthfully fresh corps and Victor Estévez hold together this uneven double bill, with Acosta’s troubled Carmen demonstrating the challenges of adapting opera to ballet.

Shut Eye (Lightfoot & León) is like an alternating current. Woke Up Blind (Goecke) is entertaining and vulnerable. Pite's work hits the rythmic nail on the head. You want to freeze-frame Pite's dancers, snap a picture and hang it on the wall.

For China’s choreographic rising star, Tao Ye, numbers hold a pivotal significance. He works in numbered series, compiling a neat catalogue of minimalist, experimental dance that can be performed alone or sit buttressed up against each other. 

A meandering maze of tangled ideas expressed in a stylish film noir atmosphere.   

The world premiere of Rafael Bonachela's first full-length work in six years, *ab [intra]* features astounding partnering and lives up to its claim of representing the energy of the creative dance process.

The Royal Ballet of Flanders presents in Madrid's Teatros del Canal an attractive triple bill with works by its Artistic Director Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui (Firebird and Faun) and the Canadian choreographer Crystal Pite (Ten Duets on a Theme of Rescue)

When de Luz reached down and laid his hand on the floor in the final Nocturne, it suggested to me that, on this night and with these dancers, the stage was sacred ground.

A new Swan Lake is a test for any ballet company. Expectations ran high, but Liam Scarlett's new production hit the target. 

Organised by Berlin State Ballet audience’s darling, the principal dancer Polina Semionova, the gala Polina & Friends and its stellar cast literally left the house roaring from enthusiasm.

Tuckett's richly-integrated Elizabeth contains some superb performances but is often overwhelmed in this transition to a much larger space 

Pennsylvania Ballet's wraps up season with Balanchine

In keeping this production of The Sleeping Beauty in the repertoire, Boston Ballet is providing a vital service to the history of classical ballet, developing its dancers to their fullest potential, and providing Boston audiences with a chance to enter into a magical world of the most exquisite beauty.

A thousand love letters to Taiwan in Lin Hwai-min's swansong as artistic director of Cloud Gate Dance Theatre  

The resident dance company of the Konzert Theater Bern recently paid tribute to Albert Einstein, who lived in the city from 1902-1905.

Edward Clug’s choreography is consistently imaginative and powerful, and exceptionally ambitious in the case of “Faust”, which recently celebrated its world première in Zurich. 

The Australian Ballet shines in a gloriously romantic and sumptuous staging of The Merry Widow.  

Phoenix Dance Theatre collides with the headlines with their mixed programme at Sadler's Wells.

Most of the pieces were choreographed at a similarly demanding level, with speed, precision and immaculate timing as necessities.

Ballet Boyz at Sadlers Wells with a programme about the creative process - among other things.

As part of the nationwide “Steps” dance festival, NDT2 gave a degree of precision, theatrics, musicality, and humour that truly set the group apart.

Benjamin Freemantle danced the opening solo, gorgeously, in the role of the grandfather as a dreamy young Adonis. 

A pulsing one hour and 40 minutes for young ballet and hip hop dance fans.

Unbound by restrictions, they’ve been given free rein to create, implement and demonstrate to the world what contemporary ballet looks like. Hint: it looks great.

At its best, Lubovitch's work elevates the spirit and serves as a reminder that there’s beauty in the world.

Sneakers gave even the most challenging of balletic steps a freer, looser quality, as if the dancers were about to step into flight.

Three of Kenneth MacMillan's first five works are once more wholly, or partially, revived in this outstanding and purposeful debut for the Viviana Durante Company  

In the future features exciting works by Juanjo Arques and Hans van Manen, and is the most exciting programme by the Junior Company so far.

A random assortment of disassociated ballets performed with variable success - from the sublime to the nondescript. 

Members of the GöteborgsOperans dance company, along with members of choreographer Sidu Larbi Cherkaoui’s own Eastman ensemble, recently danced a joint venture of an extraordinary kind in Winterthur. 

Forsythe’s choreography allows ENB's male corps to display their virtuoso skill in its mixed programme at Sadler's Wells.

In a selection of modern and balletic works spanning several decades, the Australian Ballet pays tribute to one of Australia's best-loved choreographers.

It’s easy to imagine watching with a candy cane or mulled wine in hand. The Moscow Ballet captures The Nutcracker's festive vivacity and beauty in equal amounts.

It was worth the price of admission just to see the ebullient revival of Geoffrey Holder’s Dougla.

Anniversaries are best celebrated with friends: Sasha Waltz & Guests’ “dialogue – wirbel: improvisationen” is a magical celebration of 25 years of Waltz’ unique universe at the Radialsystem in Berlin

A hypnotic experience! Some quibbles about choreography, lighting and designs but strong performances by talented young dancers reinforce the importance of the concept.

Pennsylvania Ballet shows off in works by Balanchine, Petipa, and Wheeldon