Live, Video: Find classical music concert, opera, ballet and dance reviews | Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Heroes emerge in adversity, and there are sterling turns from Leigh Melrose as a pugilistic Golaud and from the venerable Arkel of Matthew Best.

Dance of a truly gripping and magical quality as Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s compellingly beautiful work is translated for the screen. 

The choreographers selected ranged from the highly experienced (Yuri Possokhov, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Russell Maliphant), and ENB’s Associate Choreographer (Stina Quagebeur) to a relative newcomer, 24-year-old Arielle Smith. 

An event that will be long-remembered for the importance of the occasion, if not for its content. 

Fêted collaboration lacks substance despite committed performances, and it's Cherkaoui's Faun that captures the human connection.

Irene Théorin and Andreas Schager lead a stunning musical performance, as Guy Cassiers vision of The Ring becomes clear.  

Daniel Barenboim conducts much of Siegfried as an intimate chamber opera, resulting in an unexpected musical joy, with an excellent cast of singers headed by Michael Volle’s Wanderer.

Daniel Barenboim led a performance of deliberate tempo with a great ensemble of singers.  Guy Cassiers‘ production, while visually stunning at times, does little to enhance the performance.

A mixed bill of modern work showcases the diverse talents of The Royal Ballet.

For three decades, Acosta has given his audiences performances of pure pleasure. As someone who had to work against the odds to reach the top, he became one of those rare classical ballet dancers whose brilliance and incredible technical achievements, wrapped up with convincing characterisation and humble charisma, have set stages alight around the world.

A marriage made in dance heaven

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)

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. 

Sutra - meaning thread - offers a window into the world of Zen Buddhism and kung fu. Over the last 10 years, this production has toured to 33 countries and been seen by over 160,000 people. As part of a worldwide tour to mark its tenth anniversary Sutra returns to Sadlers Wells, the theatre that nurtured its creation.

The audience at Sadler's Wells welcomes Carlos Acosta like an old friend. Their whole-hearted warmth extends to embrace his fledging company Acosta Danza in its UK debut. Based in Havana, Cuba, this intrepid group of dancers is rapidly forging an international reputation. Punching above their weight they arrive in London with a programme of five contrasting works, and showcasing three choreographers from the Spanish-speaking world.

Even forty years after its world première in Rotterdam, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new production of Philip Glass’s three-act opera in Basel has particularly timely relevance.

An all-male fusion of different dance and musical talents provides some extraordinary moments but is in need of an edit    

Babel(words); a dance-theatre work by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet is presented at Lincoln Center in New York City as part of the White Light Festival 2016.

Natalia Osipova and Sergei Polunin's present a contemporary programme of works exploring the complexities of a couple's initimacy at Sadler's Wells

LA dance project tours to London and presents a mixed bill of works by Millepied and Cherkaoui at the celebrated Sadler's Wells

Staatsoper Berlin's Götterdämmerung featured memorable vocal performances from Iréne Theorin and Andreas Schager, with Daniel Barenboim and his orchestra providing the rest of the drama.

The second evening of Staatsoper Berlin's Ring featured an exceptionally strong musical performance, both from the orchestra and the singers. 

The revival of Das Rheingold at Staatsoper Berlin was still marred by distracting use of dancers on stage, but musically it was a great success. 

In Paris, Russian enfant terrible reunites Iolanta with The Nutcracker... with wildly mixed results. 

Benjamin Millepied, choreographer for the movie Black Swan, presents his company L.A. Dance Project at the Wallis Annenberg Center of the Performing Arts.

Life renews itself and DNA may take us beyond the human experiment and into the unknown.

The national Youth Dance Company reveals the artistic potential of talented 16-19years old young performers, in choreography devised by Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Damien Jalet's BABEL deals with the issues of globalization and isolation and how people from different cultures coexist. A stunning collaboration between choreography, music and stage design, it is both intellectual and entertaining.  

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui and Saburo Teshigawara present a double-bill under the heading Spirit. At the Gothenburg Opera. The evening promises high quality, yet harbors the danger that the level of abstraction which permeates the two works might undermine the urgency of the message.

Pilobolus’ program begins with a film short about their namesake, titled Pilobolus Is a Fungus. The playbill offers further education, explaining that the, arguably, repugnant spores are propelled with “extraordinary speed, accuracy and strength”. The message here is that these artists look for inspiration literally everywhere. Program A is a relentless testament to that mission.

Among productive and successful choreographers, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui distinguishes himself for variety: in projects, from film collaborations to the Cirque du Soleil’s arena, and in the cultural sources used for his work. Puz/zle is no exception, quite the reverse – and I beg your pardon if I will not explain all the references in it.

Together with the BalletBoyz’ newest production, Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s Sutra is probably the most eagerly awaited tour of the season. Since its première in early 2008, the piece has travelled extensively, touching 60 cities in 28 different countries, and this is its fourth season at Sadler’s Wells.

Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s new work takes its inspiration and title from Japan’s foremost comic book or ‘manga’ artist, Osamu Tezuka, (1928-1989). Revered in Japan, Tezuka is often described as the East’s answer to Walt Disney, yet the work of this doctor turned animator is significantly more complex and sophisticated.

It’s not often I leave a dance performance with a smile on my face, but it’s impossible not to feel uplifted by the UK debut of Dunas. This is not only an intriguing, thought-provoking collaboration of the best of flamenco and contemporary dance. It is quite simply refreshing, inspiring fun.

From the childhood moment when we are introduced to Cinderella we recognise the magical, transformative power of the shoe.

L’opéra Iolanta et le ballet Casse-Noisette sont réunis dans une co-création d’envergure qui rassemble les talents du scénographe Dmitri Tcherniakov et des chorégraphes Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui, Edouard Lock et Arthur Pita.

On ne pourra pas dire que l’équipe des metteurs en scène/chorégraphes Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui et Damien Jalet, associée à Marina Abramovic qui signait et le décor et le concept, aient fait dans le conventionnel, offrant une approche à la fois futuriste et rétro de Pelléas et Mélisande.

Le Ballet de l’Opéra de Paris rend hommage au compositeur Maurice Ravel dans un superbe moment musical, magnifiquement dirigé par le jeune chef d’orchestre Maxime Pascal.