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If you’re in need of a pick-me-up, get thee to the Royal Opera House and see La Fille mal gardée, a gem of a ballet. There’s a long roster of impressive casts to choose from.

Sir David McVicar's classic staging of The Magic Flute, now over 20 years old, shines afresh in a stylish performance conducted by Marie Jacquot, making her Covent Garden debut.  

Curated by Marcelino Sambé, Black History Month Draft Works at the Clore Studio gifted us an intriguing mix of ideas and styles providing food for thought as well as theatrical interest.

The Royal Ballet’s season opener, Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate, is visually tremendous, very well danced but the many principal and soloist characters are difficult to keep up with.

Joyce El-Khoury saves the day in The Royal Opera’s second revival of The Sicilian Vespers in Stefan Herheim’s paint-by-numbers production. 

Oliver Mears' new staging impresses and Jakub Hrůša's first season as Music Director excites interest. But the evening belongs to Anna Netrebko.

Jonathan Watkins’ A Single Man is a compelling piece of dance theatre and a magnificent vehicle for the leading characters to shine as dancers and actors.

National Ballet of Japan offer a 21st-century remake of this 19th-century Romantic classic with impeccable performances.

It was a wonderful, heartening afternoon – it’s no wonder nearly all the 2025 graduates have gained contracts with several major ballet companies.

Superb Handelian singing and intense character acting light up Handel’s Semele, staged as a stark, uncompromising indictment of the rich and powerful. 

English National Ballet School and Rambert School present a diverse and entertaining programme for the Next Generation Festival.

Overall, The Royal Ballet School delivers much to admire, but reminiscent of a multiple-course banquet that still leaves you reaching for the cheese and biscuits when you get home.

A very welcome visit from the Paris Opera Junior Ballet to the Linbury Theatre displays the company in a very favourable light, in a variety of works.

Ballet Central provides an extremely varied programme of new and old, classical and contemporary dance, with plenty of aplomb.

Christopher Wheeldon's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland shows off The Royal Ballet's roster of supreme dance actors in every version of technical wizardry and comic incarnation.

American Ballet Theatre Studio Company showcase the talents of its youthful dancers in a diverse and demanding programme at the Linbury.

Natalia Osipova, a seasoned Tatiana, is joined by Lukas B Brændsrød, making his debut as Onegin in the summer return of John Cranko's take on Pushkin's classic verse novel. 

Stripped of its original superstar casting, Gounod’s grand opera provides entertainment but fails to cohere. 

A showcase presenting the rich diversity of Christopher Wheeldon’s choreography should become a staple in The Royal Ballet's calendar.

A compelling performance of MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet from an excellent cast, proves to be a triumph for Patricio Revé, debuting with the Company and paired with Natalia Osipova.

Pimpinone was conceived as a musical interlude – or intermezzo – between acts of Handel’s Tamerlano. Here, it marks the first time a Telemann opera has been staged at Covent Garden. 

The latest, thrilling instalment of Barrie Kosky's Ring cycle at Covent Garden does not have to strain for contemporary relevance. 

Aigul Akhmetshina is on the verge of becoming the definitive Carmen; in this first revival of Michieletto's 2024 production at Covent Garden, she delivers the standout performance. 

An interesting mix of classical, contemporary, hip-hop and cultural choreography graced the stage at the Linbury Theatre for International Draft Works 2025.

A triple bill of works by Balanchine shows off both the dancers’ versatility and his own wide ranging skills as a choreographer. 

Andrei Șerban’s 1984 staging of Turandot may the oldest production left in The Royal Opera’s stable, but there's life in the old horse yet. 

Osipova has always, since her very earliest appearances on stage, stood out for the sheer energy and commitment she shows in all her work. This is no exception.

“But, soft, what light through yonder window breaks?” Yasmine Naghdi reaches new interpretative depths in this revival of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s classic Romeo and Juliet. 

Giacomo Sagripanti’s live wire dynamics and keenly judged tempo choices keep this revival of Verdi's Il trovatore buoyant at Covent Garden. 

Overall, Light of Passage is one of those glorious pieces where music, choreography and design meld together to make theatrical magic.

Acosta Danza, always compelling, deliver a triple bill in the Linbury Theatre that shows off their plentiful attributes.

Mark-Anthony Turnage's operatic adaptation of Thomas Vinterberg's tale of abuse provides rich entertainment even as it shocks.

Two individual works worth seeking out with outstanding performances in each.

Strong performances by chorus, orchestra and the father-daughter pairing of Amartuvshin Enkhbat and Anna Pirozzi make this Covent Garden revival well worth the visit.

Northern Ballet's latest triple bill at the Linbury proves to be a magnificent vehicle for the company.

The welcome revival of a borrowed jewel in The Royal Ballet's treasure chest of story ballets.   

Corinne Winters is phenomenal as the self-possessed Jenůfa in The Royal Opera's revival of Claus Guth's powerful staging. 

Kate Lindsey and Heidi Stober weave vocal magic in the latest Covent Garden revival of Humperdinck's box of delights. 

It's not without flaws, but the latest revival of Richard Jones' beautiful production of Puccini's beloved Parisian tale has drama aplenty.

Exceptional, witty performances combined with superb choreography and script make Ben Duke's take on the Medea myth unmissable.

The Royal Ballet revive Ashton's masterpiece with some superlative leading performances in a production that is visually rich and imaginative.

Led by Bryn Terfel's Scarpia and Natalya Romaniw's Tosca – not forgetting Aled Hall's scene-stealing Spoletta – this revival of Jonathan Kent's 2006 staging is urgently paced. 

The combination of spectacular backdrops and evocative film projections are visually stunning and the dancers are superb, but Wayne McGregor's MaddAddam is difficult to follow.

With gloriously inventive sets and costumes, Alex Esposito’s splendid Four Villains drive a wonderfully entertaining new production.

A programme to show that heroism is not just about feats of action and adventure, with Ballet Black's supremely good dancers rising to each challenge.

In a quadruple bill of contemporary works, The Royal Ballet's dancers shine in this diverse programme, creating an immersive experience.

Henry Neill gives a devastating performance as Sam in Trouble in Tahiti in The Royal Opera’s Bernstein double bill in the Linbury Theatre. 

This revival of Kratzer’s production forces the audience to confront where personal responsibility starts and stops for acting under a tyrannical regime, while bringing Beethoven’s only opera to life – with a few twists.

Last seen in 2017, Christopher Wheeldon’s take on the classic Lewis Carroll novel returns to the Royal Opera House stage, or rather Royal Ballet and Opera as we must now call it.