‘Everything you could think of shoved into this odd little show’ Julie Cunningham & Company I’ll give ya what ya want, what ya really really want… and if that is a space-age experimental dance piece with the famous Jules Cunningham and sporty (dancy) spice Mel C, then that is what you’ll get. But how does this happen? Celeb cameos are ...
‘The desperation for cross-genre exploration leaves little room for us the audience’ Grupo de Rua by Bruno Beltrão In 1996 Bruno Beltrão (only 16) created Grupo de Rua with his friend Rodrigo Bernardi. The only thing I created at 16 was an emotional collage to my “platonic” best friend, never mind I digress. Little did these teenagers know the highs ...
‘A statement of belief in the future’ Clouds of Chanel perfume, clacking pearls, with plenty of room to swing a…..arabesque. Welcome to the gleaming columns of the Royal Academy of Dance. Admits this polite cacophony New English Ballet Theatre marks both Remembrance Day and simultaneously celebrates 12 years of existence. Peeking in at dance lessons in the rooms surrounding the school’s ...
‘Newer doesn’t necessarily mean better’ If Carlos Acosta guarantees us Londoners an “extraordinary” triple bill, rushing down from his midland powerhouse, we sit up and listen. The mere whisper of this most hallowed director soars ticket sales and promises bums on seats. Add name-dropping of the likes of Jiří Kylián, Benjamin Britten, Uwe Scholz, and Ludwig van Beethoven plus the ...
‘Exploding with vibrating power’ Hofesh Shechter II Shechter II’s dazzling show is proof that the youth wing of the famous company is as dexterous as its progenitor. Hofesh Shechter gifted the world with his eponymous company in 2008, enrapturing the dance scene. Since then, he has dazed audiences and yours truly. Now he turns his impassioned eye to the youth (how sweet) with Shechter ...
‘Constantly changing visual wizardry’ Alexander Whitley Dance Company A fresh new work by Alexander Whitley and his company is always something to get the blood pumping of dance aficionados. A premiere, in the Lilian Baylis Studio, exploring technology’s distant future and transhumanism promises to bring that blood to a boil. So, the huddled masses of ballet’s vanguard march into the ...
‘Joyfully impish’ Dance Consortium Ballet is not known for its humour (mores the pity). The stiff faces, rigid movements, and rules on rules on rules. The land of daily repetition is not a breeding ground for the brawling baby called comedy. Matthew Bourne and William Forsythe inject intellectual irony into their work, but a burst of laughter would still be out of place ...
‘flashy costumes, precise hand movements, and catchy soundtrack’ On a sweltering evening, we pack into the Peacock theatre. Fans patter like falling autumn leaves in the audience, as Beyond Bollywood returns to the West End after a triumphant run at the London Palladium in 2015! The sparkle, energy, and exuberance are intoxicating, even if some of the wires of the machine have ...
‘Good things come in twos’ From its 1605 publication to its 2022 balletic incarnation, Miguel de Cervantes’s tale of the man from La Mancha has captured hearts and imaginations. Can Carlos Acosta and the full might of the Birmingham Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet Sinfonia bring their own spark to the quixotic tale? In 1869 the first balletic production premiered ...
‘An obvious exploration of lockdown life’ Age is still a contentious subject, both in the Dance world and outside the circle of Sadler’s Wells walls. Inside the venue and others like it, the bodies of the young, fit, and predominantly (at least for most of its history) white humans have been the ones presented to us. 2014 brought a celebration of something ...