The Royal Ballet’s long-running and rather cumbersome Swan Lake is elevated by the dancers’ artistry, while a fine Kenneth MacMillan triple bill deserves more performances
March 2024
California Connections: Three Pioneering Women review – superb salute to trailblazing trio
Yorke Dance Project celebrate Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham and Bella Lewitzky in a mixed bill that offers a valuable lesson
February 2024
Manon review – Kenneth MacMillan’s 50-year-old masterpiece still bewitches
The Royal Ballet revisits the choreographer’s timeless rags-to-riches work, putting assorted casts through its finely tuned emotional wringer
January 2024
Manon review – the Royal Ballet brings beauty to sordid snake pits of Paris
Kenneth MacMillan’s journey into a world of darkness is performed with consummate craft by a superb company
June 2023
Royal Ballet triple bill review – a fascinatingly icy Wayne McGregor premiere
Laura Morera takes her final bow as Anastasia in a night that also includes Christopher Wheeldon’s winningly athletic Olympian ballet and McGregor’s Untitled, 2023
April 2023
Dancer Edward Watson: ‘Get the wind machine, get my clothes off and get out there’
The performer talks us through the photographers who documented his shapeshifting career with the Royal Ballet
March 2023
Lynn Seymour obituary
Ballerina who inspired new works from Kenneth MacMillan and Frederick Ashton and loved to dance with Rudolf Nureyev
February 2023
‘It’s a grief and a healing’: why dance-makers love The Rite of Spring
Stravinsky’s ballet sensation of 1913 shocked its first Paris audience. More than 150 versions later, the far-reaching pull of this modernist masterpiece remains irresistible…
November 2022
The Royal Ballet: A Diamond Celebration review – pick ’n’ mix gala with some sparkles
A grab-bag of nine pieces, from Wheeldon to Tanowitz, make up a celebratory programme delivered with customary aplomb by the Royal’s dancers
October 2022
Sex, drugs and pas de deux: how Mayerling’s flame keeps burning
Mayerling review – astounding from beginning to end
April 2022
Scottish Ballet: The Scandal at Mayerling review – bold and brutal
Emotional intensity and physically demanding choreography combine in this reworking of Kenneth MacMillan’s ballet
January 2022
Prime mover: Tamara Rojo at English National Ballet – in pictures
Tamara Rojo has announced that she is leaving English National Ballet after 10 years as artistic director. Revisit the productions she starred in and presented during her reign
December 2021
2022 culture preview
Theatre, dance and comedy to book in 2022 – from Alan Partridge to Tennessee Williams
Amy Adams makes her West End debut, immersive dance confronts mental health and Steve Coogan’s alter ego embarks on a rare live UK tour
June 2021
Royal Ballet: Beauty Mixed Programme review – rose petals and a lust for water
A wild variety of pas de deux fuel this mixed bill, from kitschy Strauss to a duet with a table, plus part of Sleeping Beauty
November 2020
Lockdown culture
Royal Ballet Live: Within the Golden Hour review – sheer, ravishing class from top to pointed toe
Francesca Hayward, Natalia Osipova and Marianela Nuñez are among the many stars in this exquisite mixed bill of classics and more recent work
October 2020
The Royal Ballet: Back on Stage review – freedom to soar again
After seven months away from the spotlight, the entire company release their pent-up energy in a jubilant and moving three-hour gala of greatest hits
October 2019
Royal Ballet mixed bill review – a trio of 60s flashbacks
Lauren Cuthbertson and Reece Clarke’s masterclass in clarity is the highlight in a night of Macmillan, Ashton and Petipa
May 2019
Clover Roope obituary
Ballet dancer and choreographer who taught in London and Mexico and at the Rambert school in Twickenham
