The sincerity of excess: Hideki Noda’s −320°F
The production’s apparent excess is never random. As the evening progresses, bodies begin to carry more and more of the meaning
A ‘lost’ Bausch plus van Manen, Volpi and Peck: Hamburg Ballet in The Times Are Racing
Pina Bausch’s ‘Adagio’, reconstructed only in 2024 having not been performed for 50 years, plus Hans van Manen’s ‘Variations for Two Couples’, Demis Volpi’s ‘The thing with feathers’, and Justin Peck’s title work
Balanchine and Morau, Preljocaj and Xie Xin: Hamburg Ballet’s Fast Forward
From George Balanchine’s Serenade to Xie Xin’s The Moon in the Ocean, via Marcos Morau’s Totentanz and Angelin Preljiocaj’s Annonciation.
Stephanie Lake’s Colossus: A Living Choreography
An exploration of the relationship between the individual and the collective… Each dancer remained distinct while being continuously reorganised within a larger, shifting whole.
Hamburg Ballet: Nijinsky
Not a documentary, not a narrative account of his life. Neumeier rather calls it a biography of the soul, of the “feelings and states of the human condition.”
Flamenco Festival 2026: Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía in Tierra Bendita
David Chupute provided one of the highlights of the evening. In his hands, castanets became a whole orchestra section in themselves.
English National Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty
This Sleeping Beauty is not flawless. But the production’s strengths are considerable: the splendour of its costumes, the sweep of the music, the scale of the occasion, and above all Emma Hawes’ luminous Aurora.
School of the Hamburg Ballet: Erste Schritte
An evening featuring the whole school, and culminating with John Neumeier’s Yondering, which explores themes of innocence and adventure
Next Generation Festival: Rambert School & Junior Company of Polish National Ballet
An evening of contrasts with three contemporary dance works from Rambert School and five shorter neo-classical pieces from the Junior Company of the Polish National Ballet
Next Generation Festival: Chance to Dance
A celebratory and hopeful example of how Chance to Dance can catalyse the careers of dancers who may never have crossed paths with ballet otherwise
Tanztriennale: Fábio (Krayze) Januário’s Musseque
Musseque highlights the joy and strength found in moving together. It’s a celebration of people, of home, of Angola. It’s a work of belonging. Plus a look back at Tanztriennale generally.