SeeingDance

23/12/2025

David Mead takes a second look at New English Ballet Theatre - NEBT's new Nutcracker, this time at the Sainsbury Theatre at LAMDA, London, with Audrey Nelson and Hiroki Takano in the lead roles.

On Nelson, "Her dance was precise and clean, elegant and full of clean lines and polished technique. Perhaps best of all, her winning smile let everyone watching know just how much she was enjoying it."

Audrey Nelson is a lovey Clara, capturing that well that moment in life when one is starting to edge into adulthood but still young enough to be childlike

20/12/2025

"The show is aimed at those five years and older. Right from the start, Silvestrini connects directly to the young audience..."

Nicola Claire on The Magic Flute, the new work from Luca Silvestrini's Protein.

There is a good amount of dancing, which is pretty, well-executed and, very importantly, appeals to its audience.

20/12/2025

David Mead on English National Ballet's Nutcracker at the London Coliseum.

"It does look absolutely terrific. It brims with colour and life at every turn. And with co-choreographers Aaron S. Watkin and Arielle Smith bringing a light touch to the story and dance, it’s certainly an easy on the eye couple of hours. It is a ballet where the designs have a tendency to trump the choreography, however."

It does look absolutely terrific. It brims with colour and life at every turn. There's a light touch to the story and dance... Easy on the eye couple of hours.

19/12/2025

Maurice Béjart's Bolero is an iconic ballet that, once seen, is never forgotten.

Ahead of the Bayerisches Staatsballet performing it at the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich, Jeannette Andersen talks to former Béjart dancer Piotr Nardelli about staging the work, and why its popularity endures.

Ahead of performances by the Bayerisches Staatsballett in Munich, Piotr Nardelli talks about staging the work, and why it is still such a success.

19/12/2025

John Neumeier’s The Nutcracker with the Hamburg Ballet to be live-streamed on ARTE on 29 December 2025 at 6.30pm (UK).

Scheduled cast:
Marie - Olivia Betteridge
Louise - Ida Praetorius
Günther - Alexandr Trusch
Drosselmeier - Alessandro Frola

Following the live stream, The Nutcracker will be available for some time on ARTE Concert in the ARTE media library.

In John Neumeier’s version of The Nutcracker, the focus is on the story of the young girl Marie, who receives a nutcracker and a pair of pointe shoes as gifts for her twelfth birthday. These presents open the door to a dream world in which she encounters the enigmatic ballet master Drosselmeier, who introduces her to the world of theatre. Neumeier tells the well-known fairy tale as a sensitive coming-of-age story, making the transition between childhood and adulthood poignantly tangible. Premiered in Frankfurt am Main in 1971, the work has been a firm fixture of the repertoire since its Hamburg premiere in 1974 and remains a special highlight of the winter season to this day.

18/12/2025

A night at the theatre that's not at all Christmassy, but that's also great fun from start to finish with some terrific dancing, great acting, and a lot of humour. Oh, yes, and Irving Berlin's wonderful music.

Nicola Claire reviews Top Hat at Southbank Centre, London.

Yes, the story is ridiculous... But you still leave the theatre humming those tunes and wanting to see it all over again. Top Hat. Top show.

16/12/2025

Zoë Hewitt reports on 'An Evening with Matthew Ball', an event that combined live dance and conversation with the Royal Ballet principal.

"...Resists easy categorisation. Neither performance nor talk, it functions as a self-portrait in transition, part experiment, part public reckoning."

15/12/2025

From Italy, Veronica Posth reviews Chiara Bersani in 'L'Animale' at Cango, Florence.

Curiosity and awe arise while observing this being who appears to be suffering in its own stillness, struggling to get out from an invisible restriction

13/12/2025

From Switzerland, Jeannette Andersen reviews Ballett Zürich - Opernhaus Zürich - in 'Oiseaux Rebelles', a double-bill of Mats Ek's 'Carmen', and 'Vestige' by Dani Rowe.

In Mats Ek's ballet, Nancy Osbaldeston... was a zesty Carmen. She insists on her freedom, seeing herself as equal with the men

12/12/2025

Charlotte Kasner reviews Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes, now on at Sadler's Wells.

There is a lot of dancing but it does feel like one big number after another at times. And the choreography within them is very busy