Returning to Sadlers Wells after a triumphant short run last year, Beats on Pointe is the ultimate mash-up of classical ballet and modern street dance. The opposing dance worlds collide in this high energy, colourful show. Produced by the Australian dance company, Masters of Choreography which was formed by Jennifer and Milo Masters in 2014, Beats on Pointe has been … [Read more...]
Reviews of Dance in London - Reviews of Dance at Sadler's Wells
If you are planning to visit London to see a Dance production on stage at one of the West End theatres, or in one of the many Off West End or Fringe venues, then maybe our Dance reviews section can be of help? Read one of the latest reviews or use the search button to find and view one of our previous reviews. We use a star rating system on our site.
BalletBoyz’ Them/Us at Sadler’s Wells
The first half of the show, a thirty-minute piece choreographed by the dancers is titled Them. It’s not boring because Balletboyz are fabulous dancers and for this reason, it’s enough to watch but the work itself feels shallow. It’s hard to work out what the point is except as a virtuoso display. The cube doesn’t add much either. Andrew Ellis, the lighting designer contributes occasional intense scenes of colour which are beautiful. The music composed by Charlotte Harding provides necessary substance to the work as it sweeps from gorgeous strings to strings with a driving beat which accompany the best section of dance, a virtuoso solo by dancer, Benjamin Knapper. Them has a running time of only 30 minutes which is just about right, not overlong.
Notwithstanding the limitations of Them the second half of the show, Us, after the interval is so satisfying you leave elated, amazed all over again by the impact of great contemporary dance when it happens in front of you again.
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Israel Galván’s La Fiesta at Sadler’s Wells | Review
Israel Galvan’s La Fiesta is genuinely creative, transcending the categorising genre of Flamenco in its anarchistic deconstruction of rhythm and expectations in front of your eyes, to build it up to something different, something modern while acknowledging its root. It all starts with nine performers mixed in age and talents and a cafe background, summoning a … [Read more...]
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at New Wimbledon Theatre | Review
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake, now nearly 25 years old, is as sharp, sexy and silly as ever. Though audiences might be somewhat less shocked than when this show, now a Christmas treat for families, opened, it doesn’t seem to have lost any of its edge, or indeed, darkness. Despite its Christmas associations and deeply romantic narrative, Swan Lake is a gloomy tale of … [Read more...]
Russell Maliphant & Vangelis – The Thread at Sadler’s Wells
The ending was thrilling, the dancers' bodies had become whirling tumblers on precipices thrown by Michael Hulls' clever lighting as Vangelis’s music brought a compulsive frenzy of rhythm and tune still resonating when walking away through the dark streets of Islington. Finally, the work was moving, the choreography was exciting, the dancing stunning but it turned out … [Read more...]
BalletBoyz’ Them/Us at Sadler’s Wells | Review
Us, the piece which constitutes the second half of this show is choreographed by Royal Ballet artistic associate Christopher Wheeldon and is unmissable contemporary dance. From the outset, the ensemble section is thrilling in its dynamism using repetition, pirouettes and intricate footwork. Designed by Katherine Watt the costumes of oversized grey tailcoats … [Read more...]
Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch – Since She – Dimitris Papaioannou
Since She should be a bridge to the future for the contemporary dance company created by the legendary German choreographer Pina Bausch who died ten years ago. Half of the company performs in this new piece devised and choreographed by Dimitris Papaioannou, the other half will be in the other new piece of work to be performed later in the month and devised by Alan … [Read more...]
New Adventures – Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler’s Wells is a glittering, extravagant Christmas Show, immaculately performed by star dancers with humour and palace interiors enough to satisfy a seasonal audience. It’s twenty-three years since the opening of the first production of this Swan Lake famous for replacing the original graceful female swans of composer Tchaikovsky’s … [Read more...]
Mavin Khoo – Man to Monk – Lilian Baylis Studio
The music is tender but Man to Monk- Part 1 is about male desire described through the lens of a homosexual relationship as a duet. This piece is the first show in a new two-part contemporary dance series. In the Lilian Bayliss Studio of Sadler’s Wells bharatanatyam and contemporary dance artist Mavin Khoo is joined by Victor Callens in the show that is an extended … [Read more...]
Taj Express at The Peacock Theatre | Review
Taj Express at The Peacock Theatre until 20 October is enormous fun, an evening to lift the spirits and send you dancing out of the door at its end. Literally. Directed by Shruti Merchant the twenty-four strong cast of dancers and musicians create a whirlwind of colour as they perform joyous tracks from various Bollywood films including Slumdog Millionaire. You … [Read more...]