Review: Matthew Bourne’s The Car Man – as good as it gets
Graham Watts sees the return of The Car Man to London – great ensemble choreography; tremendous individual performances; fantastic sets, and never a dull moment!
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Review: Covent Garden Dance’s Ballet Under the Stars at Hatch House
Graham Watts sees Ballet Under the Stars in the beautiful Dutch Garden at Hatch House, where starlight ballet said adieu on a high.
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Review: Ballet Central mixed bill – Central School of Ballet’s graduate company
Graham Watts sees Ballet Central perform four works: Solitaire, BOLERO 18, REPLICA, and Times Square Ballet.
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Review: Compañía Marco Flores in Rayuela concludes the London Flamenco Festival 2026
Graham Watts sees the ‘distinctive and highly personal flamenco choreographer and performer’, Marco Flores in Rayuela, dance deconstruction in the context of flamenco.
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Review: English National Ballet School and John Cranko School at the Next Generation Festival
Graham Watts sees two top ballet schools at the Royal Ballet & Opera’s Next Generation Festival, dancing as if they were already fully fledged professionals.
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Review: Stephanie Lake’s COLOSSUS arrives in London – young dancers fulfilled Lake’s vision with ebullience
Graham Watts sees COLOSSUS – Stephanie Lake creates fascinating, kaleidoscopic movement from a mass of bodies made the more powerful by the rarity of the quantum.
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Review: English National Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty with Emma Hawes and Aitor Arrieta
Graham Watts sees the opening night of The Sleeping Beauty at the Royal Albert Hall but is disappointed by a staging that militates against the magic.
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Review: A Life in Four Seasons – unmemorable dancing to Vivaldi in Regent’s Park
Graham Watts sees A Life in Four Seasons – there was much to admire, but the production was confusing, and the choreography struggled to get beyond bland.
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Interview: Mob behaviour and control hit the South Bank in Stephanie Lake’s Colossus
Australian choreographer Stephanie Lake talks with Graham Watts about Colossus, her work for 50 dancers that has toured the world since 2018.
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Review: Birmingham Royal Ballet performs 20th-Century Masterpieces
Graham Watts sees Ashton’s Birthday Offering, Jooss’s The Green Table and Balanchine’s Theme and Variations – an excellent programme to close a very good year at BRB.
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Review: Ballet Nights, New Futures – the opportunity to compare and contrast
Graham Watts sees New Futures from Ballet Nights, featuring 150 dancers from seven leading dance schools, but it needed pruning and better management.
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Review: Marco da Silva Ferreira’s F*cking Future – mesmerising force
Graham Watts sees F*cking Future and finds himself warming to the work of Marco da Silva Ferreira.
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Review: Onyx Productions 360 ALLSTARS at the Peacock Theatre
Graham Watts sees 360 ALLSTARS – experts in either spinning themselves or something else – but yearned for 32 fouettés to be added to the mix.
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Review: Debuts 1 – Sae Maeda and Matthew Ball in The Royal Ballet’s La Fille mal gardée
Graham Watts sees The Royal Ballet’s La Fille mal gardée with Sae Maeda making her debut as Lise with sunshine, smiles, soaring legs and coy naughtiness.
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Review: Annabelle Lopez Ochoa’s Gentleman Jack with Northern Ballet – a star performance and an outstanding score
Graham Watts sees Gentleman Jack with Nida Aydinoğlu – a future star – and enjoys the unique choreographic style, memorable score, and emphatic set design.
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Review: Manuel Legris’ Paquita is an undisputed hit at Lithuanian National Ballet
Graham Watts sees Lithuanian National Ballet’s new production of Paquita with touches of genius from Manuel Legris and impressive performances from the dancers.
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Review: Tulsa Ballet conquers London with a balletic richness made in America
Graham Watts sees Tulsa Ballet’s ‘Made in America’ triple bill at Royal Ballet and Opera – a young, dynamic ensemble, with an overarching sense of theatre.
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Review: National Ballet of Brno’s new production of Giselle with Ksenia Ovsyanick and Alejandro Virelles
Graham Watts sees Rodolfo Castellanos’ Giselle with the National Ballet of Brno – a production that stands among the very best.
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Review: Shobana Jeyasingh Dance in We Caliban, an ‘inventive, sideways look’ at The Tempest
Graham Watts sees Shobana Jeyasingh’s We Caliban – I would rather see fresh ideas than this continuing trope of reinventing Shakespeare.
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Review: Norwegian National Ballet in Tungrodd / Rahčamuš / Raataminen – preserving identity
Graham Watts sees Tungrodd, a “softly expressive and powerfully expansive” semi-autobiographical work by Sámi choreographer Simone Grøtte from Northern Norway.
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Review: International Draft Works 2026 – an outstanding initiative by The Royal Ballet
Graham Watts sees International Draft Works – three distinctly memorable works among a satisfying, broad spectrum of ideas and styles.
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Review: Marianela Nuñez and Patricio Revé in the Norwegian National Ballet’s La Bayadère
Graham Watts sees La Bayadère in Oslo where two stellar dancers shared the stage with an excellent company.
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Review: PCK Dance’s Into the Light – the celebrity pairing of James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight
Graham Watts sees James Pett and Travis Clausen-Knight with Isabelle Evans – a rare opportunity to see them in a full-length show.
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Review: Company of Elders – over-60s present a double bill with charisma, poignancy and comedy
Graham Watts sees the Company of Elders at Sadler’s Wells’ Elixir Festival, which champions performance by dancers of a certain age.
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Review: Kafka with the National Ballet of Brno – a tour de force for Arthur Abram in the title role
Graham Watts admires the National Ballet of Brno’s Kafka – it’s a physical challenge to match the role of Rudolf in MacMillan’s Mayerling.
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Review: Ivan Putrov’s Dance for Ukraine gala – raising funds to support ballet students
Graham Watts praises Dance for Ukraine – a very fine show, worthy of fulsome support.
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Review: Ballet de Lorraine’s hi-energy blast with a Folia and a kaleidoscopic Acid Gems
Graham Watts sees Ballet de Lorraine in works by Adam Linder and Silva Ferreira, which left the dancers and the audience on a high.
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Review: ASTITVA with Jaivant Patel Company – a choreography of power and beauty
Graham Watts sees the Jaivant Patel Company, which has stamped an indelible – and unique – mark on the British contemporary dance scene.
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Review: Lithuanian National Ballet’s triple bill, Bodies and Codes
Graham Watts appreciates the confident, vigorous flair of the Lithuanian National Ballet’s performance of works by Wayne McGregor, Iván Pérez and Krzysztof Pastor.
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Review: Last and First Men with Neon Dance – a great deal of patience is required
Graham Watts sees Last and First Men and finds that the extreme slow pace of the choreography tends towards tedium after the initial fascination has worn thin.
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