Review: Legacy – Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater in London
Jonathan Gray sees sees Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater’s second programme, honouring Ailey’s legacy with grace, truth, nobility and a seriousness of purpose.
Author: Jonathan Gray
Jonathan Gray was editor of Dancing Times from 2008 to 2022.
He studied at The Royal Ballet School, Leicester Polytechnic, and Wimbledon School of Art where he graduated with a BA Hons in Theatre Design. He was on the Curatorial Staff of the Theatre Museum, London, from 1989 to 2005, assisting on a number of dance-related exhibitions, and helping with the recreation of original designs for a number of The Royal Ballet’s productions including Danses concertantes, Daphnis and Chloë, and The Sleeping Beauty.
Jonathan Gray has also contributed to the Financial Times and The Guardian, written programme articles for The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet, and is co-author of the book Unleashing Britain: Theatre gets real 1955-64, published in 2005. He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.
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Review: The Royal Ballet School Summer Performance – 100 years producing dancers of the very highest calibre
Jonathan Gray sees the Summer Performance, celebrating The Royal Ballet School a century after its formation by Ninette de Valois.
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Review: Tierra Bendita with the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía at Flamenco Festival London 2026
Jonathan Gray sees the Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía – an attractive but ultimately disappointing climax to the Flamenco Festival London 2026.
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Review: Rocío Molina’s Calentamiento – Flamenco Festival London 2026
Jonathan Gray sees “idiosyncratic and hugely talented” Rocío Molina in Calentamiento, bringing something new and entirely individual to the world of Flamenco.
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Review: Gala Flamenca, the most anticipated event of Flamenco Festival London
Jonathan Gray sees the Gala Flamenca in London and is reminded, once again, just how utterly thrilling an art form Flamenco can be.
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Review: Compañía Rafaela Carrasco in CREAVIVA – Flamenco Festival London 2026
Jonathan Gray feels that the Compañía Rafaela Carrasco’s CREAVIVA was an anticlimax after the excitement of the opening night of Flamenco Festival London.
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Review: Compañía de Danza Jesús Carmona in UnYdos – Flamenco Festival London 2026
Jonathan Gray sees Jesús Carmona and company in UnYdos, which gives everything you could ever want from a Flamenco show – dance and music at its very best.
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Review: The Trocks in London with Olga Supphozova taking her final bows
Jonathan Gray has been admiring Robert Carter’s dancing for over 30 years, now on his last tour with The Trocks, who were “a delight from start to finish”.
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Review: Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company in Solera – Spanish music and dance of the highest calibre
Jonathan Gray sees the Paco Peña Flamenco Dance Company, a performance that ends with you wanting more from this wonderful array of artists.
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Review: Calvin Richardson makes an expressive and beautifully danced debut in The Royal Ballet’s Mayerling
Jonathan Gray sees Calvin Richardson’s debut in Mayerling with The Royal Ballet – Tall, elegantly proportioned, expressive and blessed with great physical strength.
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Review: Matthew Ball is riveting in The Royal Ballet’s Mayerling
Jonathan Gray sees a myriad of fine performances on Mayerling’s opening night, but none finer than Matthew Ball in Laura Morera’s detailed revival for The Royal Ballet.
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Review: English National Ballet’s double bill Body and Soul – commentaries on the state of the contemporary world
Jonathan Gray sees English National Ballet in a new double bill, Body and Soul, which the company dances to perfection.
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Review: Turn It Out with Tiler Peck and Friends – an assembly of fabulous artists
Jonathan Gray sees Tiler Peck’s Turn It Out – to see such a diverse array of dancing talent in one evening was wonderful.
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Review: Marianela Nuñez and William Bracewell in The Royal Ballet’s Giselle
Jonathan Gray sees Marianela Nuñez (sincerity that touches the heart) and William Bracewell (his dancing and partnering was magnificent) in Peter Wright’s Giselle.
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Review: TUTU with Chicos Mambo – a huge disappointment
Jonathan Gray sees Chicos Mambo – I had so wanted to enjoy TUTU but, sadly, the whole thing barely raised a smile from me.
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Review: Paul Taylor Dance Company at the Royal Ballet and Opera, programme two
Jonathan Gray sees the Paul Taylor Dance Company in London – What a company, and what a choreographer!
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Review: The Royal Ballet’s Nutcracker – the most elaborate and grandiose of all UK stagings – with Sasaki, Rovero, Zambon, Junker, and Hay
Jonathan Gray finds much to enjoy in Peter Wright’s The Nutcracker with an impressive young cast.
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Review: The Royal Ballet’s Perspectives with Against the Tide, a world premiere from Cathy Marston
Jonathan Gray sees The Royal Ballet in a triple bill with works by George Balanchine, Justin Peck, and a world premiere from Cathy Marston: Against the Tide.
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Review: the welcome return of La Fille mal gardée with The Royal Ballet and debut performances to celebrate
Jonathan Gray sees La Fille mal gardée at the Royal Ballet and Opera, one of Ashton’s greatest, funniest works with fizzing invention and humour unsurpassed.
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Review: Detention – Gary Clarke Company’s brave, politically themed work
Jonathan Gray sees Gary Clarke Company’s Detention reminding its audience that the freedoms we enjoy today shouldn’t be taken for granted.
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Review: A Single Man “with two of our finest male dancer-actors”
Jonathan Gray sees The Royal Ballet and Factory International’s A Single Man – I wanted to be moved more
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Review: Paris Opera Junior Ballet in London – fine artists who were given little chance to shine
Jonathan Gray sees the Paris Opera Junior Ballet and although there was dancing of dashing brilliance the programme let them down.
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Review: Phoenix Dance Theatre’s Inside Giovanni’s Room – a brave and daring proposition
Jonathan Gray sees Phoenix Dance Theatre in Marcus Jarrell Willis’s ‘Inside Giovanni’s Room’ with the Leeds-based company in top form.
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Review: American Ballet Theatre Studio Company opens the Next Generation Festival 2025
Jonathan Gray sees American Ballet Theatre Studio Company in a “disappointing” mixed programme at The Royal Opera House’s Linbury Theatre.
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Review: Onegin with The Royal Ballet – Natalia Osipova is a great dance-actress… electrifying
Jonathan Gray sees Natalia Osipova as Tatiana in Onegin – “a tremendous performance from a wonderful artist”.
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Review: Diaghilev and the Birth of Modern Ballet with Birmingham Royal Ballet 2
Jonathan Gray sees BRT2 in Les Sylphides, Le Spectre de la rose, and extracts from Scheherazade, The Firebird and Les Biches – a programme that failed to come to life.
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Review: English National Ballet’s The Forsythe Programme – the men come to the fore
Jonathan Gray sees ENB’s The Forsythe Programme and finds the men of the company “spruce, assured, playful and sexy” in “an evening of fast-paced dance”.
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Review: The Royal Ballet in Balanchine – Three Signature Works, Serenade / Prodigal Son / Symphony in C
Jonathan Gray sees The Royal Ballet’s new Balanchine triple bill, Three Signature Works – competent, but rarely exciting.
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Review: The Royal Ballet in MacMillan’s Romeo and Juliet – wonderfully fresh with lively dancing and vivid interpretations
Jonathan Gray sees Romeo and Juliet with Yasmine Naghdi and Matthew Ball who continue to deepen and intensify their interpretations.
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Review: Giselle with English National Ballet – a memorable performance
Jonathan Gray sees English National Ballet in Giselle with superb performances from Erina Takahashi, Francesco Gabriele Frola and Precious Adams.
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