David Jays

Alice-Bellini-performing-William-Forsythes-Herman-Schmerman
Dance

The Forsythe Programme at Sadler’s Wells: cerebral and sassy

American choreographer Forsythe’s triple bill at English National Ballet is a triumph of experimentation and fun

11 Apr 2025
Dance

Holly Blakey at Queen Elizabeth Hall review: a glinting fever dream

This marmite choreographer serves up raw, dirty and dizzying moves in her latest double bill

10 Apr 2025
Cesar Corrales and artists of The Royal Ballet in Prodigal Son
Dance

Balanchine: Three Signature Works: an extraordinary dance brain

This triple bill in the Dance Reflections festival is a joyous look at a man who wasn’t fun to marry, but was a remarkable choreographer

31 Mar 2025
Dance

Dance Reflections at Sadler’s Wells: from classy to cutting-edge

This collection of works shows us what bodies can do — and what they can do together

31 Mar 2025
Dance

Ballet Black: Shadows at Hackney Empire review: resists a neat ending

The performances are dynamic, even if the vigorous choreography sometimes feels like a decorative add-on

18 Mar 2025
Dance

Dance Reflections at Sadler’s Wells: the classy and the cutting-edge

The return of the Dance Reflections festival is a mixed bag — as it should be

13 Mar 2025
Dance

Romeo and Juliet at the Royal Ballet review: refuses to act its age

The Royal Ballet inhabits their heritage production like a well-loved home

5 Mar 2025
Botis Seva_Far From The Norm, Until We Sleep
Dance

Sadler's Wells East: the insider story behind London's new dance mecca

Sadler’s Wells East has finally opened on the new East Bank: here is the story behind a long but fruitful journey

21 Feb 2025
Dance

Folclor at Linbury Theatre review: a hectic, patchy triple bill

Acosta Danza gives this piece balletic finesse and contemporary heft, even if the choreography is patchy

17 Feb 2025
Dance

Vollmond at Sadler’s Wells Theatre: a watery wonderland of romance

Pina Bausch’s world of humans on the edge combines abundant silliness with spiky music - and lots of rain

15 Feb 2025
Dance

Onegin at the Royal Ballet: a passionate tribute to longing and regret

Marianela Nuñez brings feeling and passion to the role of Tatiana

23 Jan 2025
Dance

Nutcracker at the Coliseum: ENB's new production hits the sweet spot

This fun version delivers Quality Street levels of moreish pleasure

7 Jan 2025
Dance

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells: the gold standard

This production turns 30 next year, and it still remains powerfully erotic and romantic

12 Dec 2024
Dance

Ruination at the RB: sombre, daft, raw – a festive show like no other

Ben Duke’s show was a smash in 2022 and returns with the same ace cast

5 Dec 2024
Dance

Cinderella at the Royal Ballet review: an enchanting festive pleasure

This has one of the most glorious of all ballet scores: both magical and mysterious

4 Dec 2024
Dance

Gigenis at Sadler’s Wells review: classy and atmospheric

Khan’s first appearance on the London stage for four years rattles with expressive, arrowing vigour

21 Nov 2024
Theatre

MaddAdam at the Royal Ballet review: vauntingly ambitious

An empathetic reckoning with the end of the world leaves you clinging to dance and music

15 Nov 2024
Dance

Encounters at the Royal Ballet review: spiky and reflective

This quartet of contemporary dances offers eccentric movement, bravura quartets and meditations on relationships, loneliness and destiny

23 Oct 2024
Dance

Theatre of Dreams at Sadler’s Wells: a full-bodied mind-warping show

This new show from Hofesh Shechter is closer to a nightmare than a dream – but it’s undeniably a banger

11 Oct 2024
Dance

Ghost Ships at Historic Dockyard Chatham: sprawlingly ambitious

The venue makes an epic space for an epic story of British seafaring and the empire it enabled

27 Sept 2024
Dance

Akram Khan’s Giselle at Sadler’s Wells: shatteringly powerful

There’s a cinematic drive and compulsion to this rethinking of a heritage ballet, and it holds its terrible silences magnificently

19 Sept 2024