Category Dance

REVIEW: Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby

Reading Time: 4 minutesRambert Dance’s “Peaky Blinders: The Redemption of Thomas Shelby” aims to reimagine the gritty world of the Shelby brothers through dance. It has its premiere in Liverpool, the place where most of season 1 was filmed. You would say that this is a match made in heaven. However, despite its bold ambition, the adaptation leaves more questions than answers as it struggles with pacing, characterization, and creative direction. It also might commit the biggest cardinal sin from a character’s point of view: it uses a well-known IP without understanding the lore, the appeal, and the motivation of the characters.

REVIEW: London City Ballet: Resurgence

Reading Time: 3 minutesLondon City Ballet, former resident company of Sadler’s Wells theatre, makes a triumphant return to their home venue after almost thirty years off the stage. The programme is preceded with a dive into the company’s history, press clippings charting its founding in 1978 by Director Harold King up until its closure in 1996. The introductory reel highlights London City Ballet’s successes and legacies, behind-the-scenes footage of early rehearsals, and the patronage of Princess Diana, a great admirer of dance. While surly pictures of the people’s princess slouched against a ballet bar make for entertaining viewing, the projected montage style does feel somewhat dated. A history in the programme would have sufficed; the dancing that follows is good enough to speak for itself.

REVIEW: An Evening Without Kate Bush

Reading Time: 2 minutesA single, tiny red light floats at the front of the Oxford Playhouse stage in silence. Slowly but surely, movements begin and the music swells; the gloriously Bush-like voice of Sarah-Louise Young fills the room. I’ve never seen Kate Bush live but I can imagine this number was pretty close. Through a gauze, Young twisted and turned and guided the small light to illuminate her body. Finally, in a huge feathered headdress and leotard (obviously a ‘Fish Person’ uniform), Young revealed herself and as the song came to a close, addressed us, creepily, “She’s not here”. The laughter was almost uninterrupted from that point onwards.

In Conversation With Romain Borgeaud

Reading Time: 3 minutesWe sat down with Romain Borgeaud from RB Dance Company. Fresh from a sold-out European tour, France’s Got Talent finalists, the company presents the UK premiere of its critically acclaimed, award-winning production Stories- The Tap Dance Sensation at Sadler’s Wells’ Peacock Theatre from Wednesday 23 October - Saturday 2 November 2024. 

REVIEW: Lived Fiction

[Image description] A male wheelchair dancer and a female East Asian dancer are on the floor in an embrace. The female dancer is on her back, and the wheelchair dancer is perpendicular to the other dancer, but upside down as if in a head stand. His faced away from the camera. The East Asian dancer has her arms wrapped gently around the other dancer's back as if to support his headstand. Her eyes closed, hair draped gently on the floor. The image juxtaposes serenity and tension. The still wheel of the wheelchair is suspended in mid air, being a focal point of this image. The dancers are on a light coloured floor in light golden coloured costume. There is an amber light coming from behind the dancers cutting through the haze cast against the pitch black backdrop. Photography by Chris Parkes

Reading Time: 2 minutesStopgap’s twenty years of creating inclusive dance culminates in the most accessible and brilliant work of dance-theater in recent history. 

REVIEW: Wing Chun

Reading Time: 2 minutesWing Chun at Sadler’s Wells brings on stage the story of Grandmaster Yip Man, the legendary martial artist who not only taught Bruce Lee but also popularized Wing Chun worldwide. This production, choreographed by Han Zhen and Zhou Liya and written by Feng Shuangbai, combines contemporary dance, drama, and various martial arts forms, including Wing Chun, Tai Chi, and Praying Mantis, to deliver a breathtaking spectacle. The show follows a film crew documenting Yip Man’s life, creating a bridge between the past and present while featuring two generations pursuing their dreams.

REVIEW: State Ballet of Georgia: Swan Lake

Reading Time: 3 minutesMaybe a bit reluctantly yet curiously, we'd love to sneak a peek into the exotic taste of Soviet legacy of ballet tradition. This is most prominent in ACT I, where the ensemble dances in a gentle and airy style, utterly different from what we typically see here in the UK. If you are especially used to the more powerful and vital presentation here, you may find the Georgian style too soft and light. You may even tell from their different shapes of ballet hands: their fingertips are slightly more curved, their middle fingers slightly lowered, and the overall curve more fluid.