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Best Dance of 2018

By Teresa Guerreiro on 20/11/2018

A much loved ballerina returned; the most musical of choreographers brought a Central Asian love story to London after a long absence; hip hop continued to enthuse... 2018 was a good year for dance in London

Matthew Bourne/New Adventures, Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells

The year ends on a high with the return of Mathew Bourne's epoch-making Swan Lake and its massed ranks of fierce male swans, now reworked for the 21st century. Bourne's Swan Lake is Sadler's Wells Christmas offering.

WHEN

04 Dec 2018 – 27 Jan 2019, 19:30 Sat mat 14:30, Sun mat 14:00 Dur.: 2 hours including one interval

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Akram Khan, Xenos, photo Jean Louis Fernandez

Akram Khan, Xenos Review ★★★★★

In May Akram Khan said good-bye to full length solo performance with Xenos, his own homage to the Indian soldiers of World War I, in the year that marked the centenary of the Armistice

WHEN

29 May 2018 – 09 Jun 2018, 19:30 Dur.: 1 hour 15 mins approx no interval

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Shobana Jeyasingh, Contagion, photo Jane Hobson

Shobana Jeyasingh, Contagion Review ★★★★★

Also part of the commemorations of the 1914-18 period, Shobana Jayasingh's visceral Contagion remembered the 5 million victims of the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic

WHEN

02 Nov 2018 – 03 Nov 2018, Fri 18:30 & 21:00 Sat 18:00 & 20:30 Dur.: 30 mins approx

WHERE

British Library
96 Euston Road, London, NW1 2DB

Mark Morris Dance Group/Silk Road Ensemble, Layla & Majnun (c) Susanna Millman

Review: Mark Morris Dance Group/Silkroad Ensemble, Layla and Majnun ★★★★★

The love story of Layla and Majnun, as told in an Azerbaijani opera adapted by the multicultural Silkroad Ensemble and choreographed by the American Mark Morris, dazzled at Sadler's Wells.

WHEN

13 Nov 2018 – 17 Nov 2018, 19:30 Sat mat 14:00 Dur.: 1 hour 10 mins no interval

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Ballet British Columbia, Solo Echo, photo Sharen Bradford

Ballet British Columbia Review ★★★★★

A stunning London debut for Canada's Ballet British Columbia brought us a carefully picked triple bill of works by its alumna Crystal Pite, current artistic director Emily Molnar and the in-fashion Israeli choreographer, Sharon Eyal

WHEN

06 Mar 2018 – 07 Mar 2018, 19:30 Dur.: 2 hours including two intervals

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Semperoper Ballett, Yumiko Takeshima, Raphael Coumes-Marquet, In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated, photo Costin Radu

Semperoper Ballett, All Forsythe Review ★★★★★

Another stunning Sadler's Wells debut: this time from Semperoper Ballett Dresden, in a triple bill of works by William Forsythe, with whom the company has had a long a fruitful relationship

WHEN

21 Jun 2018 – 23 Jun 2018, 19:30 Dur.: 2 hours inc two intervals

WHERE

Sadler's Wells
Rosebery Avenue, London, EC1R 4TN

Boy Blue Blak Whyte Gray, Theo 'Godson' Oloyade and company, photo Carl Fox

Review: Boy Blue, Blak Whyte Gray ★★★★★

Boy Blue have done more to bring hip hop to diverse audiences than any other company. The welcome return of Blak Whyte Gray had the Barbican audience on its feet

WHEN

12 Sep 2018 – 15 Sep 2018, 19:45 Dur.: 1 hour and 30 mins inc one interval

WHERE

Barbican Theatre
Barbican Centre, Silk Street, London, E2CY 8DS

I INFINITE, Tom Dale Company Review ★★★★★

With the visually stunning I INFINITE the choreographer Tom Dale proved that real and virtual can coexist, complement each other and provide much food for thought

WHEN

16 Oct 2018 – 17 Oct 2018, 19:00 Tues & Wed, 20:30 Tues Dur.: 50 minutes

WHERE

The Place
17 Duke's Road, London, WC1H 9PY

Velvet Petal, Scottish Dance Theatre & CEPRO, Dundee Rep Theatre, July 2016

Review: Scottish Dance Theatre, Velvet Petal ★★★★★

In a relatively rare foray into London, Scottish Dance Theatre enraptured the audience in the Southbank Centre's Purcell Room with Velvet Petal, choreographer Fleur Darkin's reworking of the punk era for the 21st century

WHEN

31 Aug 2018 – 01 Sep 2018, 20:00 Dur.: 2 hours approx

WHERE

Purcell Room
Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, SE1 8XX

Alina Cojucaru as Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty, photo Laurent Liotardo

ENB, The Sleeping Beauty Review ★★★★★

2018 saw the welcome return to the stage of the delightful Romanian ballerina Alina Cojucaru, after the birth of her baby daughter. Her Aurora in ENB's Sleeping Beauty, garnered universal acclaim

WHEN

06 Jun 2018 – 16 Jun 2018, 19:30 matinees Thu 14:00 & Sat 14:30 Dur.: 3 hours including two intervals

WHERE

London Coliseum
WC2N 4ES

Best Dance of 2018

A much loved ballerina returned; the most musical of choreographers brought a Central Asian love story to London after a long absence; hip hop continued to enthuse... 2018 was a good year for dance in London

Matthew Bourne/New Adventures, Swan Lake at Sadler's Wells

Akram Khan, Xenos Review ★★★★★

Shobana Jeyasingh, Contagion Review ★★★★★

Review: Mark Morris Dance Group/Silkroad Ensemble, Layla and Majnun ★★★★★

Ballet British Columbia Review ★★★★★

Semperoper Ballett, All Forsythe Review ★★★★★

Review: Boy Blue, Blak Whyte Gray ★★★★★

I INFINITE, Tom Dale Company Review ★★★★★

Review: Scottish Dance Theatre, Velvet Petal ★★★★★

ENB, The Sleeping Beauty Review ★★★★★

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TO CONTINUE TO ENJOY CULTURE WHISPER