Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre
The superb dancers of America’s “rainbow company” return for a UK-wide tour with a repertory that shows the influence of recently appointed director Robert Battle. While the company still performs its signature classic, Revelations, a more neoclassical influence has been introduced in works by Christopher Wheeldon and Aszure Barton and there’s a powerful hip-hop fusion piece by Rennie Harris.
• 6 to 17 September, Sadler’s Wells, London. Box office: 020-7863 8000. Then on UK tour until 19 October.
English National Ballet: Giselle
After the powerfully imagined Dust, with which Akram Khan began his artistic relationship with ENB, the choreographer deepens the association with a new and radically reinvented version of Giselle. Working in collaboration with composer Vincenzo Lamagna and dramaturg Ruth Little, Khan promises a very 21st-century interpretation of the familiar romantic tragedy of love, betrayal and redemption.
• 23 September to 1 October, Palace theatre, Manchester. Box office: 0603-668 5588. Then on UK tour until 19 November.
Dance Umbrella
This year’s programme develops the jauntily experimental spirit introduced by artistic director Emma Gladstone three years ago. Among its most intriguing works are Unknown Pleasures, a programme in which the identities of its five contributing choreographers remain hidden from the audience; a new work by Jérôme Bel, created for three different London locations, including the Tanks at Tate Modern; and a performance by Aditi Mangaldas, one of India’s new wave of Kathak choreographers.
• 20 to 22 October, Barbican, London. Box office: 020-7638 8891. Dance Umbrella runs from 7 to 22 October, at various venues in London.
Royal Ballet: Wayne McGregor Mixed Bill
The Royal Ballet pays tribute to McGregor’s first decade as the company’s resident choreographer, with a full evening devoted to his work. The revival of his 2012 piece Carbon Life might be controversial, but also on the programme is a new ballet set to a specially commissioned score by Steve Reich, plus a performance of Chroma, with a fascinating cast that combines dancers from the Royal with those from the Alvin Ailey dance company, who acquired the work for their repertory three years ago.
• 10 to 19 November, Royal Opera House, London. Box office: 020-7304 4000.
Birmingham Royal Ballet: The Tempest
BRB have dedicated much of their programming this year to the Shakespeare 400 celebrations, and they conclude with David Bintley’s new version of The Tempest. It comes with a new score by Sally Beamish, designs by Rae Smith (who worked on Bintley’s version of The Prince of the Pagodas) and sequences of aerial dance that augment Bintley’s own classical choreography.
• 1 to 8 October, Birmingham Hippodrome. Box office: 0844-338 5000. Then on UK tour until 29 October.
