Last Updated on January 15, 2026
The Best Dance Shows Coming to London in the New Year.
The London dance season continues with an abundance of shows that range from the sublime to the humorous, from narrative to abstract, and more. There is something for every taste, from beginners to seasoned balletomanes. Here are the highlights:
Table of Contents
The Royal Ballet
The year opens with the reprise of Woolf Works, Royal Ballet choreographer-in-residence Wayne McGregor’s most successful three-act work to date.
Based on Virginia Woolf’s own life and writings, with an especially commissioned score by Max Richter and an impressive collection of creatives, the multi-award-winning Woolf Works draws inspiration from three novels: Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves.
17/01 to 13/02. Full info, casting and tickets here
The most Romantic of all 19th-century ballets, Giselle, returns to the stage in February. It’s the story of the naive peasant girl, who dies of a broken heart when confronted with her aristocratic lover’s deception. In the famous, exacting white Act II, Giselle’s spirit joins the ensemble of vengeful Wilis, but not before forgiving the remorseful Albrecht.
In the long run, the Royal is offering opportunities to up-and-coming young casts, as well as established ones, including one of the most compelling Giselles of all time, Natalia Osipova, who will be partnered by the impressive Cuban guest Patrício Revé.
14/02 to 20/03. Full info, casting and tickets here
Mayerling, one of Kenneth Macmillan’s trio of narrative masterpieces (Manon and Romeo and Juliet are the others), takes to the stage in March.
An extremely powerful account of events leading to the double suicide of the Habsburg Crown Prince Rudolf and his teenage mistress, Maria Vetsera, set amid the splendour, intrigue and corruption of the Austro-Hungarian court, MacMillan’s Mayerling is one of the highlights of The Royal Ballet season.
30/03 to 18/05. Full info, casting and tickets here (general booking opens 07/01)
More Wayne McGregor, this time in a triple bill of abstract works under the umbrella title Alchemies. It includes a brand new work, side by side with the tried and tested Yugen, set to a score by Leonard Bernstein, and Untitled 2023, inspired by the minimalist painter Carmen Herrera.
18/04 to 06/05. Full info, casting and tickets here (general booking opens 07/01)
The Royal Ballet season ends on a sunny note with a reprise of Frederick Ashton’s truly delightful La Fille Mal Gardée, which brightened up its Autumn period. We found it “fresh and enticing” – read our five-star review here.
23/05 to 09. Full info, casting and tickets here (general booking opens 07/01)
All the above on the main stage. The second stage, the Linbury, has a busy season, too. Here are the shows we recommend:
Linbury Theatre
Transatlantic dance takes pride of place with visits from two contrasting American companies:
The exciting Paul Taylor Dance Company returns to London five years after its last visit with two mixed bills, which illustrate its founder’s uniquely original style:
Brandenburgs + Under the Rhythm + Piazzola Caldera
27/01 to 31/01. Full info and tickets here
Concertina + Echo + Esplanade
28/01 to 31/01. Full info and tickets here
Later in the season, Tulsa Ballet, Oklahoma’s premier ballet company, makes its Linbury debut, with Made in America, a triple bill of works by Yuri Possokhov, Nicolo Fonte and Andy Blankenbuehler, all but Possokhov unknown to British audiences.
13/05 to 17/05. Full info and tickets here ((general booking opens 07/01)
After a long absence, we’re excited to welcome back Pierrot Lunaire, Glen Tetley’s surreal, melancholy and mischievous take on the figures of the commedia dell’arte, set to Schoenberg’s eponymous composition.
10/02 to 20/02. Full info and tickets here
RBO
Bow Street
London WC2E 9D
English National Ballet
Nutcracker season over, English National Ballet extends its residency in the London Coliseum with a short run of one of the most extraordinary works in its repertoire: Akram Khan’s reimagining of Giselle. A truly inspired, gut-punching work, Khan’s Giselle transposes the action to an urban modern-day setting and a lockdown at the factory where Giselle works. Her lover is the son of the cruel factory owners. The second Act Wilis, no longer the ethereal white spirits of the traditional Giselle, are bedraggled, malevolent, spine-chilling beings.
You can compare and contrast with The Royal Ballet’s traditional version, which follows later in the year (see above).
15/01 to 18/01. Full info and tickets here
London Coliseum
St Martin’s Lane
London WC2N 4ES
ENB returns to London later in the year, this time to Sadler’s Wells, with Body and Soul, a double bill of contemporary works by two transatlantic choreographers: Canadian Crystal Pite, very much a favourite of London audiences, and American Kameron N. Saunders, better known for his commercial work for pop artists including Taylor Swift.
19/03 to 28/03 Full info and tickets here
ENB’s London dance season ends with Kenneth MacMillan’s sumptuous production of The Sleeping Beauty, the ultimate fairy tale ballet, which comes to the Royal Albert Hall in the summer.
25/06 to 28/06. Full info and tickets here
Royal Albert Hall
Kensington Gore
London SW7 2AP
Sadler’s Wells, Angel
Sadler’s Wells has a packed second half of the season, with its newest house, Sadler’s Wells East, taking on a full complement of shows, alongside the Sadler’s Wells Angel, the Peacock Theatre and the small Lilian Baylis studio.
Here are the highlights.
Two major new works come to Sadler’s Wells Angel:
Scottish Ballet’s Mary Queen of Scots premiered at the Edinburgh Festival to a raft of five-star reviews and a Best International Festival Show award. A major new production, created by choreographer-in-residence Sophia Laplane with James Bonas, it looks at the complex relationship between Mary and her cousin, Elizabeth I of England, amid the court intrigues of those unsettled times.
Its especially commissioned score is played live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra. If you see nothing else at Sadler’s Wells this year, this is the one to aim for.
05/03 to 08/03. Full info and tickets here
Northern Ballet’s Gentleman Jack is a brand new production based on the life of Ann Lister, the Yorkshire woman known as “the first modern lesbian”, who scandalised 19th century society and couldn’t care less. Already a 2022 hit TV series, Gentleman Jack, the ballet was choreographed for the Leeds-based company by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and is performed to live music by Peter Salem.
19/05 to 23/05. Full info and tickets here
The return of BalletBoyz is cause for celebration.
The hugely successful all-male company set up by the original BalletBoyz, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, took a hard knock with Covid and the lockdown, but now it’s back to celebrate its 25th anniversary with Still Pointless. The show includes extracts from key works of the past 25 years, alongside a brand new commission.
12/05 to 16/05. Full info and tickets here
Pina Bausch’s brand of dance-theatre is a firm favourite with London dance audiences, and two of her seminal works feature in Sadler’s Wells’ programming for 2026.
First, her company, Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch, presents Sweet Mambo.
A characteristically expressionist work, Sweet Mambo explores fears, desire, pain and human emotions in startling, often disconcerting, but always deeply theatrical ways.
11/02 to 21/02. Full info and tickets here
Kontakthof, which premiered in 1978, is central to the Bausch oeuvre. Now, in a unique performance, nine of the original cast reprise their roles, side by side with younger dancers, in Kontakthof – Echoes of 78, which is being recreated by former Bausch dancer Meryl Tankard. The piece integrates film projections of original performances by some dancers who are no longer with us.
07/04 to 11/04. Full info and tickets here
For sheer fun, you can’t do better than Carlos Acosta’s version of that old warhorse, Don Quixote.
Acosta’s Don Q – sunny, brimming with colour, cod-Spanish exuberance and virtuoso dancing – is guaranteed to send you home on a high, after following the adventures of the barber Basilio and his lover Kitri, helped along by the hapless, deluded old Don. It returns to Sadler’s Wells this season.
23/04 to 25/04. Full info and tickets here
The American ballerina Tiler Peck, a principal with New York City Ballet, has been described as the best ballerina in the world today. Whether or not this description is fair, the reality is that Peck is a breathtaking dancer, with unsurpassable technique and a glorious, vibrant stage presence. Peck’s personal show, Turn it Out with Peck and Friends, is back in London and is unmissable.
A cast of 14 will perform in a varied programme that includes works by William Forsythe and tap dancer extraordinaire Michelle Dorrance.
12/03 to 14/03. Full info and tickets here
And we mustn’t forget Breakin’ Convention, Sadler’s Wells annual festival of all things Hip Hop. Now in its 22nd year, it’s curated by the indefatigable Jonzi D, and guaranteed to bring youthful energy and plenty of national and international talent to the capital.
Sadler’s Wells Angel
Rosebery Avenue
London EC1R 4TN
Sadler’s Wells East
Russell Maliphant, creator of a unique, hypnotic style of movement, comes to Sadler’s Wells East with Landscapes, a triple bill of very different solos performed by himself, Daniel Proietto and the sublime Alina Cojocaru.
We found In a Landscape and Afterlight, seen at the Coronet earlier in the season, “immersive and mesmerising” and awarded it five stars.
11/03 to 14/03 Full info and tickets here
Alexander Whitley, a choreographer whose work is never less than interesting and feeds off his fascination with science, brings his company to East London with a double bill: Mirror, exploring our relationship with intelligent machines, and his own radical take on Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring.
18/03 to 21/03 Full info and tickets here
Shobana Jeyasingh Dance’s We Caliban is inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, but tells the story through the eyes of Caliban, a minor character in the play. In Jeyasingh’s characteristically thoughtful way, it explores themes of power usurped and regained.
21/04 to 23/04 Full info and ticket here
Sadler’s Wells East
Stratford Walk
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
London E20 2AR
Peacock Theatre
London welcomes back Germán Cornejo’s Tango After Dark – Argentine tango for international consumption, sultry, passionate, acrobatic, rather OTT, but thrilling nonetheless. The company had its last hugely popular run at the Peacock eight years ago; a return was more than overdue.
14/04 to 18/04 Full info and tickets here
Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, Mixed Bill. This comedy company of all male “ballerinas” from the USA, affectionately known as The Trocks, has a loyal following across the world – not surprisingly, because its very funny comedic antics and size 11 pointe shoes mask tremendous talent and a deep love of ballet. Go!
05/05 to 09/05 Full info and tickets here
Peacock Theatre
Portugal Street
London WC2A 2HT
Southbank Queen Elizabeth Hall
Ballet de Lorraine, Acid Gems and A Folia. This two-dozen-strong troupe is one of Europe’s leading contemporary companies, dedicated to pushing boundaries through experimentation. In Acid Gems, choreographer Adam Linder takes inspiration from Balanchine’s Jewels for his own look at the qualities of gemstones. Portugal-born Marco da Silva Ferreira is inspired by an obscure 15th-century fertility ritual for his piece A Folia.
05/03 to 07/03 Full info and tickets here
Colossus. This exploration of the movement of masses looks at the relationship between individual and collective, and marks the UK debut of one of Australia’s leading choreographers, Stephanie Lake. It’s a collaboration between the London School of Contemporary Dance and the Southbank Centre.
25/06 to 27/06 Full info and tickets here
Shechter II, In the Brain. Hofesh Shechter’s youth company is always worth viewing for its unbounded energy, talent and absolute professionalism. Shechter’s new piece, billed as part-rave, part-ritual, should suit these young dancers to a T. A warning: it’ll be loud.
22/07 to 25/07 Full info and tickets here
Southbank Centre
Belvedere Road
London SE1 8XX
Barbican
Boy Blue, Cycles. One of the UK’s top hip hop companies returns to the Barbican with its latest work, Cycles. A hit when it premiered at this venue in 2024, it certainly demands another viewing.
Boy Blue’s fantastic dancers bring rhythm, commitment and extraordinary talent to this work by company founders and directors Michael ‘Mikey J’ Asante and Kenrick ‘H20’ Sandy. Recommended unreservedly.
11/04 and 12/04 Full info and tickets here
Sithunyie, Abel Selaocoe and Friends. Selaocoe is a South African genre-bursting cellist, and in this work, he assembles the talents of choreographer Mthuthuzeli November, formerly of Ballet Black, the Bantu Ensemble and a group of South African artists to channel the deep spirituality of his country.
26/04 Full info and tickets here
Barbican Centre
Silk Street
London EC2Y 8DS
Though by no means an exhaustive list, the selection above includes the key shows coming to London until the end of the current 2025/26 season, attesting to the sheer variety and wealth of the capital’s cultural offer in dance. London Unattached will keep you up to date with all of those, as well as some of the more obscure London dance shows that didn’t make our initial selection.
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