Festive Seasonal Round-up of UK Dance (live and streamed)

[Jan McNulty]

We've received a very useful listing for what is happening between now and the new year:

 

FESTIVE SEASON ROUNDUP 2020
(Nov - Dec)

A-Z
 

Ballo Arthur Pita presents

The Little Match Girl 

17 December to 27 December

Sadler’s Wells, London

For website link, please click here

 

Christmas returns to Sadler’s Wells with performances of Ballo Arthur Pita’s magical family favourite The Little Match Girl, following five hugely successful Christmas seasons in the Lilian Baylis Studio. Based on Hans Christian Andersen’s classic story, director and choreographer Arthur Pita presents a beautiful reimagining of The Little Match Girl through dance, song and Frank Moon’s atmospheric music performed live on stage. On an icy cold Christmas eve in an imaginary Italian town, the little match girl wanders the streets with just one final match to keep her warm. Along her journey she encounters kindness and cruelty, in a timeless fable about family, friendship and hope. The Little Match Girl runs across the festive season from Thursday 17 December to Sunday 27 December, this time in Sadler’s Wells Theatre to allow social distancing for audiences to take place.

 

 

Birmingham Royal Ballet and Birmingham Repertory Theatre present

The Nutcracker at the REP

14 December to 22 December 

Birmingham Repertory Theatre, Birmingham

For website link, please click HERE 

 

This Christmas, the full-length production of The Nutcracker will be shortened to an 80-minute magical experience that will retain all of the most enchanting moments and characters from the classic full-length show. The Nutcracker at The REP will whisk audiences from the heartwarming Christmas Eve party where Fritz and Clara meet the magician Drosselmeyer, to the rousing battle between King Rat and the toy soldiers, through a flurry of Snowflakes and onto a journey to the Kingdom of Sweets where Clara meets the Sugar Plum Fairy and her prince - all accompanied by the cherished Tchaikovsky score performed live by the Royal Ballet Sinfonia.

 

Breakin’ Convention presents

Social DisDancing 

11 December to 12 December
Friday at 7:30pm, Saturday at 2:30pm and 7:30pm

Sadler’s Wells, London 

For website link, please click here

 

Breakin’ Convention takeover Sadler’s Wells Theatre in December, presenting its first live events since lockdown and the cancellation of the 2020 Festival. Hosted by Sadler’s Wells Associate Artist and Breakin’ Convention Artistic Director Jonzi D, Social DisDancing is a mini-festival of new work showcasing the best of hip hop dance. The evening features performances from AIM, the high-energy all female popping crew; a London premiere for Jamaal O’Driscoll, featuring b-boy Marius in a duet exploring duality and mental clarity; and a world premiere from renowned East London company and Breakin’ Convention favourites, Boy Blue. The event will also feature film screenings, including a showing of Jonzi D and jessica Care moore’s recent work, the powerful Our Bodies Back, a riveting dance film that speaks out against anti-Black racism and honours the lived experiences of Black women past and present. Breakin’ Convention Social DisDancing runs Friday 11 – Saturday 12 December 2020. 

 

 

English National Ballet presents:

Nutcracker Delights 

17 December 2020 - 3 January 2021

London Coliseum

For website link, please click HERE 

 

This special version of the Christmas classic sees the Company perform a selection of the ballet’s most popular moments and iconic scenes accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s famous score played live by musicians from English National Ballet Philharmonic.

For more information, please contact Alice Lawley on alice.lawley@ballet.org.uk / 07946541703
 

 

New Adventures presents:

A Christmas Wish 

Release Date week commencing 21 December 

Online (with exclusive clip available to newsletter subscribers) LINK

For website link LINK

 

A Christmas Wish is a short, stirring and poignant film devised and directed by Matthew Bourne of New Adventures most memorable duets from their classic shows including Edward Scissorhands, Cinderella and Nutcracker! performed on the stage of Sadler’s Wells. Featuring New Adventures principal dancers Cordelia Braithwaite, Paris Fitzpatrick, Glenn Graham, Andy Monaghan, Liam Mower, Dominic North and Ashley Shaw, and two of the company’s brightest young talents Harrison Dowzell and Sharol Mackenzie, the duets will vividly animate the space with memories of shows past. As the dancers take a bow to an empty auditorium with it comes a sense of  hope for 2021 when the company will be back on stage in front of their much missed loyal audiences. New Adventures partners once again with TEA Films to bring these beautiful and magical duets to life on film.

 

 

Sadler’s Wells presents:
Sadler’s Wells Global Gala
Saturday 5 December, 7.30pm

For website link, please click here

As this exceptional year draws to a close, Sadler's Wells brings together talented artists and ambassadors from around the world for its first ever virtual fundraising gala, celebrating the beauty and joy of dance. The Sadler’s Wells Global Gala will be broadcast online on Saturday 5 December via YouTube and is free for everyone to enjoy. Featuring performances, sketches and messages from Sadler's Wells global family of artists, audiences can expect to see some familiar faces but perhaps not as they’ve seen them before. Appearances include world-leading dance artists Carlos Acosta, Akram Khan and Natalia Osipova, and Sadler's Wells ambassadors including acclaimed sculptor Antony Gormley and award-winning actor and director Fiona Shaw. Funds raised will be matched and contribute to the full reopening of Sadler's Wells three theatres. 

 

 

Scottish Ballet presents:

The Secret Theatre - A Christmas Special

21 December 2020, 6pm

Available online until Thu 24 Dec 2020

For website link, please click here

 

This Christmas, Scottish Ballet brings the magic of the theatre into homes with the world premiere of its first feature film, The Secret Theatre. Created by CEO/Artistic Director Christopher Hampson and collaborator Lez Brotherston, alongside Co-Screen Directors Jess & Morgs, it follows a young boy as he stumbles into a theatre. It may be empty, but the show will go on as the worlds of the Snow Queen and Sugar Plum Fairy collide and bring it back to life. Starring characters and choreography from the company’s popular festive ballets, The Secret Theatre is set against a score of Rimsky-Korsakov and Tchaikovsky, recorded live by the Scottish Ballet Orchestra.

 

 

The Royal Ballet presents:

The Nutcracker

Friday 11 December - Sunday 3 January 

Tickets: £5 - £100

For website link, please click https://www.roh.org.uk/

 

The Royal Ballet’s much-loved production of The Nutcracker returns in a COVID-safe restaging of Peter Wright’s celebrated two-act production. Opening on Friday 11 December and running until Sunday 3 January there will be 17 magical performances, with tickets available to purchase from Tuesday 1 December.  Enjoy the much-loved elements of this cherished classic, from the magical growing Christmas tree, to the enchanting Dance of the Snowflakes and spectacular duet with the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince in the Kingdom of Sweets. New for The Royal Ballet’s 2020 production is a battle scene between the Nutcracker, the Mouse King and their armies, choreographed by Will Tuckett. Combined with Tchaikovsky's sumptuous score, performed live by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, and charming designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, this classic ballet is not to be missed.

Leading up to this festive treat, The Royal Ballet invites audiences to watch the dancers in a special filmed Insight of The Nutcracker in Rehearsal via the Royal Opera House YouTube channel on Tuesday 1 December at 7pm GMT. This streamed event is part of the Royal Opera House digital Insights programme.
 

 

The Place and Peut-Etre Theatre present:

An interactive performance workshop for primary school children
December 2020

Across primary schools in Camden
After a more than unusual year with too much screen time and not enough play time, The Place and Peut-Être Theatre set out to bring smiles, laughter and live performance back to children around Camden and beyond. In December, (with support from Camden Council),  they will be visiting schools with performative workshops based around Peut-Être’s imaginative lockdown podcast series, Audiomoves, that transport children into different worlds to explore through music and dance. We know how much schools will be missing their usual Christmas theatre trip this year and hope that these workshops bring a little playful magic back into the classroom.