This really isn't a week for indulging in lots of dance shows; April is settling into a much calmer pace, which means that there's only two shows to recommend seeing this week.


Royal Ballet - Sweet Violets / Carbon Life / Polyphonia: 10 & 12 April (to 23 April)
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=18146 (returns & day tickets only)
Trailer: youtu.be/R3vHgPUGN1Y

This triple bill has been eagerly anticipated, with much discussion about it in the press, although it hasn't entirely lived up to expectations. Nevertheless, it's a great triple bill, especially if you're new to the Royal Ballet - the performance on 10 April features no fewer than 12 principal dancers.

Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia was originally created for New York City Ballet so is ideal for Balanchine fans, with its pure neoclassical content. Sweet Violets is rising star Liam Scarlett's first narrative ballet, and explores the world of artist Walter Sickert at the time of the Jack the Ripper murders. The triple bill concludes with Carbon Life, an unexpectedly impressive new work from Wayne McGregor, with music by Mark Ronson, costumes by Gareth Pugh and live vocals by a range of well-known artists.

It's not perfect, and it's - unusually for a triple bill - sold out, but it's definitely worth seeing if you can grab a ticket.


A Celebration of Bob Lockyer: 13 April
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/12878/whats-on/a-celebration-of-bob-lockyer.html

Bob Lockyer has been described as “one of the great heroes of British dance”, and on the occasion of his 70th birthday, five of the country’s outstanding dance artists – Richard Alston, Mark Baldwin, Siobhan Davies, Wayne McGregor and Monica Mason – will be co-presenting an evening of original choreography as a tribute to Bob Lockyer’s life and career.

The evening will feature new works by Richard Alston and Mark Baldwin among other emerging choreographers.