If you only see one dance show this year, you need wait no longer: Nederlands Dans Theater 2 are here at last! The superlative Ballet Black continue their New Season performances in the Linbury Studio, while upstairs in the Main House, Alina Cojocaru's performance in Romeo & Juliet is not to be missed. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to see all three shows this week!


Highlights

Nederlands Dance Theater 2: 6 - 9 March
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Nederlands-Dans-Theater-2-Mixed-Bill

NDT2, Nederlands Dans Theater's offshoot for dancers aged 17 - 23, finally makes a very long overdue return to London, with their first full-length programme since 2007. (Both NDT1 and NDT2 toured in 2010 as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations; the "youngsters" completely stole the show.) These dancers are technically brilliant, and the works selected for them perfectly showcase their speed, agility, stamina and technique - surpassed by few. The works in this triple bill include Jiří Kylián’s award-winning Gods and Dogs, Paul Lightfoot's Passe-Partout and a work by NDT Associate Artist Alexander Ekman.

If you're not in London, or if you fancy some weekends away, then you're in luck, as NDT2 will be touring around the country till the end of the month presenting a variety of other works. Details can be found here: www.danceconsortium.com/tour_details.aspx?ID=12&ResultList=1


Ballet Black: to 7 March
Linbury Studio, Royal Opera House
Tickets & details (returns only): www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17971

One of the country's best neoclassical ballet companies, Ballet Black continues their run of shows at Royal Opera House. Celebrating the end of last year's 10-year anniversary tour, their New Season features quirky new works by Royal Ballet's Jonathan Watkins and Rambert Dance Company's Jonathan Goddard, while Martin Lawrance's and Christopher Hampson's works show this small company at their best. If you're new to ballet or curious about ballet, this programme is not to be missed!


Royal Ballet: Romeo & Juliet: to 31 March
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17623

One of the hottest tickets in ballet is for Alina Cojocaru's and Johann Kobborg's Romeo & Juliet on Wednesday; their performance on Saturday had many members of the audience complaining that they perform too rarely in London, and Saturday's performance reminded us of why Alina Cojocaru is so perfect in this role. Despite lively performances from all of the cast members, you'll be heartbroken and speechless by the end.

Other performances this week include Steven McRae/Roberta Marquez on 8 March, Melissa Hamilton/Rupert Pennefather for the matinée on the 10th, and Lauren Cuthbertson/Federico Bonelli (replacing the renegade Sergei Polunin) in the evening of the 10th.


Also on:

Royal Ballet: The Dream / Song of the Earth: 5 March
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/whatson/production.aspx?pid=17626

Following the Royal Ballet's mid-season break, this is the final performance of this double bill featuring Ashton's adaptation of A Midsummer's Night Dream, followed by MacMillan's sombre interpretation of Mahler's song cycle. Full of entertaining twists and an aerodynamic Puck, The Dream is highly enjoyable to watch, especially with the perfectly-cast Steven McRae as Oberon. Song of the Earth is beautiful and exquisite, with Chinese influences detectable in the choreography and music. Carlos Acosta performs the Messenger of Death role beautifully - what more persuasion do you need?


Scottish Dance Theatre: 9 & 10 March
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/12130/whats-on/scottish-dance-theatre.html

The dance world was shocked when SDT's director Janet Lewis announced that she would be stepping down in order to become the new Principal at Northern School of Contemporary Dance. This programme of four works has been described as perfectly summing up her vision for this youthful company, mixing diversity with experimentation.


For the adventurous:

London Ballet Company: Olympic Dream: 6 & 7 March
Bridewell Theatre
Tickets & details: stbridefoundation.org/bridewelltheatre/eveningperformance.html?eventId=95

We noticed this listed online and thought we'd mention for any intrepid balletgoers out there. Olympic Dream is a two-act ballet tracing the evolution of the Olympics, performed by an enthusiastic but little-known ballet company.