Between Big Dance and everything else, this week is absolutely jampacked full of dance, and you may well have a hard time squeezing everything in. To make it easier for you, we're listing events per day, as it's the best way to keep track of them all! We heartily recommend New Movement Collective - and for the rest, see below....

(Disclaimer: this roundup has been written under the influence of a migraine and lots of painkillers).


Monday

Pina Bausch: Wiesenland - 9 July
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details (last-minute returns only): www.sadlerswells.com/show/Pina-Bausch-World-Cities-2012-Wiesenland

Unthinkable even a few short weeks ago, but the festival of Pina Bausch's works has finally come to an end, with Wiesenland, a somewhat unHungarian exploration of Hungary but with an amazing enormous hedge covering the back wall. As ever, expect whimsy, theatre and beautiful dancing in varying quantities - but be warned that several of her dancers are absent for this final piece.


Dance In Focus: 9 July
City Hall
Tickets & details: www.ballet.org.uk/editorial.php?ref=big-dance-focus

This evening is something special, offering a chance to view dance photography by aspiring photographers working with acclaimed dance photographer Chris Nash, who will then lead a panel discussion exploring the special relationship between dancer and photographer and how to achieve the perfect image.

There will also be a performance by English National Ballet of a new work choreographed by Hubert Essakow, using the photography exhibition as his inspiration. Essakow's works are always worth watching, and as an added bonus, tickets are only £5.

It's also the final week of Chris Nash's exhaustive exhibition at Artsdepot, so make sure you set aside time to trek up there before it's over.
Details: artsdepot.co.uk/event_details.php?sectionid=visual%20arts&eventid=1653&searchid=current


Big Dance: The Big Dance Big Top Tent: 9 July
Grounds of the Old Royal Naval College, Cutty Sark Gardens, Greenwich SE10 9LW
Details: greenwichdance.org.uk/engage/bigdanceevent/the_big_dance_big_top_tent/

There are two events at the Big Tent on Monday, the Family Cabaret from 5pm till 7pm, and then the Cabaret (ages 14 upwards) from 8pm onwards. Both events will be compered by Michael Nunn and William Trevitt of BalletBoyz, with circus acts and live music in addition to the dance performances.

The family cabaret show features several youth dance companies including Quicksilver, Rambert's youth dance company (our reviewer Rachel Vogel is one of the dancers) as well as a performance by English National Ballet.

The evening show will include an extract of Protein Dance's LOL (Lots of Love) and performances by AD Dance Company, Levantes Dance Theatre and English National Ballet.


Grad Show: London Contemporary Dance School - 9 - 13 July
The Place
Tickets & details: www.theplace.org.uk/13925/performance-listings/london-contemporary-dance-school-graduation-performances.html

London Contemporary Dance School's graduate shows continue, offering a mixture of student choreography, commissioned works and Richard Alston's repertoire, eliciting works and performances of a high standard. Saturday's show - kindly broadcast live by The Place on YouTube - presented the two best student works from LC3 (2pm by Tom Peacock and Andrea Dorelli; Opsimath by Michael Kelland) and a fantastic work for the students by Sasha Roubicek. We don't know what the remaining programmes will offer, but we know that most of it will be very good indeed.


Tuesday

New Movement Collective: Casting Traces - 10 - 13 July
Testbed1, Parkgate Road, Battersea, London SW11 4NP
Details: www.newmovement.org.uk/casting-traces.html
Tickets: www.seetickets.com/Tour/NEW-MOVEMENT-COLLECTIVE
Trailer: vimeo.com/43068655

"Dance, architecture, film and specially commissioned music meet to create a world of illusion, mystery and shadow play, where nothing is what it seems. Touching on the popular themes of detective novels and the modern issues of ever-present surveillance, the audience explore a giant paper maze, becoming directly involved with the performance space and influencing the transformation of their surroundings. Projection and live camera feeds enable participants to meet themselves around every corner as they explore the hidden spaces of Testbed 1 – a 650sq metre former dairy in the heart of Battersea."

New Movement Collective is more than a typical dance company: it's a collective of established dancers, many of them current or past dancers with Rambert Dance Company, seeking to challenge the boundaries of dance and performance, working with architects to create new performance spaces for their work. But don't let that put you off or make you think of the stereotypes of experimental dance - New Movement Collective presents brilliant choreography and dancers in an intriguing and refreshing way.


Thursday


C-12 Dance Theatre: The Van Man - 12 July, 1pm & 6.30pm
National Theatre
Details: insideout.nationaltheatre.org.uk/event/the-van-man-c-12-dance-theatre-uk?day=201207121830

C-12 Dance Theatre is an impressive company founded by Middlesex University graduates fusing physical theatre and contemporary dance to create a wide range of striking indoor and outdoor works, notching up acclaim and awards over the years. Having performed Trolleys last weekend at the Greenwich + Docklands International Festival, they now bring their work about a man, a van and a blowup doll to National Theatre's Watch This Space festival. You may have to fight for space, but it's definitely worth watching.


Matthew Bourne's Play Without Words: 12 July - 5 August
Sadler's Wells
Tickets & details: www.sadlerswells.com/show/Matthew-Bournes-Play-Without-Words

Definitely one of Bourne's best works, 'Play Without Words' is a sexy, '60s-set, upstairs/downstairs dance drama, based on Robin Maugham's story 'The Servant' (and the Joseph Losey film of the book). You'll see super-stylish, precision choreography, setting out the complex social mores and sexual desires of a Chelsea couple and their domestic help. Bourne's trademark wit is in evidence, but none of the pantomime mugging seen in some of his other works. Terry Davies's jazzy score sets the scene perfectly and sets come courtesy of Bourne's longtime collaborator Lez Brotherston. (from Time Out).

Play Without Words won the 2003 Olivier Awards for Best Entertainment and Best Theatre Choreographer.


Shobana Jeyasingh Dance Company: TooMortal - 12 - 14 July
St Pancras Parish Church, Euston Rd, NW1 2BA
Tickets & details: www.shobanajeyasingh.co.uk/TooMortal/index.html
Trailer: vimeo.com/43895397

Shobana Jeyasingh's latest work has been created especially to be performed in churches. 'TooMortal' is inspired by the idea of church as a place of enquiry and a place of solace, and responds to the architecture and history of these sacred buildings. Set to a soundscore by Nick Rothwell, aka Cassiel, the six female dancers perform Jeyasingh's trademark movement language - contemporary dance shot through with Indian bharata natyam. (Description from Time Out).


Weekend


Royal Ballet: Metamorphosis: Titian 2012 - 14 - 20 July
Royal Opera House
Tickets & details: www.roh.org.uk/productions/metamorphosis-titian-2012-by-various
Trailer: www.youtube.com/watch?v=z90BeVQiAtA

Dame Monica Mason's final year of directorship finally draws to a close with this specially-commissioned triple bill, which will say a sad farewell to both her and Tamara Rojo on 20 July. Metamorphosis: Titian is a collaboration between the National Gallery and the Royal Opera House, commissioning three renowned artists to create works inspired by Titian paintings, depicting scenes from Ovid's Metamorphosis, in collaboration with a total of seven choreographers: Christopher Wheeldon, Will Tuckett, Liam Scarlett, Jonathan Watkins, Kim Brandstrup, Wayne McGregor and Alastair Marriott.

There will be a free screening in Trafalgar Square on 16 July: let's hope this rain can hold off for one whole evening!


Big Dance: Big Dance Trafalgar Square: 14 July, 12pm (tbc)
Trafalgar Square
Details: www.bigdance2012.com/trafalgar_square.php

Wayne McGregor has spent the last few months creating a new work to be performed at Trafalgar Square as the culmination of this year's Big Dance, to be performed by 1000 dancers from 40 groups from across London. Commissioned films will be shown of Big Dance Beijing and Big Dance Rio as part of the UK’s Big Street Dance Day.


Gwyn Emberton: 14 July (6pm) & 15 July (2pm)
Regent's Canal Festival, Mile End Park, Grove Road/ Burdett Road, London E3

We were very impressed by Gwyn Emberton's performance in Resolution! at The Place earlier this year, so we're welcoming another chance to see him perform - if the rain holds off!


Cloud Dance Festival Corner


Milo Miles Presents: Elysium at Prism - 11 July
Prism Brasserie, Harvey Nichols
Tickets & details: www.harveynichols.com/hnedit/food-and-wine/whats-on-food-wine/prism-london-whats-on/elysium-at-prism/
Interview: www.thisiscabaret.com/milo-miles-here-to-entertain-you/

This July Prism Brasserie will be hosting Elysium, a sensational floorshow, mixing cabaret, burlesque, circus and illusion.

Created and choreographed by Milo Miles, this sophisticated evening looks back to the heyday of cabaret and blends it with contemporary supper club chic in a relaxed and glamorous environment.

With entertainment running uninterruptedly throughout the night you can spend the evening, from cocktail hour to post dinner drinks, enjoying performances from dancers, singers and guest acts.


Ijad Dance Company: In-Finite - 14 July
Rich Mix
Tickets & details: www.richmix.org.uk/whats-on/event/in-finite/
Trailer: vimeo.com/32620005#at=0

In-Finite celebrates cultural identity, exploring collages of untold secrets. Creating harmony between dance, music and visual imagery, IJAD Dance Company will explore the state of flux between knowing and not knowing.

Audiences will witness a work in progress performance of In-Finite, which will be developed into a full work and performed at Rich Mix in Autumn 2012.

Audiences (both in the venue and online) will be encouraged to interact with the performers through social media platforms and this communication will become a part of the piece. The work is an interpretation of the secrets that IJAD has received during an investigation into the relationship between a person, their secrets and the intensity this creates.


The Arts Dance - 15 July
The Arts Theatre
Tickets & details: www.londontheatredirect.com/ballet/1106/Summer-Arts-Theatre--The-Arts-Dance---An-Evening-of-Contemporary-Dance-tickets.aspx

Charlie Dixon Dance Company will be performing Wise Man again, in a one-off evening of contemporary dance alongside other emerging companies including Tom Bowes Dance (Jordan Massarella Dance (his work was recently performed by Verve) will no longer be performing). The Arts Theatre is a very atmospheric venue, rarely used for dance, so this promises to be an interesting evening for all.