Whilst performing at Auckland Arts Festival in Natalia Osipova’s show, Sergei Polunin gave a ballet workshop to young male ballet dancers from New Zealand.

Curious to see whether ballet masterclasses take place upside down down under? Click the picture above to see a slideshow of pics from the class.

All photo credit: Candice Whitmore

Last week Natalia Osipova and friends returned to Sadler’s Wells stage with performances running all week dazzling crowds of all ages. Older ballet fans enjoyed her leaps and spins, whilst younger children waited outside stage door for autographs and threw flowers at the stage.

The triple bill opens with Arthur Pita’s Run Mary Run, before Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui’s absorbing Qutb – danced with James O’Hara and Jason Kittelberger, and closes with Russell Maliphant’s dazzling Silent Echo.

If you missed this in London then fly to New York where the show is on at New York City Center in November.

Photo credit: Bill Cooper

Last week saw the whole of Sadler’s Wells totally transformed into an interactive installation of lights, sounds, and videos – but no people. And by the whole of Sadler’s Wells – I mean the whole, with backstage areas, the control room, wardrobe, and even under the stage open to the public to explore.

It was a tremendous success as crowds and crowds of people headed from Michael Hulls’ ‘Lightspace’ on stage through Nitin Sawhney’s ‘Indelible’ before finishing at Lucy Carter’s ‘Hidden’. Accompanying the journey were videos by Siobhan Davies and David Hinton and Russell Malliphant.

The press also had a great time with The Guardian describing No Body as ‘a radiant choreography of light and sound’.

Want to see more photos from No Body? Click here to see our storify with some of the best photos taken by the public.

Photo credit: Heathcliff O’Malley

Last week saw Sylvie’s last ever performance in her home country France with four performances in a ram-packed Théâtre des Champs-Elysées. These came to an emotional climax on the last night when the audience gave Life in Progress a twenty-one minute standing ovation. Coincidentally, this is the same length of time as ‘Bye’ – the last piece in the show. During the standing ovation Sylvie was joined on stage by Claude Bessy (Sylvie’s past ballet teacher), Nicolas La Riche, and Guillaume Gallienne. You can see an excerpt of this here.

Next up for Life in Progress is the Asia tour, where it will be performed in Taipei, Beijing, Singapore, and Shanghai. For further information click here or check the blog and read about it here.

It was all glitz and glamour at Koko Camden last week for the Latin UK Awards (LUKAS). Described by Carlos Acosta as “the hottest event in the Latin diary”, the LUKAS are an annual awards ceremony to honour the contributions of over a million Latin American, Spanish, and Portuguese residents to British life.

And this year who better to present the awards for dance than Sadler’s Wells’ Producing and Touring team?  Executive producer Suzanne Walker and producer Sandra Castell-Garcia announced the winners adding their own charisma to the celebration of Britain’s diverse and lively Latin cultures.

Winners included Tango Fire at The Peacock, starring Nikito & Gisela of m¡longa fame, for the best theatre production of the year. See a full list of winner’s here.

Photo credit: Patricia Cuenca

Varmints headed up to Scotland as part of its regional UK tour. Up first was Eden Court Inverness where it was performed twice. The first performance for school kids was met with ‘whoops’, gasps, and joining in. Especially when New Wave Associate and choreographer Wilkie Branson got everyone doing the b-boy moves at the end.

After Inverness, Varmints went to Glasgow. Varmints was performed as part of Dance International Glasgow at the Beacon Arts Centre, where it was listed by Glasgow’s STV as one the events highlights.

Check out the picture above to see the Varmints set in the back of the lorry travelling between Scotland’s highlands to lowlands.

Russell Maliphant’s Still Current visited Germany and Austria at the end of April. First stop was the Burghof theatre Lörrach. The performance enraptured the crowd who were treated to an insightful post show discussion following the show.

Next up for Russell Maliphant Company was Linz’s Posthof: a one time heritage-listed farm and now a theatre. Here, Still Current dazzled the audience with its combination of award-winning and brand new solos and duets accompanied by Michael Hull’s masterful lighting. At the end of the show the Linz audience broke into a great thunderous applause.

Sadler’s Wells’ producing and touring efforts were formally recognised yesterday at the UK Theatre Awards as they were jointly awarded the Renee Stepham award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre 2014 alongside Shakespeare’s Globe.
Executive Producer Suzanne Walker (far left) collected the accolade which was presented by Anita Dobson at the ceremony at London’s Guild Hall on Sunday 19 October.

The award recognises the vast amount of touring the Sadler’s Wells’ productions have done to UK venues over the last year and the efforts they have made to reach out to new audiences and form new partnerships.

Well done everyone!

Sadler’s Wells has been nominated for the Renee Stepham Award for Best Presentation of Touring Theatre at the 2014 UK Theatre Awards!

In the last year, Sadler’s Wells has toured six productions to 35 UK venues and one major music festival – the Waterfront stage at Latitude. 

Shows toured include Breakin’ Convention, Made at Sadler’s Wells, 6000 miles away, milonga, Jonzi D’s Lyrikal Fearta, Russell Maliphant’s Still Current and the National Youth Dance Company’s double bill by Akram Khan.
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Ever wondered what happens when a group of dancers goes on tour? Wondered where in the world Sadler’s Wells takes it’s work? Well, now you can find out! Stay tuned for updates from Sadler’s Wells from wherever they are in the world!

For a full touring diary, see www.sadlerswells.com/touring