Flamenco Festival London
The Wells’s annual showcase of flamenco dance opens with its usual brio and a gala showcase of the art form’s leading dancers, which includes the charismatic Antonio Canales and rising talent Jesús Carmona (Mon to Wed). Elsewhere, performances come from Eva Yerbabuena, with the return of her work ¡Ay! (23 & 24 Feb), and Ballet Flamenco de Andalucía (Fri & 21 Feb), which celebrates the highlights of its 20-year history. New trends in flamenco are opened up in a double bill from Ballet Nacional de España (26 to 28 Feb), especially with Antonio Najarro’s eclectic new work Suite Sevilla.
Sadler’s Wells, EC1, Mon to 1 Mar
Phoenix Dance Theatre, On tour
The ever-resourceful Leeds-based company tour the UK with a programme of new and revived works. Artistic director Sharon Watson has cleverly picked up Caroline Finn, winner of the New Adventures choreographer award, whose latest work Bloom is a black comedy about life and love. Watson herself pursues her interest in combining science and dance in TearFall, taking the complex chemistry of human tears as the starting point for a meditation on the logic of our different emotional states. Also in the programme are two works by Christopher Bruce, including new offering Shadows, which explores the conflicts embedded within human societies.
