SHARIF AFIFI (2023 Olivier nominee: The Band’s Visit (Donmar Warehouse) stars in LOST DOG’s award-winning, spectacularly popular, critically acclaimed one-man take on Milton’s epic poem: ‘Paradise Lost (lies unopened beside me)’.
February 6 and 7 – Chichester Minerva Theatre
March 15 to April 5 – London, Battersea Arts Centre
(Tues-Sat each week)
‘PARADISE LOST…’ is written by Ben Duke and co-directed by Ben Duke and Lucy Morrison.
‘Paradise Lost is a work that leaves you stunned. It rattles along at a reckless pace, seeming to have no direction then hits the target with blinding accuracy. Sharif Afifi manages to slip betwixt and between the characters, juggling the humour and the deadly serious with great dexterity in a performance that is a tour de force.’ (Seeing Dance/Maggie Foyer)
‘PARADISE LOST (lies unopened beside me)’ is a one-man staging of John Milton’s epic poem Paradise Lost combining theatre, comedy and movement. Written by Lost Dog’s award-winning Artistic Director Ben Duke and co-directed by Ben with Lucy Morrison, Associate Director to the Royal Court, this is an often witty, sometimes acerbic, always observational journey through the story of the creation of everything condensed into 70 minutes.
Originally performed by Ben Duke all over the UK to the delight of packed audiences and critics alike, this new production, starring actor Sharif Afifi, follows a sellout autumn 2024 tour with spring dates in 2025.
Sharif Afifi is a London-based, Olivier Award nominated actor whose theatre credits include The Magician’s Elephant (Royal Shakespeare Company), We Live in Cairo (American Repertory Theater, Boston, USA), On Your Feet! (UK tour), Hadestown (National Theatre), Lockerbie (BBC/Netflix).
Sharif says: ‘I’m so excited to be a part of Paradise Lost… Its themes of creation and surrendering to all the struggles that come with that feel incredibly timely. It’s such a full circle moment for me personally to be revisiting dance in this way while getting to tackle a new challenge as an actor. What better way to do that than on your own on a stage…with nowhere to hide!’
For information click here.
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NEW ENGLISH BALLET THEATRE make their debut at the LONDON HANDEL FESTIVAL – March 27, 28, 29 2025 at SHOREDITCH TOWN HALL, 380 Old St, London EC1V 9LT.
NEW ENGLISH BALLET THEATRE are delighted to announce the premiere of the award-winning choreographer – and First Soloist of the Royal Ballet – Valentino Zucchetti’s ‘TALES OF APOLLO and HERCULES’ at the London Handel Festival in March.
Valentino’s piece explores the tumultuous lives of the mythical half-brothers in two pieces. ‘Apollo e Dafne’ is in the first half of the programme, and ‘The Choice of Hercules’ is in the second half.
The renowned conductor, director, and baritone Thomas Guthrie joins Valentino in creating a spellbinding evening of mythical storytelling through music and dance. London Handel Festival favourites La Nuova Musica together with their conductor David Bates join a cast of acclaimed soloists for this original Handel production.
Karen Pilkington-Miksa MBE (Founder and Artistic Director): Karen Pilkington-Miksa MBE is the Founder and Artistic Director of New English Ballet Theatre. Karen trained as a dancer in Washington DC and performed with Seattle Ballet before moving to London as a freelance choreographer and performer. She created a small touring company for festival performances, choreographed for Opera North, the BBC, and various ballet conservatories and established a ballet school.
Karen founded New English Ballet Theatre in 2010 to produce new commissions that represent the versatility and significance of ballet. NEBT’s shows have gained increasing critical and audience acclaim, and, under Karen’s visionary leadership, have been directly responsible for developing and directing the careers of dozens of dancers, choreographers and young creative talents. The company specifically commissions and produces original and entertaining works of dance, choreography and design in order to present ballet as a relevant, contemporary and vital art form for twenty-first century audiences.
NEBT has performed original works of neo-classical and contemporary ballet in London at the Linbury Theatre (Royal Opera House), Sadler’s Wells theatres (Lilian Baylis and Peacock), in Birmingham at the Crescent Theatre, in Hornchurch at the Queen’s Theatre, the Severn Theatre in Shrewsbury and at the Alban Arena in St Albans. The company has also performed at the Grange Festival, the Cheltenham Music Festival, and Latitude and in 2024 performed at Melissa Hamilton’s Grand Ballet Gala in Belfast and at Senlis Mène la Danse in Paris, France.
Valentino Zucchetti is First Soloist of the Royal Ballet in London. An award-winning dancer and choreographer his 2020 ballet Scherzo for The Royal Ballet received the South Bank Sky Arts Award for Dance. His ballet Anemoi created for the main stage of the Royal Opera House won the Critics’ Circle National Dance Award for Best Classical Choreography in 2022. For NEBT, Valentino created Orbital Motion, which was part of NEBT’s 2013, 2014 and 2015 seasons, Enticement’s Lure (2016) and Firth of Fifth (2023).
NEBT commissioned Valentino to create a new work, Into the Light, for Melissa Hamilton’s Grand Ballet Gala in Belfast in October 2024. ‘Into the Light’ had its premiere at the gala and was performed by Melissa, who is also First Soloist of the Royal Ballet, with Jose Alves and Jerome Anthony Barnes.
As a performer he has worked at the Gate Theatre (I am Falling), The National Theatre of Scotland (Dolls), Hofesh Shechter Company (Political Mother) and Punchdrunk (Faust).
For more information click here.
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BALLET NIGHTS’ first UK show of 2025 is on sale now! – APRIL 1 at Cadogan Hall, 5 Sloane Terrace, London SW1X 9DQ (Sloane Square tube)
BALLET NIGHTS 007 presents ‘PILLARS & PIONEERS’
BALLET NIGHTS – the critically acclaimed, ground-breaking programme of ballet, contemporary dance, tap and much more – returns to London’s CADOGAN HALL on April 1, 2025. The seventh iteration of Ballet Nights – named, appropriately, 007 – will present ‘Pillars & Pioneers’ featuring world-class performers, emerging artists, new creations, legacy works, and, of course, live music.
Artistic Director Jamiel Devernay-Laurence will continue with his new tradition of uniquely compered evenings featuring:
MATTHEW BALL & MAYARA MAGRI Principals of The Royal Ballet
VICTOR CAIXETA Former Principal of Dutch National Ballet and World Star
MARA GALEAZZI Legend of The Royal Ballet
RICHARD ALSTON’S ‘ROUGH CUT’ Legendary British Contemporary Dance Choreographer
BALLETX UK debut of Philadelphia’s leading contemporary ballet company
MICHAEL BOCHMANN Virtuoso Violinist & Music Education Entrepreneur
VIKTOR ERIK EMANUEL Ballet Nights House Concert Pianist
BLACBRIK Nahum McLean, Darius Drooh
Says Devernay-Laurence: ‘‘Pillars & Pioneers’ was chosen as the name of our next Cadogan Hall show to reflect the mix of established, legendary and legacy artists featured on the programme. We’re talking about legendary names such as Richard Alston, Mara Galeazzi and Eric Gauthier alongside pioneering new voices including The Royal Ballet’s Matthew Ball and modern dance sensation BlacBrik. And we’re absolutely thrilled to welcome BalletX from Philadelphia in their UK premiere. Since our first sellout performance at Cadogan Hall in September 2024 we have started to establish the Ballet Nights brand abroad with masterclasses and performances in Brisbane, Australia in September 2024 and with a performance schedule booked for Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in February 2025. In 2025 we will be performing more shows in London and around the UK so keep an eye on balletnights.com!’
Click here for more information.
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SERENDIPITY INSTITUTE FOR BLACK ARTS AND HERITAGE proudly presents: LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2025 Leicester’s action-packed annual dance festival – April 29 (launch) and May 12 – 17 (programme).
For information click here.
Serendipity Institute for Black Arts and Heritage this year celebrates the 15th anniversary of the ever-popular LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2025 (LDIF25), founded, curated and produced by its dynamic Artistic Director Pawlet Brookes MBE.
LDIF25 presents a rich and varied programme exploring the theme Intersection: Diasporic Dialogues. The programme features trailblazing dancers and companies who have forged new movement vocabularies and who champion the voices of the African, African Caribbean, and Latin American diaspora.
LDIF25 will launch on April 29, International Dance Day, with live performances and refreshments at Serendipity’s spanking new venue at 8 Bowling Green Street, Leicester LE1 6AT.
May 12 opening performance: LDIF25’s official opening night is May 12 at Leicester’s beautiful fourteenth-century Guildhall when the highly acclaimed Brazilian company CIA PE NO MUNDO showcase their unique style of dance language which fuses Afro-indigenous Brazilian expressions and contemporary dance. Cia Pé no Mundo return to LDIF25 following their sellout show at last year’s festival.
May 16 and 17 – closing performances: The festival culminates in two headline performances on May 16 and 17 at Curve Leicester by BALLET HISPANICO, America’s biggest Latinx/Latine/Hispanic cultural organization. Ballet Hispánico will perform their electrifying reimagining of CARMEN, a contemporary take on Bizet’s beloved classic. The sensual choreography fuses contemporary dance with nods to the Spanish paso doble, flamenco and movement of the Latin American Diaspora and is choreographed by Gustavo Ramírez Sansano, whose work, 18+1, featured as part of Ballet Hispánico’s repertoire at LET’S DANCE INTERNATIONAL FRONTIERS 2022.
May 12 to 17 – programme: From May 12 to 17 delegates and audiences can access a packed programme of performances by international superstars as well as fast-rising UK companies, choreographers, and soloists. There will be workshops and masterclasses run by participating companies and individuals, networking opportunities and film screenings as well as time to meet some of the world class performers and dance practitioners who are attending LDIF in increasing numbers.
‘Since I started Let’s Dance International Frontiers 15 years ago,’ says LDIF Artistic Director Pawlet Brookes MBE who is also Artistic Director of Serendipity, ‘it has become the UK’s leading platform for Black dance. Its reputation has grown steadily over the years and it’s now a huge, popular draw for audiences and artists from all over the UK and from many parts of the world.
‘Over the years we’ve presented many premieres by an incredible portfolio of dancers and choreographers based in London, Leeds, Manchester, Leicester and Birmingham and from countries near and far including Cuba, South America, France, Norway, Japan, Australia, the USA, Guadeloupe, Jamaica, and more! LDIF is truly an internationally recognised dance festival and every time I travel to dance festivals in other countries there’s someone who knows who we are, someone who’s performed with us over the years and someone who wants to!
‘This year I’m delighted that we’re welcoming the return of two companies who have made their mark with LDIF audiences in the last couple of years. Cia Pé no Mundo, whose work we platformed in our showcase programme ‘Signatures’ last year, return for a full evening’s show at the Guildhall on our opening night, May 12. And I’m thrilled to welcome the return of the mighty Ballet Hispánico from New York who will thrill audiences with their re-imagining of ‘Carmen’ at the Curve on May 16 and 17. We’ll be hosting masterclasses with dancers, choreographers, artistic directors and educators while Signatures and the Black British Dance Platform will showcase new works by UK and international artists in an evening of refreshing and innovative performance.’