Romeo + Juliet

The London premiere of Matthew Bourne's Romeo + Juliet took place this week at Sadler's Wells with Cordelia Braithwaite and Paris Fitzpatrick in the title roles. The action takes place in the Verona Institute where Tybalt, a monster guard, abuses his charges and terrifies them with his gun. The official press night on 9 August was stopped in Act I when Matthew Bourne came on to the stage to explain that Reece Causton had been injured and that Ben Brown - due to perform Mercutio later in the run - was hot-footing it back to the theatre. The cast included Jackson Fisch as Balthasar (Mercutio's boyfried), Harrison Dowzell as Benvolio, Matt Petty and Daisy May Kemp as Senator and Mrs Montague and Kemp who doubles as the Rev. Bernadette Laurence. More INFO

Shale Wagman

Shale Wagman made history in July when he performed James in La Sylphide with the Mariinsky Ballet in St Petersburg - the youngest dancer to be invited to dance a principal role as a guest artist with the company. In this recent interview in London, he talks about his experiences in St Petersburg and explains why he is moving on from English National Ballet, which he joined last summer on graduation from the Académie Princesse Grace, after one year...

DANCE EUROPE
on Vimeo

Dance Europe has a new Vimeo channel and our first video, Dansers van Morgen, features the Dutch National Ballet Academy. The video includes interviews with the Academy's director Ernst Meisner, who talks about the ballets chosen for this year's end-of-year performance; Emma Mardegan, who dances the lead in Paquita; and Gene Goodman and Philippe Magdelijns, who both dance in Wayne McGregor's Atomos.