Matthew Bourne's Early Adventures, Sadler's Wells

★★★★ MATTHEW BOURNE'S EARLY ADVENTURES, SADLER'S WELLS Choreographer's young works make up in sparkle what they lack in depth

Choreographer's young works make up in sparkle what they lack in depth

Not every artist attains the kind of status that will allow their early works to be revived – or, when revived, greeted with commercial and critical success. This is something of a shame for those of us with a historical mindset who like seeing where an artist has come from and how they have developed.

Project Polunin, Sadler's Wells

★★ PROJECT POLUNIN, SADLER'S WELLS Can ballet's bad boy live up to the hype?

Can ballet's bad boy live up to the hype?

This is the comeback after the comeback-that-never-was. It's the anticipated full stage ballet after the hugely popular Youtube video. It's the press waiting to see if ballet's bad boy will do something wild. It's the fans waiting to see if Sergei Polunin really will be the second coming (he's often hailed as the modern day Nureyev). Pamela Anderson is in the audience.

Tree of Codes, Wayne McGregor, Sadler's Wells

★★★★ TREE OF CODES, WAYNE MCGREGOR, SADLER'S WELLS  An outstanding collaboration between movement, sound and sight

An outstanding collaboration between movement, sound and sight

Tree of Codes is a work made from a work made from a work. Based on Jonathan Safran Foer's book-form art piece, which is itself based on Bruno Schulz's The Street of CrocodilesWayne McGregor has fashioned a choreographic creation using a triptych of his own.

FLA.CO.MEN, Israel Galván, Sadler's Wells

FLA.CO.MEN, ISRAEL GALVÁN, SADLER'S WELLS Maverick dancer opens annual flamenco festival with a playful jam-session of a show

Maverick dancer opens annual flamenco festival with a playful jam-session of a show

Before this Sadler's Wells Flamenco Festival-opening performance of Israel Galván's show FLA.CO.MEN, my guest wanted to know what the show would be like.

Masurca Fogo, Pina Bausch, Sadler's Wells

MASURCA FOGO, PINA BAUSCH, SADLER'S WELLS Tanztheater Wuppertal in one of their founder's lightweight works

Tanztheater Wuppertal in one of their founder's lightweight works

Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch are at an interesting juncture. Eight years after their eponymous founder died, and over 40 since she took over at Wuppertal, the troupe is reaching a point when, even if Bausch were alive, it would be facing change, as the older dancers in the company - many of whom have been there since the beginning - enter their late 60s.

Darcey Bussell: Looking for Margot, BBC One

★★★ DARCEY BUSSELL, LOOKING FOR MARGOT, BBC ONE Investigating the incandescent, complicated life of the former Margaret Hookham

Investigating the incandescent, complicated life of the former Margaret Hookham

Classical dancers conventionally have the briefest of all performing careers in the arts, knowing from the very beginning that they'll be lucky to have 20 years of performing at the top of their abilities, after at least 10 years training from childhood onwards. But Dame Margot Fonteyn (1919-1991) was a phenomenon, dancing into her sixties, for reasons that this painful and affectionate programme tactfully explored.

The Red Shoes, Sadler's Wells

Matthew Bourne's latest adaptation of a classic is a cineaste's dream

Anyone expecting a knockout punch from Matthew Bourne’s latest creation is in for a let-down. His hotly anticipated take on Powell and Pressburger’s 1948 film, unlike his Swan Lake, is not going to send anyone out into the night weeping into their hankie. Nor is it likely to turn unbelievers into ballet fans, and yet it is probably his best piece of work to date.

Swan Lake/Loch na hEala, Sadler’s Wells

SWAN LAKE/LOCH NA HEALA, SADLER'S WELLS Agony meets ecstasy in radical Irish take on the ballet

Agony meets ecstasy in radical Irish take on the ballet

Booking a ticket for a show devised by Michael Keegan-Dolan has always required an act of faith, and this is no exception. ‘If I say this is a house, it’s a house,” says the evening’s laconic compere, Mikel Murfi, gesturing with his cigarette to three breeze blocks on the floor. And if Keegan-Dolan says this is Swan Lake you’d better believe it and brace yourself for wrenching tragedy.

Conceal/Reveal, Russell Maliphant Company, Messums Barn

CONCEAL/REVEAL RUSSELL MALIPHANT COMPANY Modern dance finds a serene new home in a 13th-century tithe barn

Modern dance finds a serene new home in a 13th-century tithe barn

An inviting gap in the market, a dark, mysterious place, was left beckoning when the dance theatres of Britain cashed in on expensive refurbs in the name of public accessibility. Putting an end to mystique, they homed in on IKEA style, all glass, pale wood and airport foyer briskness. The theatre as a continuum with our office space, blank, unprejudicing, unintoxicating, all about efficiency and the bottom line.