Brighton Festival 2017: 12 Free Events

BRIGHTON FESTIVAL 2017: 12 FREE EVENTS Brighton Festival CEO Andrew Comben's guide to this year's best free stuff

Brighton Festival CEO Andrew Comben's guide to this year's best free stuff

The Brighton Festival, which takes place every May, is renowned for its plethora of free events. The 2017 Festival is curated by Guest Director Kate Tempest, the poet, writer and performer, alongside Festival CEO Andrew Comben who’s been the event's overall manager since 2008 (also overseeing the Brighton Dome venues all year round). This year the Festival’s theme is “Everyday Epic”.

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.

Balanchine's Jewels, Royal Ballet

★★★★ BALANCHINE'S JEWELS, ROYAL BALLET A glittering, precise account of a 20th century classic

A glittering, precise account of a 20th century classic

Balanchine's Jewels is catnip to dedicated ballet lovers.

Crystal Pite, Flight Pattern, Royal Ballet

★★★★ CRYSTAL PITE, FLIGHT PATTERNS, ROYAL BALLET Extraordinary première by Canadia choreographer explores refugee experience through dance

Extraordinary première by Canadian choreographer explores refugee experience through dance, plus Christopher Wheeldon and David Dawson

Can thirty minutes of contemporary ballet say something meaningful about the modern refugee crisis? It has been the surprise of the season to find myself asking this question not once, but twice, at the Royal Ballet.

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.

DVD: Reset

Benjamin Millepied at the helm of the Paris Opera Ballet - what really happened?

The curious thing about Reset, the documentary that tracks the making of a new ballet by Benjamin Millepied at the Paris Opera Ballet, is that it clearly had another agenda.

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.