'Still Life' at the Penguin Cafe

Inspired by Nikolai Gogol’s 1836 play The Inspector General, Revisor is part risky satire, part choreographed lip-synch and all urgent warning of unchecked power. When a lowly government employee arrives in town to revise some legal documents, he is mistaken for a high-powered official and spoiled with attention.

The Artist proposes to the distrustful and skeptical Producer the staging of a new ballet starring… swans? What is the story? That of Prince Siegfried and his love for the beautiful Odette, victim of the spell cast by the evil sorcerer Rothbart, an enchantment that turns her and her friends into swans when the light of day tears the dark shadows of night. (The Norwegian National Opera and Ballet, April 26th, 2014.)

When everyone in town falls under the spell of charismatic cosmetic surgeon Doctor Coppelius, feisty Swan must act to save her sweetheart Franz, before his heart is used to spark life into Coppelia – the ‘perfect’ robot-woman the Doctor has created.

Going to see Nutcracker with the whole family has been a tradition in other countries for many years. Now it is a tradition in the Netherlands as well. It became apparent that the Netherlands had also adopted this tradition in 1996, when the Dutch National Ballet presented its own version of the famous fairytale ballet. It is a magical production that has won the hearts of more than 250,000 people to date. Choreographers Toer van Schayk and Wayne Eagling created a Nutcracker for the children and adults of today. It is more dynamic and exciting, and less sweet than usual. They also chose to give a Dutch twist to their interpretation of the story, with skaters on the canals and a living room that transforms into a snowy forest. Unlike the original story, the production by Eagling and Van Schayk (who also designed the delightful sets and costumes) does not take place on Christmas Eve in a German town, but during St. Nicholas celebrations in Amsterdam, around 1810.

The turbulent life of the Dutch spy and dancer Mata Hari is at the heart of this large-scale ballet production by Dutch National Ballet. As the exotic, mysterious Mata Hari, she became one of the most famous dancers of her day. She travelled throughout Europe and had a network of lovers everywhere, which made her an ideal spy during World War I. She was accused – rightly or wrongly – of being a double agent, and she died in front of a French firing squad in 1917.

Don Quichot – an audience favourite of prestigious companies worldwide – is a dazzling display of high spirits, virtuosity and Spanish temperament. The flamboyant leaps, dizzying pirouettes and crisp pointe work that are standard features of the production give the performers every opportunity to show off their technical prowess. But at the same time, the comic story based on Cervantes’ masterpiece makes strong demands on the dancers’ acting abilities.

Created by Crystal Pite and Jonathon Young, the award-winning Betroffenheit is a boundary-stretching hybrid between theatre and dance that explores the psychological states of trauma, grief and addiction.

Count Albrecht falls in love with a peasant girl, Giselle. When Albrecht's identity is revealed, Giselle dies of a broken heart. Giselle is summoned from the grave by the evil Queen Myrtha and the lovers are reunited one last time.