The best dance and ballet shows in January 2026

Akram Khan’s remarkable reinterpretation of Giselle is back on at the Coliseum for a very short run. One of the most interesting takes on a classical ballet to come out of London in the past decade, Khan's electric choreography combines with Vincenzo Lamagna's earthier take on Adolphe Adam's wildly romantic score, played live by English National Ballet Philharmonic.

Gecko’s fantastic dance-theatre production The Wedding is back on in London. Surreal, funny and full of heart, The Wedding takes a poke at the marriage contract, takind the audience on a wild trip through a dystopian world where we are all brides, wedded to society. Part of MimeLondon, this production will be a stripped back imagining of Gecko’s beloved production. 

Each year in January, the Place puts on Resolution, the UK’s biggest festival of emerging dance artists and choreographers. As per usual, this year presents a bold programme of eclectic dance triple bills that spans everything from Manon Servage’s Eclipse – a neoclassical dance performance that fuses queer club culture with ballet, to ZhouXin Theater’s Doom Box – a live performance and installation that uses the ‘blank body’ as inspiration.

The ultimate sadgirl ballet is returning to the Royal Opera House in winter 2026. Wayne McGregor’s sweeping and expressive ballet exploring the life and work of Virginia Woolf, accompanied by Max Richter’s haunting original score, has been one of the Royal Ballet’s big hitters over the past decade. First staged in 2015, the dance triptych inspired by extracts from Mrs Dalloway, Orlando and The Waves picked up an Olivier award for best dance production. 

Yorke Dance Project, founded by Yolande Yorke-Edgell and based between London and Los Angeles, celebrates the best of American and British modern ballet. In the company’s latest production the world premieres of new creations by Christopher Bruce and Liam Francis will arrive at the Linbury Theatre, alongside pieces that pay homage to Martha Graham, Robert Cohan and Bella Lewitzky. The mixed bill will include a work set to to the music of Leonard Cohen (Bruce’s Troubadour (Epitaph)), and a piece that celebrates 100 years of Martha Graham’s company (Deep Song). 

Technically, Infinitie Bodies is a dance exhibition rather than a live show, however, Wayne McGregor’s dancers are in residence at this totally hypnotic installation exploring the relationship between machines and the body in the work of the virtuoso choreographer. Dancers will be performing at random times throughout the exhibition’s run.