BBC Dance

Darcey Bussell and Ore Oduba introduce Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling from the Royal Ballet. Based on the true story of the death of Crown Prince Rudolf and his young mistress Mary Vetsera in 1889, Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb take on these challenging roles in a dark and intense ballet. Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria-Hungary is emotionally unstable and haunted by his obsession with death. He is forced to marry Princess Stephanie. Soon afterwards, his former lover, Marie Larisch, introduces him to a new mistress, Mary Vetsera, a young woman who shares his morbid fascination. At his hunting lodge in the village of Mayerling, Rudolf and Mary form a suicide pact. They make love before Rudolf first shoots Mary and then himself. The royal family desperately covers up the tragedy. Since its premiere in 1978, Mayerling has been one of the most technically and emotionally demanding roles for male dancers, with choreography that pushes the boundaries of classical ballet.

A performance capture of Revisor, the critically acclaimed dance-theatre production created by award-winning choreographer Crystal Pite and playwright Jonathon Young, based on Nikolai Gogol’s play The Government Inspector. Young and Pite revise an archetypal comic plot to serve as the basis for a production that blends contemporary theatre and dance. Revisor explores conflict, comedy and corruption in the potent relationship between language and the body. Revisor reunites the creators of the international theatre hit Betroffenheit (winner of the Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production 2017 and named Best Dance Show of the 21st century by The Guardian) with director Jeff Tudor, who won the Rose d’Or (Arts), Golden Prague Czech Crystal, and the Dance Screen and San Francisco Dance Film Festival awards for his capture of Betroffenheit for the BBC. Revisor was recorded during its run at Sadler’s Wells, London, in March 2020, just days before the production’s world tour was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The legendary vampire's insatiable thirst for blood knows no bounds. Until he encounters Mina. Bram Stoker’s gothic romance is brought to life on stage in this gripping ballet, performed by the exceptional dancers of Northern Ballet to music by Schnittke, Rachmaninov, Pärt and Daugherty. Choreographed by David Nixon OBE and recorded at Leeds Playhouse on Halloween, 2019.

Enter a shadowy establishment where residents attempt to create order from the chaos of life. Carers become patients, memories fracture and relationships collide. Physical theatre company Gecko has a reputation for generating unique worlds, intoxicatingly beautiful scenes and breathtaking choreography. Based on their internationally acclaimed production by Amit Lahav, this film is a visually captivating and poetic dissection of the way we nurture and care for ourselves and each other.

Matthew Bourne’s triumphant adaptation of the legendary film has won two Olivier Awards and dazzled audiences across the UK and the USA. This production is a recording of the stage performance made at Sadler’s Wells. The Red Shoes is a tale of obsession, possession and one girl's dream to be the greatest dancer in the world. Victoria Page (Ashley Shaw) lives to dance, but her ambitions become a battleground between the two men, Boris Lermontov (Adam Cooper) and Julian Craster (Dominic North), who inspire her passion.