This is the second year of Sadler’s Sampled programmes, an opportunity to get a quick look at the many varieties of dance presented at this venue for only £10 (or for just a fiver if you’re happy to stand in the stalls). It was a packed and buzzing house. Judging by the number of people who asked me for directions to Sadler’s in the short distance between the theatre and Angel tube, they are meeting their objective of bringing in lots of people who haven’t been there before and welcome the chance to try out what’s on offer.

There were a fair number of families with young children among them, and it was the children who seemed to get the most fun out of some of the interactive choreograph-it-yourself computer games on offer in the foyers. There were various installations about the place, including a dancer in tutu and pointe shoes curled up inside a giant jam jar. People were taking photos of this on their mobile phones. Hmm.

There were six items in the Saturday programme, most of which got a very enthusiastic response. Maria Pages, who will be returning in March as part of the flamenco festival, opened proceedings with blistering intensity, very well supported by her musicians and singers. (Memo to self – you need to go and see more of this). This really left the audience energised. It was a pity that the gaps between each performer were so extended that some of the fizziness evaporated, so the evening didn’t build as it might.

Next up was extracts from Yesterday, a work under construction from Jasmin Vardimon company. This certainly seized on the one-off nature of the occasion with a camera on a fishing pole dangled over the stalls with the resulting picture projected onto the stage so we could watch ourselves watching them. (Yes, people did wave). Lots of macho movement, some good jokes with words spelled out by letters in fluorescent paint on the dancers bodies. Hard to get the measure of the work from this extract, which included speech and political ranting, but delivered with lots of energy and commitment.

The first half closed with “Dreams of Gluby” from Salah, who was previously part of the hip hop group Vagabond Crew. This solo presents a sweet duck voiced clown character that all the kids in the audience immediately took to as his rubber limbs set off on various adventures. It is gentle and beguiling, and just the right length to be charming: too long and it might have become ingratiating, but his timing was spot on.

The second half brought us some ballet in the form of Christopher Wheeldon’s Prokofiev pas de deux, done not so long ago here by his own company. This was something of a lesson in how programming can change your view of a work. Presented with other Wheeldon works, this had looked in the most plushly romantic and full of feeling of all of them. On this occasion, now recostumed in white instead of lusher purple and with Nehemiah Kish substituted for Kobborg, it seemed to have much less emotional content, and was more distant, less involving. Kish towered over Alina Cojocaru: not an ideal match. Both of them danced well but the piece didn’t make an overwhelming impression.

We had more hip hop, this time an extract from Pied Piper by Blue Boy Ent. In contrast to the many solos and duets we saw elsewhere, this assembled a fairly substantial cast with opportunities for most of them to show off their moves.

The evening closed with the tango piece, Yumba vs Nonino, made by Craig Revel Horwood (yes, that one - him off the telly) for the Ballet Boys, Michael Nunn and William Trevitt, first shown at the Royal Festival Hall last year. It was a good choice as the closing item, with lots of laughs from the audience, but admiration too for the intricacies of the performance.

The only drawback of the evening was the very lengthy gap between items, which meant that the energy levels dropped, and even the indefatigable compere Jonzi D was scrabbling for something to chat to the audience about. The show overran its scheduled time by half an hour. As a result I saw some people heading for the exits early. If it could be run more tightly, then the momentum would build more.

Nevertheless, the evening is amazing value for money and you are guarenteed to see something you wouldn’t necessarily have come across before that could pique your interest. Let’s hope that lots of the people who were asking for directions to the theatre will be finding their way back there to see more dance sometime soon.

edited for a typo

We did a warm up and a short class and a short piece of rep from 'Infinities' which was part of Rambert's last triple bill at SW . The one where rose petals fall continuously from the top of the stage.Anyway, many thanks to Rambert who made this great fun and pitched it at just the right level for a general taster class.

My friend and I then moved on to a ballet class, after getting lost in the maze that is Sadlers Wells and asking directions from Alina Cojocaru who happened to get into the lift when we did. She didn't know where we should go either... funny that!! The class was run by Tom Linecar for the Ballet Boyz. It turned out to be quite advanced and I really could not cope. But I enjoyed watching everyone else! Tom was very patient and made it fun but I was way out of my depth.

The evening programme differed only in one performance from Saturday evening which Lynette has described so well.In the first half we saw Hofesh Shechter company in an excerpt from 'In Your Rooms', instead of the Jasmin Vardamon company. It was a highly energetic piece of contemporary dance, full of pulsing beat and quite hypnotic to watch.

One slight glitch occured during Alina and Nehemiah's duet. The recorded music broke down towards the end of the piece. The dancers continued without missing a beat to the very end and looked beautiful, but we had to imagine the last few minutes of the music.Shame.

All in all a very good day out and I would certainly recommend trying out a class to anyone.

Did you ask her why she wasn't dancing Chroma anymore?

The party atmosphere shows it’s a special occasion for many. Singles, couples, groups and families are in the lobby, reception and workshops. Many stay for the evening performances too. The energy bounces between teachers, participants and audience and old and young alike - some as young as five or six –enjoy interactive games in tbe lobby
Even the workshops reflect the fact that the event has attracted target audience it intended (all age groups and backgrounds, a good mix of people with and without dance experience and many who have never been here before). This is an event, a special occasion for many and the energy from teachers and participants combine to give the place a great party atmosphere.

An early sell-out, the event was attended by both young and old. Children of 7 or 8 mixed happily with enthusiastic senior citizens, singles, couples and groups all there to sample as much dance as possible and of course to have fun.

An eclectic but well thought through mix of performances put modern and traditional, contemporary and alternative dancers all under the same roof on the same day. Meanwhile there were interactive dance games, DJs and even 3D virtual dancing in the lobby as well, particularly enjoyed by children, some of whom looked as young as 5 or 6!.

It’s an interesting organisational feat. Arranging workshops and performances for so many people in such a short time takes a lot of hard work and excellent coordination. They select dance forms that creative director Alistair Spalding is planning for the coming year and then select others (such as the circus workshop) as a contrast as extras. The programme, which is designed to give people a chance to grab a drink between gaps in the daytime, could have been managed in a more coherent way.

People in Sadler’s Wells Sampled workshops behave differently to those in others. They usually book in advance for something in particular but have so much fun they decide to stay and pay on the day for other workshops. Many arrive at 12:30 and stay through the performances and right to the end!

I had heard that the tango, flamenco, ballet, contemporary dance and street dance were popular and that they were fully booked but there’s a difference between hearing that something is popular and fully booked and seeing that it was so – that people were having really enjoying this special occasion – in the flesh

There were some great previews: Jasmin Verdimon performed an extract of her new show Yesterday (you can see it in full this September) and Maria Pagés gave a tantalising glimpse of the production Sevilla, soon to be shown in full as part of the flamenco festival.

If you missed them there were also were more extracts of some of the most intriguing performances over the last years years. They included the Ballet Boyz (Michael Nunn and William Trevitt) performing Craig Revel Horwood’s Yumba vs Nonino, an extract from Hoefesch Schechter’s great performance ‘In your rooms’, a favourite combination of B-dance, Boy Blue’s Pied Piper (more hip hop), Boogaloo, mime and comedy from the Breakin’ Convention by Salah, the Royal Ballet’s Alina Cojocaru performing Christopher Wheeldon’s Prokofiev Pas de Deux with Nehemiah Kish from the National Ballet of Canada. The French star Salah performed an intriguing combination of boogaloo, mime and comedy that took last year’s Breakin’ Convention by storm.

Earlier, participants could choose between lessons on hip hop, circus arts, tango, contemporary dance with Random or Rambert, ballet (with either the Ballet Boyz or the English National Ballet) or flamenco with Escuela de Baile.

A great evening for anyone, it’s a wonderful introduction for newcomers and a way of getting perspective to those in the know. By now they’ll have started discussing how to make next year’s event even better – I personally can’t wait!