© John Ross 'Sadler's Wells Sampled' reviews Reviews of recent shows at Sadler's Wells more Carole Edrich reviews Discuss this review (Open for at least 6 months)

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.

Michael Nunn and William Trevitt dressed for Yumba vs Nonino
© Hugo Glendinning

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 Vardimon 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!