Big And Small London Ballet News

You’ll doubtless be reeling to find out that Carlos Acosta, Cuban born eleventh son of a truck driver and rags to relative riches dancing success story, will be joining the world famous Bolshoi Ballet at London’s Coliseum this August for a season of "Spartacus". Excitingly, this is a ballet that demands a "real man" in the lead role thereby perpetuating all the gender stereotypes about ballet dancers there have ever been. If Carlos gets you hot (and he certainly can jump) then tickets go on sale from Monday 26 March here.

If on the other hand you prefer your dance a bit more ‘feet on the streets’ then you could catch a wicked performance on Thursday evening. East London Dance is 20 years old and to celebrate they’ve collaborated with dancers from the Royal Ballet to create "Small Dances", a specially commissioned piece combining the disparate disciplines of ballet with popping and locking. Read the experiences of two of the dancers involved in today's Guardian and go along and wish them many happy returns by visiting here.

Photo credit: ballet 2.2 by ophoto