London (Fodor's 2012) - Fodor's [167]
DANCE
Dance fans in London can enjoy the classicism of the world-renowned Royal Ballet, as well as innovative works by several contemporary dance companies—including Rambert Dance Company, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures, and the Wheeldon Company—and scores of independent choreographers. The English National Ballet and visiting international companies perform at the Coliseum and at Sadler’s Wells, which also hosts various other ballet companies and dance troupes. Encompassing the newly refurbished Royal Festival Hall, the Southbank Centre has a seriously good contemporary dance program that hosts top international companies and important U.K. choreographers, as well as multicultural offerings ranging from Japanese Butoh and Indian Kathak to hip-hop. The Place and the Lilian Bayliss Theatre at Sadler’s Wells are where you’ll find the most daring, cutting-edge performances.
The following theaters are the key dance venues. Also check | www.londondance.com for current performances and fringe venues.
The biggest annual event is Dance Umbrella (0208/741–4040 | www.danceumbrella.co.uk), a four-week season in October that hosts international and British-based artists at various venues across the city.
FILM
There are many wonderful movie theaters in London and several that are committed to nonmainstream and repertory cinema, in particular the National Film Theatre. Now over 50 years old, the Times BFI London Film Festival (www.lff.org.uk) brings hundreds of films made by masters of world cinema to London for 16 days each October into November, accompanied by often-sold-out events. The smaller, avant-garde Raindance Film Festival (www.raindance.co.uk) highlights independent filmmaking, September into October.
West End movie theaters continue to do good business. Most of the major houses, such as the Odeon Leicester Square and the Empire, are in the Leicester Square–Piccadilly Circus area, where tickets average £15. Monday and matinees are often cheaper, at around £6–£10, and there are also fewer crowds.
Check out Time Out, one of the London papers, or | www.viewlondon.co.uk for listings.
OPERA
The two key players in London’s opera scene are the Royal Opera House (which ranks with the Metropolitan Opera House in New York) and the more innovative English National Opera (ENO), which presents English-language productions at the London Coliseum. Only the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, has a longer theatrical history than the Royal Opera House—the third theater to be built on the site since 1858.
Despite occasional performances by the likes of Björk, the Royal Opera House struggles to shrug off its reputation for elitism and ticket prices that can rise to £200. It is, however, more accessible than it used to be—the cheapest tickets are under £10. Conditions of purchase vary; call for information. Prices for the ENO are generally lower, ranging from around £17 to £85. You can get same-day balcony seats for as little as £5.
Almeida Opera is a festival that showcases new and often cutting-edge opera. In summer, the increasingly adventurous Opera Holland Park presents the usual chestnuts alongside some obscure works under a newly enlarged canopy in leafy Holland Park.
International touring companies often perform at Sadler’s Wells, the Barbican, the Southbank Centre, and Wigmore Hall, so check the weekly listings for details.
THEATER
In London the play really is the thing, ranging from a long-running popular musical like Mamma Mia!, a groundbreaking reworking of Pinter, imaginative physical theater from an experimental company like Complicite, a lavish Disney spectacle, or a small fringe production above a pub. West End glitz and glamour continue to pull in the audiences, and so do the more innovative productions. Only in London will a Tuesday matinee of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s Henry IV sell out a 1,200-seat theater.
In London the words radical and quality, or classical and experimental are not mutually exclusive. The Royal Shakespeare