The best: Ballet performances coming to Manchester in 2025

Promising the stage experience of a lifetime, the global phenomenon Shen Yun transports audiences on a show-stopping choreographical journey through five-thousand years of divinely inspired Chinese culture at the Palace Theatre.

Drawing on a mesmeric blend of celestial wonder, storied mythology, ethnic traditions and enlightening wisdom from dynasties across the millennia, Shen Yun celebrates the stunningly diverse tapestry of classical Chinese dance in an irresistibly vibrant maelstrom of physicality, live orchestral music, authentic costumes and patented stage backdrops.

On Sun 23 Feb, Ellen Kent’s la traviata takes over the Opera House with a rich, opulent take on Verdi’s epochal opera, featuring the Ukrainian Opera & Ballet Theatre Kyiv alongside a full orchestral ensemble and a cohort of international soloists.

With sumptuous costumes, spellbinding set design and achingly romantic music, Kent’s spectacular stage experience breathes new life into the grand, tragic tale of glamorous Parisian courtesan, Violetta. Content with a life of lavish independence, Violetta unexpectedly falls in love with young, naïve bourgeois Alfredo, beginning an intoxicating but ultimately devastating affair.

Based on Alexandre Dumas’ sparkling 1848 novel, The Lady of the Camellias, Verdi’s magnum opus features some of the most unmistakeable melodies in opera, including the stirring aria Addio Del Pasato and Brindisi, widely regarded as as the best-known drinking songs of all time.

Winner of Best Classical Choreography at the 2011 National Critics’ Circle Dance Awards, Birmingham Royal Ballet’s Cinderella renders the ageless story of love, courage and kindness in exquisite detail with wondrous movement, boundless originality and delightful reimaginations of every magical character.

On Tue 15 Jul, Sadler’s Wells and Universal Music UK storm onto the Lowry stage on a gleaming Lambretta moped with their wildly inventive mod ballet, Quadrophenia.

Inspired by The Who’s iconic titular album, the blistering production reimagines the 1979 cult classic feature film with a cast of decorated dancers, as Jimmy’s story is brought to life in a whirlwind dance adaptation packed with the sharp suits, reworked soul and social empowerment that defined a generation.

Set to Rachel Fuller’s breathtaking orchestral interpretation of Pete Townshend’s towering record, choreographer Paul Roberts and director Rob Ashford unite the best of Britain’s theatre, film and dance talent to bring a raw, emotionally charged new dimension to one of the greatest rock albums of all time.