The best: Ballet and dance performances coming to Manchester

Lowry welomes two deeply-felt works by new generation South Asian artists, with live music this March.

Just Enough Madness is a bold new dance-theatre work, weaving poetic text, ritual, and a striking live musical score. Performed by Payal Ramchandani in the South Indian classical dance form, Kuchipudi, alongside three live musicians on percussion, flute, and vocal.

In the short work Caught Again in the Net of Rebirth, rising artist Chandenie Gobardhan and their four dancers explore the concept of Trimurti – a cosmic cycle of creation, preservation and destruction of the self.

Created by Cuban ballet star Carlos Acosta, this version of Carmen is set to Rodion Shchedrin’s orchestration of Bizet’s opera score, injected with Cuban music and danced by Acosta’s renowned Havana-based company.

Blurring the boundaries between classical music and other artforms, Manchester Collective join forces with dance-theatre company Thick & Tight to present a searing live performance that draws on queer culture, flittering between ballet and cabaret, the absurd and the disarmingly moving.

Manchester-based multimedia artist CHAINES completes the impressive lineup, whose work synthesises cutting-edge technology with their classical training to create surreal, glitchy textures.

The acclaimed Posmodern Jukebox troupe of singers, dancers and instrumentalists will be performing a brand new show in the group’s signature, era-hopping style, putting a retro spin on everything from ’70s rock classics and ’80s Britpop hits, to current chart toppers, movie and video game soundtracks

International principal dancers will lead an exciting cast of local young dancers selected for this dramatic production of Swan Lake. English Youth Ballet (EYB)’s critically acclaimed adaptation weaves a tale of love, rivalry, greed and murder. Now in its 28th year, EYB is one of the UK’s largest ballet companies and previously won The Stage Award for special achievement in regional theatre.

Masters of storytelling, Northern Ballet bring to the stage the extraordinary story of Anne Lister — better known as Gentleman Jack. A powerful Yorkshire woman, it was only after her death that her secret diaries revealed an exceptional life that defied the expectations of 19th-century society. Inspiring biographies, novels, a hit TV series and now a ballet, Anne’s story leaps from page to stage in this thrilling new production choreographed by Annabelle Lopez Ochoa and performed to new live music by Peter Salem.

Strictly Come Dancing finalist Nikita Kuzmin brings new dance spectacular Supernova to The Bridgewater Hall this summer.

Supernova has been created in collaboration with world-renowned choreographer and BAFTA award recipient Jason Gilkison and presented by international dance sensation Burn the Floor.

From Thu 25 Jun – Sat 27 Jun, Aviva Studios welcomes the World Premiere of The Surge: An Ode to Sinéad O’Connor. Created by Tony award-winning choreographer and director Sonya Tayeh, the dance work is set to the music of Sinéad O’Connor and isa mediation on voice, protest and the courage to live a life that defies the normperformed by a company of 10 women.

The worldwide phenomenon that redefined Irish dance is set to return to the United Kingdom in 2026 to celebrate its 30th Anniversary. Lord of the Dance, Michael Flatley’s visionary show, is one of the most recognised dance stage productions in history, and the 30th Anniversary Tour will feature brand-new choreography, stunning costumes, state-of-the-art special effects, and cutting-edge lighting

After last year’s triumphant tour, Crown Ballet® returns to the UK with a stunning production of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece, Swan Lake, including an autumn show at Bolton’s Albert Halls.