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Rupert Christiansen

Rupert Christiansen

The Telegraph

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The fearlessness of Steven McRae

Steven McRae ranked for a decade as the Royal Ballet’s star virtuoso – a fearless technician of dazzling precision, speed, stamina and verve....

latest 3

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Carlos Acosta just gets better with age

No ballet dancer has been a ‘household name’ in Britain for more than a generation now – even mention of Darcey Bussell would draw a blank on...

13.08.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Three cheers for Britain’s most unabashedly elitist school

As we ponder the ups and downs of our sporting record this summer, it might be worth noting our unquestioned prowess when it comes to the demands of...

29.07.2026 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Dance / Three cheers for Britain’s most unabashedly elitist school

As we ponder the ups and downs of our sporting record this summer, it might be worth noting our unquestioned prowess when it comes to the demands of...

22.07.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Three cheers for Britain’s most unabashedly elitist school

As we ponder the ups and downs of our sporting record this summer, it might be worth noting our unquestioned prowess when it comes to the demands of...

16.07.2026 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

A ballet masterpiece revived – but where’s the pony?

The choreographic partnership of Sol Leon and Paul Lightfoot has long been celebrated in mainland Europe: a new double bill presented by the Royal...

18.06.2026 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Gentleman Jack is Northern Ballet’s finest work

Northern Ballet commits itself almost exclusively to dance as a storytelling medium, and its weakness historically has been to home in on surefire...

28.05.2026 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The Trocks’ shtick is getting tired

Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo were popular regulars at Washington’s Kennedy Center until Trump’s demented blast against decadent...

14.05.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Excruciating tedium from Pina Bausch

You’re never too old to dance we are told nowadays. This encouraging injunction has been taken up by everyone from the likes of Mikhail Baryshnikov...

16.04.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Today’s ballerinas are too perfect

‘Ballet is woman,’ Balanchine once gnomically pronounced. A remark not to be taken too literally, but essentially true. Like every afflicted...

19.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Dance / Today’s ballerinas are too perfect

‘Ballet is woman,’ Balanchine once gnomically pronounced. A remark not to be taken too literally, but essentially true. Like every afflicted...

19.03.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

A highlight in an otherwise dull season: Pierrot Lunaire reviewed

Even if Schoenberg’s song cycle Pierrot Lunaire is never going to feature on anyone’s Desert Island Discs, it stands as a work of rich and complex...

19.02.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The joy of Paul Taylor

05.02.2026 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

What has happened to the Paris Opéra Ballet?

08.01.2026 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Why are today’s choreographers so musically illiterate?

27.11.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The best thing Cathy Marston has ever done

20.11.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

What a joy La Fille mal gardée is

06.11.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Let’s face it, Sleeping Beauty is a bit of a bore

30.10.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

I could watch Balanchine’s Theme and Variations on repeat

09.10.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Michael Keegan-Dolan’s How to be a Dancer is worthy of Flann O’Brien

25.09.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Arts feature / Picasso’s ravishing work for the ballet

28.08.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Picasso’s ravishing work for the ballet

28.08.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Opera & dance / The decline of Edinburgh International Festival

21.08.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The decline of Edinburgh International Festival

21.08.2025 40

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

One of the best productions of Giselle I have ever seen

31.07.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

A latter-day exercise in Dada: Nature Theater of Oklahoma reviewed

17.07.2025 20

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

Exhibitions / The cheering fantasies of Oliver Messel

23.06.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The cheering fantasies of Oliver Messel

19.06.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen

The artistic benefits of not being publicly subsidised

19.06.2025 30

The Spectator

Rupert Christiansen