Strictly Come Dancing favourites Amy Dowden MBE and Carlos Gu are back with their live tour REBORN, returning to theatres across the UK from May 2026, on the back of the packed houses earlier this year.
Amy made her highly anticipated return to the dancefloor last year after her cancer diagnosis, while Carlos embraced a new chapter of self-discovery since moving to the UK – together, they truly feel REBORN.
This uplifting and inspirational show celebrates the transformative power of dance, featuring a dazzling cast of world-class dancers and vocalists. Audiences can expect an emotional journey through powerful and show-stopping routines that capture the joy, energy and beauty of dance.
Amy Dowden and her partner Ben Jones were crowned British National Latin Dance Champions in 2016, becoming the first all-British pair to win the title in over 30 years. Their other accolades include British Dance Federation Champions, English Closed Champions, and Welsh Closed and Open Champions.
Since joining Strictly Come Dancing in 2017, Amy has become one of the show’s most loved professionals. Her highlight came in 2019, reaching the Final with Karim Zeroual, while she has also partnered with Tom Fletcher, Brian Conley and JJ Chalmers.
Amy’s achievements extend beyond the dancefloor. She won the Raising Awareness Award at the Hello! Magazine Star Women Awards in 2019, received a Points of Light Award from the Prime Minister in 2023, and was awarded an MBEin the King’s Birthday Honours 2024 for her charity work with Crohn’s & Colitis UK. Her BBC documentary Strictly Amy: Crohn’s & Me won a BAFTA Cymru, and following her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, she continues her advocacy through her work with both My Breast Friend and CoppaFeel! A new BBC One documentary following her cancer journey aired last year.
Carlos Gu is a three-time Chinese National Champion, multiple World semi-finalist, and has achieved success as a German Open finalist and runner-up in the Amateur Rising Star Latin at the 2017 UK Championships.
Joining Strictly Come Dancing in 2022, Carlos reached the Final in his debut season with Molly Rainford, and in 2023 partnered Angela Scanlon, captivating audiences with their stunning Argentine Tango at Blackpool.
Beyond Strictly, Carlos has performed on live tours and led professional productions showcasing his artistry. His charisma and openness have also shone through television appearances on The One Show, This Morning, Lorraine, It Takes Two, The Hit List and CBeebies Bedtime Stories, where he has shared how dance and his move to the UK have transformed his life.
As Carlos continues to inspire audiences, his story – like Amy’s – is one of passion, resilience and renewal. Together, they promise an unforgettable experience with REBORN.
Over 150 young dancers from Norfolk and Suffolk auditioned for the chance to join the acclaimed English Youth Ballet (EYB). 100 talented dancers were selected for the opportunity to train and perform alongside professional dancers in a lavish production of Sleeping Beauty at the Norwich Theatre Royal between 25 – 26 Jul.
The cast was selected through a large audition held on stage at Norwich High School for Girls in March. Over 150 young dancers attended for the exciting opportunity. They participated in a full ballet class on stage. The successful auditionees found out they had been selected on the day of the audition.
The young cast will rehearse for 60 hours over 10 days of weekend rehearsals. The rehearsals take place at a local high school. At rehearsals, the dancers experience the working life of a professional dancer.EYB take over three large rehearsal spaces in the school that are used simultaneously. Rehearsals always start with three company classes for the dancers to warm up. The dancers need to keep an eye on the complex rehearsal timetable throughout the day.
EYB Director – Miss Janet Lewis OBE said: “English Youth Ballet aims to provide performance experience to aspiring young dancers in beautiful venues close to where they live. The young dancers get to experience what life is like in a professional ballet company. They learn about developing their artistic and performance skills as well as improving their technique. I am always amazed at how quickly the young dancers progress and how positive they are when presented with new challenges.”
Miss Lewis offered some special scholarship prizes at the audition. There were seven young finalists for the scholarships in the Junior audition and eight finalists for scholarships in the Senior audition. Fifty happy young dancers from each audition found out they had been selected.
Junior scholarship finalists included Isabelle Curtis-Milligan (10), Esme Jackman (10), Louis Marcham (12), Lyra Huggett (12), Anya Spencer (11), Lucy Lattimore (10) and Lyla Woods (9).
Louis Marcham (12yrs), excited to train with professional dancers, said: I’m looking forward to learning new skills and being taught by so many experienced and exceptional dancers. Different teachers always bring new ideas and ways of learning, so I’m going to really enjoy the whole experience, I’m sure!”
Speaking about the opportunity, Alyssa D’Arcy (16yrs) said: “I think the best part about being able to train and dance with EYB professionals is having someone to look up to and someone to inspire us and help us to be the best performers possible. Dancing alongside professionals also gives us an idea of what dancing with a company would be like and gives us hope that we can one day dance professionally.”
English Youth Ballet (EYB) presents a sumptuous production of Sleeping Beauty that promises tradition alongside innovation. This spellbinding classic promises sparkling costumes, splendid scenery and excellent dancing. The ballet’s essence is good gloriously triumphant over evil.
There will be three performances of English Youth Ballet’s Sleeping Beauty at the Norwich Theatre Royal from Fri 25 – Sat 26 Jul. For more information or to book, visit norwichtheatre.org or call the Box Office on 01603 630 000.
London Ballet Company return to The Apex on 24 April, with a thrilling dance adaptation of The Sound of Music
Featuring an exceptional cast of dancers, the production follows Maria, a free-spirited young woman who becomes the governess for the Von Trapp children. As she transforms their strict household into one filled with joy and music, the dancers’ graceful movements convey the growing bond between Maria, the children, and their father, Captain Von Trapp.
The stunning choreography highlights the emotional journey as the family faces the encroaching Nazi threat. With breathtaking performances, the dancers embody the resilience and hope that lead the Von Trapps to safety in Switzerland.
This captivating ballet beautifully merges storytelling, music, and movement into an unforgettable theatrical experience.
London Ballet Company areat The Apex on Thursday 24 April at 7.30pm. See www.theapex.co.ukor ring 01284 758000 for more information, or to book tickets.
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake – The Next Generation is ridiculously stunning – I am not sure I have the words to describe how magnificently exquisite this production was, it has almost left me speechless, and that’s not quite because there were sections where I was unsure what has happening!
Pure dancing incredibleness against a lavish, high production glamourous set and marvellous costumes. A banquet for the eyes.
The promotional text:
“Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake returns for its 30th anniversary with a 2024/25 UK tour. This audacious reinvention of Tchaikovsky’s masterpiece caused a sensation when it premiered almost 30 years ago and has since become the most successful dance theatre production of all time
Thrilling, bold, witty and emotive, this genre-defining event is still best known for replacing the female corps-de-ballet with a menacing male ensemble, which shattered convention, turning tradition on its head.”
Definitely Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake but certainly not as we know it. Of course the music was amazing, we don’t need to talk about that, I’ll mention the storyline as best I can as it does lead into the dancing. For me it was in three rough sections. Section one was the build-up and setting the scene of the life of the Prince and his mother, the Queen, who, as expected live their lives lavishly yet having to attend many events as part of their status. This section was very tangible, easy to follow, humorous and telling a simple story through wonderful dancing.
The middle section is dreamlike and at times a nightmare where the Prince encounters a cob, a dominant male swan, the leader of the pack, where he is enchanted by a spell which brings them together in a heightened emotional state which can only be described as a love, perhaps a toxic love. This dramatic, passionate dancing is phenomenal. A large group of male swans performing amazing choreography is a joy to watch, their physicality was astonishing.
The final section was the drama unfolding at the Royal Ball where the cob, as a human, gate-crashed and caused chaos. This was depicted with elements of tango movements to enhance the drama. The ending was also sensational.
As you can tell, the whole performance was dramatic, emotional and passionate. There was a wonderful influence of dancing styles, whichever suited the story, it was nice to see that no limits were placed on the genres chosen. The choreography was stunning, depicting the movement of the swans was subtle yet effective. The set and costumes were glossy, classy and impressive.
However, it was, no doubt, the performers who stunned the audience. They were all amazing and I don’t want to detract from their skills, yet the two male leads were astounding. You couldn’t take your eyes off them. There was a standing ovation at the end of the night and the clapping and cheering went on for a while.
It was an incredible show, it’s no wonder it has been popular for 30 years and I am thankful I have been able to see it.
Rhiannon Faith Company makes radically tender dance theatre, working nationally on big stages and locally with communities on the margins, always with social change and care at its heart.
Olivier Award nominated, radically tender dance-theatre show invites you into the pub shed yourworries with ‘Lay Down Your Burdens’, coming to Harlow and Norwich.
Choreographer and theatre maker Rhiannon Faith invites you to step into an evening at the local pub, but a night at the local like no other. Here you can explore the beauty of humanity and the eternal need for community and compassion, take the weight off and help each other lighten the load and restore our weary souls.
Hayley Clapperton had the opportunity to interview Rhiannon before the tour.
HC: Tell me, how did the idea of this show all start?
RF: I was making a show that was trying to find how, in a live space, like a performance space, we could build a feeling or a sense of community with an audience. That was kind of the beginning of it all, how using dance or theatre, or whatever type of performance, how do you make an audience feel connected to one another? If an audience can feel connected to one another, where we’re talking about things that are perhaps are making them feeling a little bit vulnerable, like the heavy stuff in our lives that we carry, and once we say things out loud it makes the weight of them go away. So the idea of the show was if we all came together and for a moment, we could feel carried in a way, how would that connect us as humans and what do I have to do as a choreographer and director to make that feel OK and safe, enjoyable and artistic and so it has found itself being set in a pub!
HC: Explore that with me a bit more, how did you choose for it being set in a pub?
RF: There were many variations before we arrived at a pub but there was something that always pulled me back to that. Sometimes, if you’re particularly isolated and you go somewhere by yourself, you may end up at a bar and you may end up chatting to the bar man – that’s kind of a thing that we see in films. A lonely person might come into a bar and try to talk about his troubles. The bar man is there as someone who has to receive the woes of the world that this person is going through as part of their job, and carries probably quite a lot and probably understands a lot about humanity in that receiving and carrying. I think it kind of went on from there, a pub is a place for community, it’s a place where you meet your friends and you offload, it’s a place where sometimes there is live music, quizzes and games and often it’s a place of counsel and feeling like you belong.
HC: I’ve been sent all the production shots of ‘Lay Down Your Burdens’ and the set looks really good, tell me a bit about that.
RF: Me and my designer spoke about it down to the last ‘T’, even about the pub carpet in particular because I’ve been in many pubs in my time and I was like it needs to have this specific detail. The actual world itself, I just feel like we have built a pub on stage and so it has a very homely feel and I’m sure it will end up in my parents garden in the summer after the tour.
HC: Is there speaking within the performance, or is it just dance?
RF: Yes, I work quite often with dance and text. In this particular piece of dance theatre there is lots of very high physical movement and also a script, so we learn about the journeys of the characters during the show and individually what they’re carrying and what that does to the environment.
HC: That’s interesting, sometimes when it’s all dance some of us ‘mortals’ don’t always fully understand what is trying to be put across.
RF: Yes, I think for me movement is such a powerful tool because the body can speak about the stuff that we bear and sometimes when you are sitting with your friend you don’t have to speak, you know how they’re feeling because of what their body is saying to you. There’s a lot of emotional access physically, especially using dancing performance you can tap into the emotional parts of you and express that quite viscerally or physically. Sometimes a conversation does the same thing so if someone says how are you feeling you might be able to express that through movement or you might actually be able to say yeah I’m feeling shit, I think it’s really whatever serves at that moment.
HC: With regards to the elements and the characters, who or what has inspired you?
RF: I always write quite autobiographically so when I’m working with performers or inviting performers into the process, they have to be able to go deep into their feelings and talk about their experiences which we do by inviting a therapist into our rehearsal space quite often and we go quite deep into philosophical stuff. Or stuff that is personal and maybe stuff that’s universal like the weight of the world or all the stuff that’s going on, also the weight that we carry ourselves. We always work with performers where their characters are a part of them – they’re exaggerated parts of who they are as people and then around that I create a story that allows those characters to take the audience on a journey. In particular we have the landlady Sarah, who’s the beating heart of the of the pub, who carries the tone of the show really, she holds a lot as she makes sure that everyone is always putting one foot in front of the next and moving forward. She’s a bit of a counsellor in a way and not in a professional sense, but she is there for the locals, she knows them as regulars, she knows what to anticipate and how to hold them.
Then we have a guy called Donny who’s a stranger. All of the characters are regulars in the pub and then on this one night a stranger comes in and that stranger is carrying a lot of suffering, a lot of pain. He’s carrying the ashes of his mother in a flask and he’s about to poke and challenge, infect the space because he feels so much loneliness, as much as loneliness can feel like a disease in some sense. You know he’s carrying a lot of stuff and in order for him to get it out he projects and the others to feel it. Sarah is always the person who tries to bring him back to lightness and tries to offer care, so she’s a bit of a counteract rather than going yes you’re carrying all this stuff, you’re acting bad, you’re a bad person she does the opposite and says well actually there’s lots of care here in this space and you know maybe you could look at things like this and that might be useful. It’s a lot about his journey and his transformation because of the acts of the regulars and Sarah
HC: What elements are key to make this production really work?
RF: Well there is a lot going on, the world is key, bringing people in. We bring the audience into the pub, there’s participation, we play some pretty shit pub games but there’s lots of fun too we do a quiz bingo, a ‘Stars In Your Eyes’. It’s really important to get the audience feeling like their part of it. We have live music, Irish-folky sound and that carries the beat parts of the pub. I’m from a big Irish Catholic family and music is always present when we go to the pub. There’s an energy and it really holds the more emotive and beautiful moments, when we’re talking about feelings or when we need to go a bit more serious and but there’s a contrast as there’s light and dark, there’s participation, there’s humour as well as really physical dance and these characters taken on the journey with you.
HC: That sounds really interesting, What challenges are there?
RF: The challenges are really on any given night as it might change a little bit because a lot of it relies on how onboard the audience want to get and every audience is different. Depending on who is in the room on each tour date you never really know how the show is going to go to some extent.
HC: So it keeps on your toes as well?
RF: Keeps everyone on their toes yeah, because you know mostly everything is set but when you’re interacting with an audience, a bit like a comedian would have to be prepared as they could say anything and you have to be able to work with that and use it as something which adds to the work.
HC: The press release information mentions about how the audience can unload their burdens so how does that happen in the show?
RF: There are lots of invitations, nobody is forced to do anything that they don’t want to do, in fact we do a bit of a disclaimer at the beginning if you’d rather just sit back and watch you know that’s fine and we have a way of using stickers if you definitely don’t want to have anyone talk to you, that’s OK. It’s about invitations, so in the games that we play we invite people to join in with, the questions we ask some of the characters in the show we also ask those questions to the audience, there’s just lots of different invitations to connect and then I guess it’s up to the audience how much they want to.
HC: What discussions do you hope your show promotes?
RF: I really hope that it helps us talk about how essential it is to connect and how important to is to sometimes be vulnerable and ask for help when you need it. Or if you’re particularly feeling alone that by making a trip to go into the community than that will be of benefit, because there’s a moment in the show where we realise that we’re all the same, we’re all flawed we all have moments of darkness. We all have moments of beauty and it’s just as important to know that and to speak of that to know that sometimes things are really hard because if you just think things are hard for yourself you think what am I doing wrong rather than knowing that actually everybody, even though they might not speak of it, everybody has a day where there’s shadows there for them.
HC: Does this resonate with you on a personal level?
RF: Yeah absolutely, what was interesting with the award stuff is the day that I was dropping my father-in-law at the hospital that morning, he was getting a scan to go into radiotherapy so you’re carrying that and then when I get home, I find I’ve been nominated for an Olivier Award and it’s the contrast. I think for everybody each day can be difficult yet there are also things that are beautiful and unexpected, like nature, like going for walks, the things we are gifted really and I think personally for me I can’t always see that because sometimes because you’re in the fog but I think that the more that we know that it’s okay to walk with your shadow sometimes or it’s okay to feel not okay and then we can take the pressure off. I like the idea of lifting the weight off yourself rather than making yourself feel like you’re not good enough. Speaking of humanity is interesting and I’m learning with each show that I make I learn more about myself in relation to the world and to people.
HC: is there anything in this performance that you’re particularly excited about
RF: I love the show because it’s the first show I’ve had with live music in so whenever I hear India and Paul get their instruments out I fill with excitement. It’s a wonderful cast, they are brilliant, as performers they are all very gifted with their physicality. I love the unknown territory that you step into when there’s audience participation, it’s always a risk and that excites me because it when it works, when it feels the fullest where you can feel people really lean into it, there’s something quite magical and when I was little and thinking about making dance or theatre that was always the dream, to be able to use a piece of art to do something that was maybe a bit otherworldly so yeah I get excited about that and my job all the time.
HC: What’s been the biggest surprise with this show?
RF: It’s funny you should say that, we’ve had a dancer that has been pregnant during the show and we have another dancer that will be pregnant on this leg of the tour so things like that pop up as a bit of a surprise. As a company we embrace that and think it’s really important to have pregnant women in pieces of dance and theatre and working as artists until they don’t want to.
I mean getting the award that’s always a surprise you never go into it thinking that that is going to happen and so being on the red carpet last year at the Olivier’s was a big surprise and it was very exciting. I really leaned into it, I was like what would Lady Gaga do as I’ve never done anything like that before and it was all very thrilling.
HC: The Company is described as ‘radically tender dance theatre’, what does that mean?
RF: I think that us as a company is trying to make work that is radical in its ideas, what it’s trying to do in the world and how it’s trying to change something within people and open things up in the way that we think about. What the possibilities of dance and theatre can be radical in the sense of how you approach making a piece of work because what it could be for society but also tender in the approach, tender in you can say a lot without having to shout sometimes you can be gentle and considerate and compassionate in your approach to doing that and so it’s trying to understand the two.
HC: What’s the process creating new choreography?
RF: We actually do a lot of talking first, we talk a lot about the themes of the show and it might be a piece we’re all interested in, such as the idea of heaviness or weight and then we might take that into the studio and improvise around that and then we might find things that we keep coming back to and repeating in our bodies and that becomes something that we want to set and we create sequence out of that. That’s the composition of the choreography or it might be that we want a scene that’s really energetic and fun and so we think about it needs lifting and it needs lots of energy so we want to make that movement dynamic and fast and exciting. If it’s quite close to the audience that might be a really exciting experience for them to be close to that that type of energy. Sometimes it’s about asking the dancers to think about a feeling and moving their body with that feeling and sometimes we might have a piece of text and we want to make some movement that really sits alongside it, and we want it to be quite small, so I might take the lead and create that section and the dancers will learn it. There’s lots of different approaches.
HC: what is it about dance as an art form that particularly appeals to you?
RF: It’s a way of accessing something emotional, for me it’s the movement that speaks feelings a lot so the things that you can’t say, the things that you hold in your body, the feelings that you have, always in our work we feel first and then we move so we understand where the movement is coming from. Its the way I communicate feelings and ideas. It’s just what I do. I mean it’s just a thing such as if you have that gift to be able to sing that’s how you connect with the world and people, dance is the way that I connect with the world and people because I’m quite a shy person really. I’m a bit of a hermit sometimes and when I have to come out and interact with the world for work then that takes a lot of effort and energy, I enjoy it but I’m also quite an introvert so I think movement really helps me express what I’m thinking.
HC: Last off topic question, do you have any special skill outside of dance and theatre that we should know about?
RF: I’ve never been asked that, I used to play hockey and I was a goal scorer. I used to love playing hockey but I had to stop because I kept injuring myself – I broke my nose, I broke my ankle I and then because I was a choreographer I had to be serious and actually say no I can’t do it anymore but I still dream about it. I was really good at it, I used to play for many teams. It actually makes me sad that I can’t play anymore.
HC: With your award nominations I think the change was in the right direction!
RF: Yeah, yeah maybe I can come back to it later in life – that’s what I’m thinking.
HC: Thank you for your time today and I very much look forward to the show.
A widely acclaimed award nominated show that invites its audience to unload their worries and concerns is coming to Harlow Playhouse and Norwich Theatre Royal in March as part of a national tour.
‘ROOH: Within Her’ is a powerful celebration of everyday female heroism spanning two millennia and realised through the cutting edge of contemporary kathak dance.
This compelling solo piece is the latest work by the visionary choreographer and performer Urja Desai Thakore. For this project she joins forces with the internationally recognised poet and dramaturg Karthika Nair to explore narratives of female bravery sourced from legend, folklore and Urja’s true family stories.
Urja embodies the turmoil of a mother — a celebrated figure in ancient Tamil literature — who scours the battlefield in search of her son’s body, determined to disprove rumours that he died fleeing the enemy. With heart-felt precision she recreates Chaaran Kanya, the renowned Gujarati author Zaverchand Meghani’s account of the folk heroine Heerbai – the teenage cowherdess who drives away a lion that dared attack her favourite calf while an entire village quakes in fear.
Inspirational figures from the choreographer’s artistic lineage, take centre-stage alongside lesser-known Chipko activists.
The performance is enhanced by an evocative soundscape that weaves together voice-over text with music composed by the celebrated Alap Desai and played live.
Rooh (meaning ‘essence’ in Gujarati) connects the distant past and recent history, demonstrating just how significant individual choices – both creative and personal – can be. Come and witness a celebration of seemingly minor narratives that loom large, influencing our current and future selves.
Matt Burman, Artistic Director at Cambridge Junction said:
“We last welcomed Urja Desai Thakore and Pagrav Dance as we emerged from the first lockdown and I’m excited for their return. I relish the beauty, artistry, and incredible ability of their work to tell powerful stories and paint emotionally vibrant pictures through dance and music. With a live score and internationally acclaimed musicians, this is what your soul needs right now.”
