The best dance and ballet shows in London this November

After 25 years in the game, BalletBoyz are one of the most dependable dance companies out there. Whatever they put on, you know it will be good. Six Lethargies is quite the epic production, featuring a whopping 44 dancers on stage and a 37-piece live orchestra. The new piece is a response to composer Keaton Henson’s 2019 work of the same name, and it explores emotion, including themes of anxiety, trauma and empathy, and how it can be expressed in the physical body. 

Femina, a new work from the the award-winning choreographic duo Ekleido (Hannah Ekholm and Faye Stoeser) who are inspired by club culture, explores how femininity is perceived, embodied and valued through time. Expect a high-energy performance with elements of voguing, hip hop, heels and mesmirising contemporary movement, set to an original electronic score by Floating Points, Ela Minus and Stella Mozgawa. 

Recognised as one of the Royal Ballet's signature works, Kenneth MacMillan's ‘Manon’ is very much a grown-up ballet. The story of a young woman torn between desire for her impetuous lover and the security of marrying a rich man, it's a real showcase for the dancers’ dramatic talents, as well as their dancing. Several dancers will make their principal debuts as Manon and Des Grieux including Mayara Magri, Cesar Corrales, and Patricio Revé. Marianela Núñez and Hugo Marchand will perform the roles on select dates.

Where is it? Royal Opera House 

Known for their hypnotic and deeply physical abstract choreography, Humanhood is back at Sadler’s Wells East this autumn with a new work that’s guaranteed to be as mesmeric as their last. Named as one of SusyQ magazine’s best performances in 2025, in Vortex, the stage becomes the ‘eye of the tornado’. Expect plenty of spiralling and turning as the seven dancers move on stage to a cinematic soundcsape. 

ZooNation takes on Dickens this winter with a hip hop retelling of A Christmas Carol, centred around the drippy Ebony Scrooge as she rediscovers her Caribbean roots. Combining punchy hip hop, physical theatre and comedy, with a high-fashion edge, this festive production is a nice change from all the usual Tchaikovsky-and-tights Christmas productions, and it’s a hit for the whole family. 

There has been a Birmingham Rep production of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman coming to London under the auspices of Sadler’s Wells for over 30 years now. But it’s not this one! Yes, after over three decades the original production had been retired and the two theatres have put their heads together to stage a new 2026 Snowman completely from scratch, with a new team headed by director-choreographer Will Tuckett. How different will it be? Storywise the difference will surely be negligible: it’s the same plot as the book and the cartoon (boy builds snowman, snowman comes to life, flies boy to meet Santa, melts). But it’s the undoubtedly tired visuals that’ll be in for the big refresh and it’s exciting to see what Tuckett and the gang do with it all.