Showtime!

It’s no use pretending - the trees are bare and the first flakes of snow have already fallen- winter is coming! The days of barbecues and summer holidays are a distant memory and instead we are hibernating in a bundle of scarves and jumpers, sneezing and snuffling our way through to Christmas. Even Halloween seems to have flown by as the shops are quickly replacing pumpkins with parkin and costumes with fireworks. There is however, a sure fire way of curing these seasonal blues for the theatres are jam packed with a spectacular collection of ballets and musicals to satisfy even the most insatiable appetite. So exchange that scarf for a ball gown and don’t forget your dance shoes.

Whether you are in London or the Hebrides there are no excuses for the selection of performances this winter is unsurpassable. In the Capital, the Royal Ballet has a fabulous programme for Winter 2012 and will be putting on performances of Swan Lake and The Nutcracker. For those with kids the Birmingham Repertory Theatre Company is staging the Snowman from November to January at the Peacock Theatre in Holborn. The English National Ballet however, are touring throughout the country with performances of Sleeping Beauty and the Nutcracker, while the Moscow Ballet will also be putting on the Nutcrack, and in Manchester, Northern Ballet School will be performing Coppelia.

If the ballet isn’t for you, some of the greatest dance musicals are touring the country throughout November and December. From 42nd Street to Dirty Dancing to Burlesque the stages are filled with tap, ballroom and latin. The wonderful routine by the cast of Top Hat on Strictly Come Dancing is enough to make you discard those jumpers already:

So if this hasn’t got you itching to take to the boards or at least run to the box office, I don’t know what will!