BalletBoyz: England on Fire; Rambert: Death Trap review – to Albion and the underworld

Sadler’s Wells, London; Theatre Royal, Bath
Folklore meets punk spirit in BalletBoyz’s ambitious state-of-the-nation work, while Rambert relish the remarkable imagination of Ben Duke

For more than 20 years, the BalletBoyz have been at the driving heart of British dance culture. Ever since the two former Royal Ballet principals Michael Nunn and William Trevitt got together to form a company in 1999, they have kept themselves on the crest of a wave of creation, never afraid to try something new, whether it was making cheeky backstage films to accompany their work, forming an all-male troupe or turning the Royal Ballet’s Romeo and Juliet into a feature film.

They are definitely a good thing. And so is England on Fire, their most ambitious venture to date, and one that brings together 12 dancers, eight choreographers and multiple musicians, composers and creatives to make a work prompted by Stephen Ellcock and Mat Osman’s book of the same name. It doesn’t quite work, but its vision and commitment are convincing.