DANCE

DANCE

English National Ballet (below) plummets down the rabbit hole into Lewis Carroll's Alice, a cheery, crowd-pleasing extravaganza. The season opens in the presence of the Queen of Hearts herself, HRH (Palace please confirm) the Princess of Wales. London Coliseum 19-23 Mar (0171-632 8300)

The Royal Ballet hits the road next week with a smorgasbord of dance bites. Thirty of the company's dancers include Viviana Durante, Darcey Bussell, Irek Mukhamedov and Tetsuya Kumakawa. They perform various new works by young company members plus William Forsythe's brutally athletic Steptext. Swan, High Wycombe (01494 512000) 18-19 Mar; Lyceum Sheffield (0114 276 9922) 21-23 Mar

Birmingham Royal Ballet dance David Bintley's homespun Far from the Madding Crowd in Sunderland today and then in Liverpool (21-23 Mar). Sunderland Empire (0191-514 2517); Liverpool Empire (0151-709 1555)

LOUISE LEVENE