The Year in Review: Best dance of 2010

Natalia Osipova and Ivan Vasiliev, Bolshoi Ballet

Royal Opera House, London

The Bolshoi Ballet's visit was dominated by two stars: Vasiliev was a fiery, impassioned Spartacus; Osipova was a delightful Swanilda and a scary, corpse bride Giselle. Together, they danced a sensational Don Quixote, tearing through the steps with outrageous glee.

L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato, Mark Morris Dance Group

London Coliseum

How often does dance make you cry with joy? Mark Morris's L'allegro is a radiant masterpiece, evoking Milton's and Handel's pastoral world in bright colours and blissful dancing.

Susan & Darren

Sadler's Wells, London

Darren Pritchard and his mum Susan dance and talk about their lives in this touching show. It's unnervingly open, sometimes horrifying and often very funny.

Gnosis, Akram Khan Company

Sadler's Wells

Khan drew on his classical Kathak training in a dance built around blindness, ending with the extraordinary image of Khan as a woman in a fire, shaking like flames in the wind.

Cinderella , Birmingham Royal Ballet

Birmingham Hippodrome

In a year of Cinderellas, David Bintley's new production was the winner, with superb designs by John Macfarlane, some good jokes and a tender heart.