★★★★★
The slew of formulaic dance films Hollywood pumps out as tirelessly as the Duracell bunny somewhat skews perceptions of the dancing world. On film, rehearsal space is readily available, charitably given, or in a parking lot if you're a rebel. Abs are oiled and perfect at 9am, an...

The world of animation is presided over by the hulking heavyweight champions of family entertainment: Disney and Pixar. Don't let 2006's marriage of convenience fool you: although they may be happy business bedfellows, tongues still wag over every new release, chewing the fat over which studio has the upper hand,...

Motor-mouthed performance poet Luke Wright is temporarily absenting the stage to languish at a rather more leisurely pace on the page. Notorious for his mile-a-minute performances of spirited poetry, strewn with buoyant satire, Wright's affable stage presence was the glue that held his Cynical Ballads tour together. A lack of...

Meet Alex: a smiling, bouncing ball of energy, with a deep juicy giggle, a quick sense of humour, and a compassion for everyone around him. Perhaps ill-advisedly, Alex even hired me in my late teens to sell breakfast to hungry commuters, and fast became my favourite face to see in...

The triple bill is a balancing act more complex than any Masterchef's three course meal: programming doesn't get tougher than this. If such a competition existed, artistic director Benoit Swan Pouffer earned a place among the champions with Cedar Lake's triple bill at Sadler's Wells last night. Opening with an...

There aren't many contemporary ballet companies with a billionaire heiress footing the bill, but New York's Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet hit that lucrative jackpot when it came to funding. Founded in 2009 by Wal-Mart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie, the company is living, breathing, dancing testament to what can be achieved...

To the catwalk, where ponies on crack are clip-clopping up and down and down and up a plank of haute couture, where thighs are abolished, a grumpy bob and sunglasses on a stick is God and trends are carved into the tablet of seasonal commandments. London Fashion Week is here.

Any show starting past 10pm comes with an unwritten warning: may contain scenes of an adult nature. Theatre's post-watershed playground of the moment is the London Wonderground- a riverside funfair of sequins and feathers showcasing the capital's best wonders and curiosities; a throwback to a world where the ringmaster ruled...

As Fright Fest hits London with blood, guts and a myriad of other bodily fluids both human and mythical, swarms of horror-lovers will gather together for a marathon of twisted, deathly voyeurism. Their idea of a perfect night out could entail showers of blood, head spinning devil children, innocent nannies...

If you haven't seen Anne Hathaway's shorn and chilly cranium yet, it's probably time to put down the Xbox controller/children/Proust, and try to recherché your temps perdu- cruise over to the Daily Mail website and bitch or coo as you feel appropriate. No, she hasn't lost her mind and 'pulled...

The formula for Disney used to be so simple: take one porn-star proportioned, doe-eyed virgin on the brink of adulthood, screw on a magical affliction, support on brackets of dysfunctional and/or single parent family, furnish with evil hags and dashing Princes heavy on bravery and light on personality, decorate with...

Not since an angry blue man that wasn't Poppa Smurf shouted the immortal words "YE CANNY TEK MA FRRRRREEEEEDOMMMM", have we had a decent Scottish hero. Mark Renton was disgustingly cool, but also willing to crawl into Glasgow's alter of faeces and shame for suppositories of smack, so perhaps not...

I would rather sit on flaming hot pokers for two hours than watch a film containing body horror. I'd rather spend a night of unbounded passion with Lembit Opik than listen to an entire album of death metal. Many members of the Great British public- and especially the male quota-...

★★★★

Immersive theatre often treads the fine line between enhancing experience and aggressive involvement. What starts as engulfing theatrical aggrandizement can quickly trip into the realms of terrifying audience participation - and only attention - hungry stage botherers really enjoy on-stage participation, or those of masochistic temperament. Luckily, Theatre Delicatessen...

In a day and age where blockbusters reign supreme, celebrity status sells just about anything (I'm looking at you, Eau de Paris Hilton), and mini entertainment Brat Packs boycott the box offices like a botox-and-champagne fuelled Mafia, it is little wonder that even off-West-End theatre is housing the overspill of...

Music fans, I know you're grieving the lack of Glastonbury in 2012, but for all you field-loving, ruddily muddy campers, I pose this alternative: Latitude, surely the only festival for any discerning culture vulture. This year, London's premiere dance venue, Sadler's Wells returns with a stellar line up: Jonzi D,...

Theatre Delicatessen has undoubtedly cornered the 'pop-up theatre' market. The mind-child of Roland Smith, Frances Loy and Jessica Brewster, Theatre Delicatessen was born in 2007 and has since made it's mark by inhabiting disused buildings around London, then transforming them into immersive theatrical experiences. Picking up awards and notable press...

2012 has been a year of outlandish happenings, from the mundane to the absurd. Wikipedia spent 24 hours offline, rendering every University student in the country capable of Key Stage 2 curriculum only. Samantha Brick revealed herself as some kind of sexual Medusa; her crippling beauty having a near-deadly affect...

The Duplass brothers make the kind of indie films that make Blockbuster gobblers dry retch. The very same Duplasses make the kind of indie films that make the bespectacled, shuffling mumblecore lovers turn up their noses at the reek of commerciality. But, are either of these attributes really a bad...

Twenty-four hours ago I was a naïve child: I knew nothing of the domestic storage world, nothing of the joys of effective food preservation... in short, compressible Tupperware was yet to touch not only my hands, but my very soul. Such was the selling prowess and stage authority of Dixie...