The Royal Opera House live screening: The Winter’s Tale

The story of two boyhood friends, both kings, separated in childhood and reunited as adults, is the basis for this tale of love, loss and redemption.

King Leontes (Edward Watson)

Happiness reigns until King Leontes of Sicilia, in a jealous fit, accuses wife Hermoine of having an affair with friend, King Polixenes, and that their newly born child is not his. Their eight year old child, Mamillius, witnesses his mother’s distress and, already ill, collapses and dies. Hermione, the loss of her son too much to bear, also collapses and dies, and only then does Leontes - having in his rage also banished his baby daughter - realise the disastrous consequences of his mistake. Edward Watson's immense portrayal of his character's descent into a tormented, paranoid soul is illuminated by Wheeldon's tortured, contorted and twisted choreography.

The noblewoman (I thought nursemaid) Paulina, is the emotional heart of the piece for me – the one constant in Leontes life, it was her anguish that sent me over the edge. Not only did she lose Hermione, Mamillius and the baby princess, it was her husband, Antigonus, who Leontes sent to abandon the baby girl: he was eaten by a bear [Exit, pursued by a bear]. But before that happened, he left in the cradle a beautiful emerald that had belonged to Hermione ...

That was just Act One. You had to have had a heart of stone if you weren’t blubbing by then. Stone, I tell you. Which, in the Opera House itself would’ve been ok, but the Imax at Bluewater? Not so much ...

Perdita (Sarah Lamb) and Florizel (Steven McRae)

The intensity of the first part gives way to the delicate joy of the next, as the baby princess, found by shepherds, grows up as Perdita and falls in love with a disguised Prince Florizel – son of Polixenes! Against the backdrop of a beautiful bejewelled tree, their courtship is pure wonderment. A sense of Irish & folk dancing imbues the piece with magic; the ensemble and music hints of Riverdance and I marvel again that ballet can draw from so many genres and yet still retain its own essence. Perdita is crowned May Queen and her adopted father presents her with Hermione’s emerald. But – you knew it was coming – Polixenes is unhappy with the relationship, and condemns Perdita and her family to death. They, and Florizel, flee to Sicilia.

Wistful longing and sense of loss pervades the opening of Act 3, as Leontes, supported by Paulinha mourns at the clifftop graves of his wife and child. When Florizel and Perdita arrive they appeal to the King for help and he agrees, remonstrating with Polixenes upon his arrival. In a moment of violence, Polixenes manhandles Perdita, revealing the emerald and her true identity.

Fathers and children are reunited and celebrate the marriage of Perdita and Florizel. Wedding festivities at an end, Paulinha leads Leontes to a new statue of Hermione but, suddenly, the statue comes to life. Hermione is alive, hidden by Paulinha for 16 years. An exquisite final act, and I haven't been so choked up since Les Mis – thanks, ROH Bridge!

Shakespeare’s comedy?tragedy?late romance was screened live from the ROH on Monday, April 28th, and shown in 29 countries. Choreographed by Christopher Wheeldon and with music by Joby Talbot, we were treated during the intervals to interviews and behind the scenes glimpse of the processes involved. The audience reaction was captured on social media and posted online, where yet more plaudits were added in the comments section – read it all here.

The Live Cinema Season continues with Manon Lescaut on Tuesday, June 24th – visit the website here for the full programme. Seeing a ballet on a cinema screen is not quite being there, but it comes damn close so check out your local listings.

Post script: There wasn't a press photo available for Zanaida Yenowsky (Paulinha) but it was the desolation and sorrow in her performance that captured me most. Spooky then, that wandering around the National Gallery the next day, I found her in Da Vinci's pencil sketch. Really. Look at the photo below and then click here.

Dance dates for your diary!

Three big events coming soon:

In March, join the Dance Movement at Olympia, where Move It will once again be moving its collective feet to occupy it over the weekend 7-9 March. Dancing royalty appearing include Darcey Buseell, Sisco Gomez and The Waacktitioners.

The Interview Sofa is back, along with live performances and dance classes. New for this year is a sister show happening alongside Move It, for aspiring and professional performers interested in acting, singing and performance. PERFORM is a must if you're looking for a career in the performing arts industry. Entry is free with all full price tickets to Move It.

Find out more above Move It here and Perform here.

The UK Hip Hop Dance Championships take place in The Great Hall, 327 Mile End Road, London (an old haunt of mine, no less - probably get lost now) on Saturday, April 5th. Prelims at 3pm; Finals 7.30pm - not an awful lot of other info on the website - and the ticket site showed as as a bit dodgy, so take care on that.

A Sadler's Wells project, the Breakin' Convention kicks off its festival dates at the London theatre on Saturday, May 3rd through to the 5th. A full list of other dates and further info can be found here.

And finally, fancy a holiday but can't afford/don't have time for a two week break? Remember those soul weekenders we used to love? They've evolved - try the Summer Salsa Weekender! It's being held at the Wigana Casa de la Musica - that's the Britannia Wigan Hotel to you 'n' me - on 4th to 6th July (that's got to beat freezing on the Norfolk coast in April and October, yes?) with over 50 hours of Latin loveliness. Full details and booking links can be found here.

Priestfield to host TalentFestUK

Gillingham FC's Great Hall at Priestfield will be the venue for the London and South of England round of TalentFestUK over the weekend 26/27 April 2014.

Chase the Stage events are bringing together experts in vocals, dance and musical theatre to give feedback to up and coming performers on how to improve their skills and further their careers.

Categories include solos, duos and groups in musical theatre, dance and vocals, and also includes an open performance slot for comedians and cheerleaders, amongst others. There are additional prizes up for grabs, in the form of Super Special Awards, such as Family Heroes - recognising the commitment parents make to their child's ambition.

For full details, visit the website here.

Snippets: DWTS (Katherine's trouser trouble) Ex-Strictly champs; aspiring theatre stars

Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas made it through to the semi final of Dancing With The Stars - despite the best efforts of a wardrobe malfunction!

A beautifully swirly and romantic Viennese Waltz netted them 26 points - I must admit the getting in and out of the floor lift detracted a bit for me too - but it was still a lovely VW with plenty of movement.

They then took on the challenge of a feisty triple cha cha with an interloper - starting in a suit which made way for the normal fringy number, one of the trouser legs wrapped itself around Kath's pin and refused to let go! How she managed to keep on the beat was brilliant and she picked her moment to kick it away perfectly. The judges scored them a  near perfect 29, excellent technique and sassiness, a cool head too.

Tom Chambers received the blessing of Fred Astaire's daughter, Ava, in his West End show Top Hat.

Kara and Artem will be taking part in the Jubilee Family Festival in London.

West End Kids will be running the WEK: Summer Intensive this summer, in London from 31st July -5th August, for young musical theatre performers in the UK, aspiring for professional careers within Musical Theatre, Dance and the performing arts.

The West End Kids reflect individual talent, hard work, training, athleticism, teamwork, dedication and dazzling performance skills to young performers aged 10-21 years.

Register now for Auditions in Manchester on Wednesday 6th June and in London on Thursday 7th June.

For further info call 020 8123 2025 or send an email to: auditions@westendkids.co.uk

Purestar Productions Summer Workshop: Learn to dance like the stars of MTV with a workshop on Saturday, 25th August that will end in a showcase!

Open to all dancers: 7-10 yrs, 11-15 yrs and 16+.

Times: 9.30am to 6pm. Cost for day: £35.

Venue: Barrington Theatre, Ferndown, Dorset.

Features the Purestar Dance Team who have worked with artists such as Kylie Minogue, Madonna, Usher and Justin Timberlake.

For more info send an email to : timnoble@purestarproductions.com or call 07886 969 713.

South Bank Sky Arts Award: The Dorchester Outstanding Achievement

An almost reverential silence greeted Oscar winning actress Dame Judi Dench in the press room, after she was honoured with The Dorchester Outstanding Achievement award, for a 50 year career that sees her remain at the top of her field.

Sir Peter Hall, who first worked with Dame Judi in a 1962 production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, presented her with the award.

Dame Judi gave an emotional acceptance speech, in which she said she was overwhelmed to receive the award - and hoped it didn't mean she had to finish now!

South Bank Sky Arts Award: Theatre and Literature

Critics favourite Clybourne Park at The Royal Court were presented with the Theatre Award by Richard Griffiths. In a strong year for original theatre, the nominees beaten by Clybourne were Earthquakes in London, National Theatre and Ruined, Almeida Theatre.

The Literature award was presented by Mariella Frostrup to Candia McWilliam for What To Look For in Winter: A Memoir in Blindness. Other nominees were The Hare With Amber Eyes by Edmund de Waal and Sex and Stravinsky by Barbara Trapido.

The South Bank Sky Arts Awards

Thanks to the lovely people at Spreading Jam, I was backstage at the South Bank Sky Arts Awards yesterday, predominantly taking photos but also managing to nab a few words here and there.

One of the world's most coveted arts awards, celebrating the best of British culture and achievement, this is the 15th year of the awards and was hosted, as ever, by Melvyn Bragg. The glittering ceremony was attended by some of the most illustrious patrons, practitioners and performers of the creative arts and the winners were presented with an award designed by Turner prize winning sculptor Anish Kapoor.

Award recipients were Dame Judi Dench (Outstanding Achievement); Plan B (Best Pop); This is England 86 (TV Drama); Monsters (Best Film); Rev (Best Comedy); Clybourne Park (Theatre); BBC Philharmonic and The Halle (Classical Music); Everything Everything (The Times Breakthrough); Akram Khan (Dance); Candia McWilliam (Literature); Welsh National Opera (Opera) and Tacita Dean (Visual Arts).

Melvyn Bragg said: "The phenomenal shortlist and truly inspirational list of winners is further proof, if it were ever needed, that the arts in this country are vibrant and thriving. With such a wide array of winners, from Plan B to Die Meistersingers, This is England '86 to Clybourne Park, this is a much needed opportunity to thank and honour the dedication and breadth of talent at work in this country."

I'm not even going to attempt to put all the photos and details into one blog post - that would be madness, so you'll have to be patient! I shall post a dedicated piece to each winner for you instead, in nice easy, bitesize chunks - I may even have them all done by the end of the day!

Snippets: Flashdance, Blaze, Strictly Come Dancing, Dancing on Ice, Glee,

Fab review of the Arlene Phillips choreographed 'Flashdance' at the Shaftesbury Theatre. And a review of Blaze in Glasgow.

Strictly Come Dancing judge, Len Goodman will be hosting his own three-part BBC Radio 2 show from next month. Co-judge Alesha Dixon is fronting a documentary 'Don't Hit My Mum' about domestic violence and reveals she witnessed it first hand and here's another interview with her. And Craig Revel Horwood will be judging Britain's Best Sausage. Seriously, stop making up your own jokes ... he's looking forward to checking out the best bangers. A health Q&A with Arlene Phillips .

Excellent interview with James and Pamela. And one with Tess Daly.

More Dancing on Ice possibles, Corrie stars Steven Arnold and Julia Haworth.

BBC Worldwide and ABC begin broadcasting Skating With The Stars next month.

Interview with West End star and former Dancing on Ice judge, Ruthie Henshall.

Cat Deeley's been taking dancing notes ... she came up with this by herself - warning: Swearing! They did ask for it ... I'm assuming it's either a joke or it was edited it out! Worked a treat though!

Glee's Matthew Morrison will apparently be duetting with Sting on his debut album.