Sanjoy Roy
@sanjoyroy.net
Dance writer @theguardian.com: theguardian.com/profile/sanjoyroy
Editor: springback.org
Personal archive: sanjoyroy.net
My book(LET) Work/World: wardward.be/en/product/booklet-work-world-2/
Editor: springback.org
Personal archive: sanjoyroy.net
My book(LET) Work/World: wardward.be/en/product/booklet-work-world-2/
Last day for Springback Academy applications! Apply for our annual mentored dance writing programme for people resident in Europe (EU and non-EU), taking place at Aerowaves’ Spring Forward festival, this year in Portugal. Details: springback.org/news/springb...
November 30, 2025 at 8:59 AM
Last day for Springback Academy applications! Apply for our annual mentored dance writing programme for people resident in Europe (EU and non-EU), taking place at Aerowaves’ Spring Forward festival, this year in Portugal. Details: springback.org/news/springb...
Shoutout to my sister (+ fellow Guardian writer) and all at Transition Town Wellington for winning the first RHS sustainable gardening award. They started from 0 five years ago. Huge achievement, transformation of the local environment, and a real inspiration! www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Country diary: Once a plain old field, now a thriving forest garden | Anita Roy
Wellington, Somerset: The five years we’ve spent transforming this patch has been recognised with an RHS award. We’re proud, but we’re not done yet
www.theguardian.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:18 AM
Shoutout to my sister (+ fellow Guardian writer) and all at Transition Town Wellington for winning the first RHS sustainable gardening award. They started from 0 five years ago. Huge achievement, transformation of the local environment, and a real inspiration! www.theguardian.com/environment/...
Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes is touring and at Sadler's Wells in December, so am reposting this article from 2021 on cinema and dance and dance and Bourne.... enjoy.
sanjoyroy.net/2021/02/medi...
sanjoyroy.net/2021/02/medi...
Mediating art and life: Matthew Bourne’s The Red Shoes ⋆ Articles ⋆ Sanjoy Roy
Programme notes for the 2021 Hong Kong Arts Festival streaming, on the influence of the movies on Matthew Bourne’s work, especially The Red Shoes
sanjoyroy.net
November 25, 2025 at 1:54 PM
Matthew Bourne's The Red Shoes is touring and at Sadler's Wells in December, so am reposting this article from 2021 on cinema and dance and dance and Bourne.... enjoy.
sanjoyroy.net/2021/02/medi...
sanjoyroy.net/2021/02/medi...
Springback Assembly @ Lyon Dance Biennale, mainly its new Forum: dialogues beyond Europe partic with Indigenous peoples (AUS, BR, MZ, TW, USA). Written outcomes in wide range of voices: lyrical, analytical, critical, personal, even fictional. springback.org/assembly/2025
Springback Assembly 2025 | spreading the word around dance
Springback Assembly 2025 at Lyon Dance Biennale, France
springback.org
November 10, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Springback Assembly @ Lyon Dance Biennale, mainly its new Forum: dialogues beyond Europe partic with Indigenous peoples (AUS, BR, MZ, TW, USA). Written outcomes in wide range of voices: lyrical, analytical, critical, personal, even fictional. springback.org/assembly/2025
Courtney May Robertson has been great in own and Jan Martens’ work but HUNTER at Southbank was disappointing - esp as its themes (horror, doppelgänger) push my buttons. But felt like lots of effects, not much substance. Sorry!
November 10, 2025 at 8:46 AM
Courtney May Robertson has been great in own and Jan Martens’ work but HUNTER at Southbank was disappointing - esp as its themes (horror, doppelgänger) push my buttons. But felt like lots of effects, not much substance. Sorry!
Just delighted about Mamdani’s win. Anxious about how things will play out but let that not spoil today in any way. Today is for breathing fresh air and seeing a horizon of possibility.
(See also: Zack Polanski).
Usually I avoid posting politics on antisocial media, but this was too good.
(See also: Zack Polanski).
Usually I avoid posting politics on antisocial media, but this was too good.
November 5, 2025 at 10:14 PM
Just delighted about Mamdani’s win. Anxious about how things will play out but let that not spoil today in any way. Today is for breathing fresh air and seeing a horizon of possibility.
(See also: Zack Polanski).
Usually I avoid posting politics on antisocial media, but this was too good.
(See also: Zack Polanski).
Usually I avoid posting politics on antisocial media, but this was too good.
My biggest 2025 project has been quietly soft-launched, namely: ex-springbackmagazine.com is now springback.org - showing not just the magazine but the Springback project's range of activities. I did the entire site design, rebuild + content transfer (900+page) myself. Massive learning curve!)
Springback | spreading the word around dance
Springback is a project of Aerowaves Europe that cultivates a growing community of dance writers, journalists and communicators.
springback.org
October 23, 2025 at 9:00 AM
My biggest 2025 project has been quietly soft-launched, namely: ex-springbackmagazine.com is now springback.org - showing not just the magazine but the Springback project's range of activities. I did the entire site design, rebuild + content transfer (900+page) myself. Massive learning curve!)
Open call for Springback Academy, our annual intensive workshop for up and coming dance writers based in Europe, is OPEN. Apply by 30 November 2025. Details here:
springback.org/news/springb...
springback.org/news/springb...
Springback Academy 2026 – Open Call | Springback News
Springback Academy 2026 will take place at Aerowaves’ Spring Forward festival in Guimarães, Portugal Arrival: 5 MayAcademy: 6–9 MayDeparture: 10 May After Umeå, Barcelona, Pilsen, Aarhus, Sofia, Paris...
springback.org
October 23, 2025 at 8:51 AM
Open call for Springback Academy, our annual intensive workshop for up and coming dance writers based in Europe, is OPEN. Apply by 30 November 2025. Details here:
springback.org/news/springb...
springback.org/news/springb...
Rinse by Amrita Hepi & Mish Grigor was fresh, funny, far-reaching AND thought-provoking. Recommend! It’s on at Nottdance on 18 Oct and Transform Leeds, 21 Oct.
October 15, 2025 at 2:53 PM
Rinse by Amrita Hepi & Mish Grigor was fresh, funny, far-reaching AND thought-provoking. Recommend! It’s on at Nottdance on 18 Oct and Transform Leeds, 21 Oct.
Well this was a fascinating and somewhat hopeful listen, especially on the day that Badenoch again gets it wrong about cheap vs clean energies.
The clean energy revolution – a reason to be hopeful – podcast
The clean energy revolution – a reason to be hopeful – podcast
Why might authoritarians fear the rise of solar energy? With Bill McKibben
www.theguardian.com
October 2, 2025 at 7:32 AM
Well this was a fascinating and somewhat hopeful listen, especially on the day that Badenoch again gets it wrong about cheap vs clean energies.
Here’s me on returning to classes at The Place London, only about 40 yrs after I first went to the evening school there. www.instagram.com/reel/DO_ZdLs...
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
September 24, 2025 at 8:52 PM
Here’s me on returning to classes at The Place London, only about 40 yrs after I first went to the evening school there. www.instagram.com/reel/DO_ZdLs...
Like many others, I had lots of mixed feelings about Jonathan Watkins’ A Single Man.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
A Single Man review – homoerotic tennis enlivens ballet version of Isherwood’s classic
Riven in two by grief – with musician John Grant playing the mind and former Royal Ballet principal Ed Watson the body – lead character George takes a finely danced journey back toward life’s flow in ...
www.theguardian.com
July 4, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Like many others, I had lots of mixed feelings about Jonathan Watkins’ A Single Man.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/j...
East is East, West is West? The question runs through Europe too. Here is the third in the Critical Distance series, copublished with @mobiustheatre.bsky.social , and Springback Magazine writers. 👇🏽
Hot off the press 🔥📰 We've got another new blog post for you this week!
The third instalment of @sanjoyroy.net 's Critical Distance series is from dance writer Lena Megyeri.
bit.ly/3IjwXpO
The third instalment of @sanjoyroy.net 's Critical Distance series is from dance writer Lena Megyeri.
bit.ly/3IjwXpO
June 27, 2025 at 6:04 PM
East is East, West is West? The question runs through Europe too. Here is the third in the Critical Distance series, copublished with @mobiustheatre.bsky.social , and Springback Magazine writers. 👇🏽
On cultural performance and natural death.
Circumstances meant I had to write in a different and much more personal way than usual.
Dedicated to Hilary Ann Roy (1940-2025).
springbackmagazine.com/springback-a...
Circumstances meant I had to write in a different and much more personal way than usual.
Dedicated to Hilary Ann Roy (1940-2025).
springbackmagazine.com/springback-a...
Tree forest river sea - Springback Magazine
I’ve been advised to sit at the back, near an exit, with tissues, for Solène Weinachter’s dance-theatre show AFTER ALL. In the event, it turns out that I don’t need the exit, though I do need the back...
springbackmagazine.com
May 19, 2025 at 8:36 AM
On cultural performance and natural death.
Circumstances meant I had to write in a different and much more personal way than usual.
Dedicated to Hilary Ann Roy (1940-2025).
springbackmagazine.com/springback-a...
Circumstances meant I had to write in a different and much more personal way than usual.
Dedicated to Hilary Ann Roy (1940-2025).
springbackmagazine.com/springback-a...
Usually write on dance but am fan of #MauriceRavel. On 150th anniversary of his birth am reposting 2 texts I was superproud to have written. 1)on "small is beautiful" idea of exquisitely composed pieces that are bigger on the inside than on the outside. www.theguardian.com/music/musicb...
1/2
1/2
Ravel: small is beautiful
On Friday 7 March Radio 3 are dedicating the entire day to music by the French composer. Sanjoy Roy explains why, for him, Ravel is a truly great artist, and, below, picks his five favourite works of ...
www.theguardian.com
March 7, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Usually write on dance but am fan of #MauriceRavel. On 150th anniversary of his birth am reposting 2 texts I was superproud to have written. 1)on "small is beautiful" idea of exquisitely composed pieces that are bigger on the inside than on the outside. www.theguardian.com/music/musicb...
1/2
1/2
A video interview I did with Sadler’s Wells director Alistair Spalding about their buildings, part of the Places for Dance series at French CND Magazine. (In English! with French subtitles)
magazine.cnd.fr/fr/posts/166...
magazine.cnd.fr/fr/posts/166...
États de lieux : Sadler’s Wells
États de lieux
Sadler’s Wells
magazine.cnd.fr
February 27, 2025 at 9:21 AM
A video interview I did with Sadler’s Wells director Alistair Spalding about their buildings, part of the Places for Dance series at French CND Magazine. (In English! with French subtitles)
magazine.cnd.fr/fr/posts/166...
magazine.cnd.fr/fr/posts/166...
The "ripple-effect" of a life's work in dance: on the living legacy of Trisha Brown. Was wonderful to speak with Carolyn Lucas of Trisha Brown Dance Company about past, present and future of Brown's choreographic legacy. magazine.cnd.fr/en/posts/159...
Trisha Brown’s Choreographic Legacy Ripples On
Trisha Brown’s Choreographic Legacy Ripples On
magazine.cnd.fr
February 25, 2025 at 12:37 PM
The "ripple-effect" of a life's work in dance: on the living legacy of Trisha Brown. Was wonderful to speak with Carolyn Lucas of Trisha Brown Dance Company about past, present and future of Brown's choreographic legacy. magazine.cnd.fr/en/posts/159...
First Rose choreography award (£40,000)goes to Christos Papadopoulos. First Bloom choreography award (£15,000) to Stav Boutros. @sadlerswells.bsky.social
February 8, 2025 at 10:30 PM
First Rose choreography award (£40,000)goes to Christos Papadopoulos. First Bloom choreography award (£15,000) to Stav Boutros. @sadlerswells.bsky.social
Mysteries, the unknown, death, extinction. I was REALLY privileged to be able to talk with Simon McBurney & Crystal Pite about the Complicité/Nederlands Dans Theater Figures in Extinction trilogy.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
‘The unknowable is not nothing’: Crystal Pite and Simon McBurney on the mysteries of Figures in Extinction
Death looms large in the pair’s dance trilogy but, as Complicité’s artistic director says, confronting it is ‘integral to and essential for life’
www.theguardian.com
February 5, 2025 at 7:00 PM
Mysteries, the unknown, death, extinction. I was REALLY privileged to be able to talk with Simon McBurney & Crystal Pite about the Complicité/Nederlands Dans Theater Figures in Extinction trilogy.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2025/f...
Dimanche @mimelondon.bsky.social is funny, clever, disarming and devastating - holding a mirror to our dithering, carry-on-as-normal attitude while climactic climatic catastrophes overtake us all around.
January 30, 2025 at 10:09 PM
Dimanche @mimelondon.bsky.social is funny, clever, disarming and devastating - holding a mirror to our dithering, carry-on-as-normal attitude while climactic climatic catastrophes overtake us all around.
A real highlight of my year (2024) was being haunted by three deep & dark puppet theatre shows by Yngvild Aspeli of Plexus Polaire. Catch their Moby Dick 22-25 Jan @mimelondon.bsky.social
Here we talk puppetry, life/death, hunting and of course haunting…
Here we talk puppetry, life/death, hunting and of course haunting…
‘The ungraspable phantom of life’: why puppetry is perfect for plumbing the deep mysteries of Moby-Dick
‘The ungraspable phantom of life’: why puppetry is perfect for plumbing the deep mysteries of Moby-Dick
Yngvild Aspeli, whose staging of the Melville novel forms the centrepiece of this year’s MimeLondon festival, explains the eerie magic of her craft
It is unnerving to be taken backstage after a show only to find yourself stepping over the inert,…
www.theguardian.com
January 2, 2025 at 7:10 PM
A real highlight of my year (2024) was being haunted by three deep & dark puppet theatre shows by Yngvild Aspeli of Plexus Polaire. Catch their Moby Dick 22-25 Jan @mimelondon.bsky.social
Here we talk puppetry, life/death, hunting and of course haunting…
Here we talk puppetry, life/death, hunting and of course haunting…
The original “name above the title” was film director Frank Capra, who got higher billing than the film itself. In dance, Matthew Bourne has name-above-title status and this is the work that did most to make that happen.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/d...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/d...
Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake review – a mythic modern classic flies again
Back for a 30th anniversary tour, the star choreographer’s signature wit and tenderness shine in this perennially haunting fantasy
www.theguardian.com
December 20, 2024 at 4:48 PM
The original “name above the title” was film director Frank Capra, who got higher billing than the film itself. In dance, Matthew Bourne has name-above-title status and this is the work that did most to make that happen.
www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/d...
www.theguardian.com/stage/2024/d...
RIP Caroline Miller. Such a shock and a loss. A real (and very human) force of life in the dance world, warmly regarded by so many. Also very funny! Was (among other things) press officer at Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells, director of Dance UK, and most recently CEO of Birmingham Royal Ballet
December 16, 2024 at 9:56 AM
RIP Caroline Miller. Such a shock and a loss. A real (and very human) force of life in the dance world, warmly regarded by so many. Also very funny! Was (among other things) press officer at Southbank Centre and Sadler’s Wells, director of Dance UK, and most recently CEO of Birmingham Royal Ballet
Here’s a short piece I wrote after being pushed off the railway onto the runway by (the irony is lost on no one) by consequences of climate breakdown.
springbackmagazine.com/supplement/a...
springbackmagazine.com/supplement/a...
Travel derailed - Assembly Budapest 2024
Floods pushed people from railway to runway – a process rooted in policy, not nature
springbackmagazine.com
November 22, 2024 at 10:45 AM
Here’s a short piece I wrote after being pushed off the railway onto the runway by (the irony is lost on no one) by consequences of climate breakdown.
springbackmagazine.com/supplement/a...
springbackmagazine.com/supplement/a...