This week's dance previews

English National Ballet: The Snow Queen, London Michael Corder's retelling of the Hans Christian Andersen tale has added a new family ballet to the Christmas repertory. It comes with a fine score, Julian Phillips's astute arrangement of Prokofiev's The Stone Flower, which not only restores a piece of rarely heard music to the ballet stage, but inspires Corder to some of his finest choreography to date. The storytelling may lack a true splinter of ice in its heart, but the production is always beguiling to watch: from the shy, head-spinning duets of the teenage lovers, to the brittle, icy-fingered dancing of the Snow Queen and swaggering fireworks of the Gypsies. Corder's fluid, elegantly inventive choreography makes this fairytale ballet much, much more than a festive bauble. London Coliseum, WC2, Fri to 17 Jan Cirque Du Soleil: Varekai, London Love it or loathe it, this French-Canadian circus troupe has staying power, now celebrating its 25th anniversary. This week Cirque returns to Royal Albert Hall, where its latest blockbusting spectacle, Varekai, made its UK premiere two years ago. Taking its title from the Romany word for "wherever", the production idealises the nomadic spirit at the heart of the circus tradition. The notional setting of the action is a fantasy forest, described in classically purple Cirque Du Soleil prose as "a place of possibilities … on the edge of time". It is here the show's hero inexplicably finds himself, and as he begins his exploration of the forest and its population of magical creatures, his voyage cues the troupe to deliver its usual jaw-dropping battery of circus skills: dizzying aerial stunts, exquisitely poised acrobatics, juggling, clowning et al. The music, largely written by Italian composer Violaine Corradi, provides pace and atmosphere while drawing on an eclectic range of influences that move from Bollywood to Latin America via African chants and percussion. Royal Albert Hall, SW7, Tue to 14 Feb ONES TO WATCH IN 2010 Tanztheater Wuppertal Pina Bausch: Kontakthof Iconic portrait of human love and foibles performed by two contrasting casts, one of senior citizens and one of teenagers. Barbican, EC2, 1-4 Apr Mark Morris Dance Group Made in 1988, L'Allegro, il Penseroso ed il Moderato – Morris's setting of Handel's score – still ranks as one of the great dance experiences of our time. The Coliseum, WC2, 14-17 Apr Danza Contemporana De Cuba Rarely seen outside Cuba, this boldly eclectic company brings a triple bill, including work by Matz Ek. Sadler's Wells, EC1, 19-20 Mar and touring Rambert Dance Company A revival of Merce Cunningham's 1968 classic RainForest with its Andy Warhol design. Sadler's Wells, EC1, 25-29 May and touring Hofesh Shechter Political Mother plays with notions of shock and normality to Shechter's own score. Brighton Dome, 20-21 May; Sadler's Wells, EC1, 14-17 Jul