Dance has never been more popular. The success of numerous TV shows, including Strictly Come Dancing, means the public has never had a greater appetite for all forms of dance, from ballet to contemporary and from hip hop to classical.

The West Midlands will welcome a bumper programme of dance events in coming months, with the Birmingham Hippodrome leading the way.

The venue will host a performance of Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker from February 7 to 11. Venue spokeswoman Mandy Rose said: “Matthew Bourne’s Nutcracker is one of the most successful dance productions ever stage in the UK and will be returning to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

“This delicious theatrical feast has family-sized helpings of Matthew Bourne’s trademark wit, pathos and magical fantasy. Nutcracker follows Clara’s bittersweet journey from a hilariously bleak Christmas Eve at Dr Dross’s Orphanage, through a shimmering, ice-skating winter wonderland to the scrumptious candy kingdom of Sweetieland.”

More high quality dance events are in store over coming months with the Royal Ballet Flanders appearing from April 25-26 with a production called Artifact.

Ms Rose said: “Artifact is a full-evening show in four parts, and presents group scenes, solos and pas de deux to Johann Sebastian Bach’s Chaconne in D. Artifact combines an exceptional amount of text for a dance performance with an extensive repertoire of sign language and extremely formal pure-dance sections, and sometimes even wild combinations involving all of these.”

Other productions currently booking including Sylvie Guillem’s Push, which will be staged on May 11 and 12. Guillem, widely regarded as the most brilliant ballerina of her generation, will be joined onstage by Russell Maliphant for the very first time at Birmingham Hippodrome.

Birmingham Royal Ballet will return from June 20-23 for a production of Far From The Madding Crowd while the company will also appear from June 27-30 for a run of Summer Celebration, which features three pieces: The Grand Tour – Faster, Strong, Higher – and The Dream. Further details are available at www.birminghamhippodrome.com