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New Adventures: Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake, London
Matthew Bourne's reinvention of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake has become a deserved staple of the Christmas season. While its depiction of the prince and his court circle has a slick comic touch and some deliciously sly references to our own house of Windsor, there are moments of poetic genius in Bourne's depiction of the lonely prince and his doomed love for the sexiest of shape-shifting birds. The work's other enduring strength is that it gives new casts wonderful opportunities to refresh and re-inhabit the material. Performing the swan, the role that made Adam Cooper an international star, is Richard Windsor, one of dancers who created the title role in Bourne's Dorian Gray; alternating with him is Jonathan Ollivier who is making his debut with New Adventures. The two dancers taking on the prince role are company members Christopher Marney and Dominic North.

Sadler's Wells, EC1, Thu to 24 Jan


Boy Blue Entertainment: The Pied Piper, London
The Barbican has gone hip-hop for its Christmas show this year, bringing back the popular street dance company Boy Blue. The troupe has just been appointed associate artist at the theatre, marking the end of a year that's included a UK-wide tour and an appearance on one of the coveted guest slots on Strictly Come Dancing. This version of the Pied Piper is based on Robert Browning's classic poem but updates the action to a modern city, where the rats who have overrun the streets are not vermin but asbo-tracked kids in black hoodies. There's lots of comedy and lots of virtuoso head-spinning, body-popping and locking as the teen pack fight against the city's grim and repressive governors' attempts to exclude them from their rightful territory.

Barbican, EC2, Thu to 3 Jan


Ockham's Razor: The Mill, Cardiff & Salford
Ockham's Razor puts its own spin on the circus genre by inventing new kinds of equipment to challenge its aerial skills. This latest show is based around a giant wheel of wood and steel suspended six metres above the ground. Powered only by the physical effort of the performers, it functions both as playground and challenge, a treadmill and a ferris wheel. With one tiny movement it propels to careering speeds that are both glorious and terrifying to control. Directed by Toby Sedgwick (choreographer for the National's War Horse) in collaboration with dramaturg Rufus Norris, this spectacle explores the world of physical labour: its sweat, its heat, its danger, and its exhilaration.

The Lowry, Tue; Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff, Thu

• Dance

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