The best dance for autumn 2012

Northern Ballet: Ondine This archetypal Romantic ballet about the love between a water sprite and a doomed young nobleman has received a choreographic makeover from Northern Ballet director David Nixon. Set to the Hans Werne Henze score commissioned for Frederick Ashton's 1958 version, this has sets and costumes by the excellent Jerome Kaplan . West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds , 8 to 15 September, then touring. northernballet.com San Francisco Ballet This season the company brings a trio of programmes that are stimulating and smart. Balanchine's Divertimento No 15 sets the benchmark for new works by Christopher Wheeldon, Mark Morris, Ashley Page, Edward Liang and others. Sadler's Wells, London , 14 to 23 September. sadlerswells.com Dance Umbrella 2012 This year's festival lasts just 10 days and is focused around a single venue. But it promises some of the most inquisitive-minded and entertaining dance on the international circuit, with works from Jonathan Burrows and Matteo Fargion, Wendy Houstoun, Beth Gill and Noé Soulier. The Platform Theatre at Central Saint Martins, London , 5 to 14 October. danceumbrella.co.uk Cedar Lake Contemporary Ballet This New York-based company is unusual in the scope and ambition of its commissioning. For its UK premiere, it brings new works by Hofesh Shechter and Alexander Ekman. Most exciting may be Grace Engine, a piece by Canadian-born Frankfurt resident Crystal Pite, whose choreography is thrillingly crafted and powerfully imagined. Sadler's Wells, London , 11 to 13 October. sadlerswells.com Matthew Bourne's Sleeping Beauty The latest collaboration between choreographer Bourne and designer Lez Brotherston is this re-telling of the Tchaikovsky classic, which reaches from the 19th century to the present day. A gothic fantasy that addresses some of the puzzles in the original fairytale. Theatre Royal, Plymouth , 5 to 10 November, then touring. new-adventures.net