Review: TUTU at Sadler’s Wells East

Stuart King 12 February, 2026, 08:52

When Chicos Mambo delivered their humourous dance piece Méli-Mélo back in 1998, it was lauded as a playful and even groundbreaking piece of work by those who’d never before seen men behaving camply in tutus. Those more familiar with the genre simply viewed it as a European homage to the already well established New York company Les Ballet Trockadero de Monte Carlo. Whatever the case, the piece spawned a sequel which won international awards at the Edinburgh Festival and elsewhere, ensuring the company’s success.

tutu sadlers wells east Chicos Mambo in TUTU. Photo by Michel Cavalca.

Fast forward to 2026, and Philipe Lafeuille has remained at the helm of the troupe as choreographer and artistic director as they continue to present TUTU, which is now some 12 years old and hitting its 800th performance while in London, before continuing to tour across France and the Netherlands.

We open with the solo, tutu-clad, jewellery box dancer (Adele Borde) turning slowly downstage centre before the troupe of six male dancers reveal themselves further upstage adorned in their frilly, layered pom-pom costumes. Before long, we have become familiar with the faces, the torsos and the differing personalities as the company race through 20 individual segments. For many in the audience, the routines will feel familiar; some are inherently amusing, and others seem more randomly contrived and less successful. Perhaps most concerning is that the material overall felt a little tired and uninspired.

There was a twirling trapeze suspension moment, which served no purpose except as a filler, but it was not the only such piece. A Spice Girls segment based on Wannabe lacked a humorous anchor and another where pom-pom headdresses shaped as various fruit and vegetables were worn, very quickly lost its nodding, novelty appeal. There was a pseudo Olympics moment, where the troupe performed a female gymnastic floor routine in spangly red leotards, complete with hoops, a ball and ribbon batons. It almost worked but needed more vigour, focus and direction.

There are dance skills a-plenty in evidence among the troupe, notably Kamil Pawel Jasinski’s tango and Vincenzo Veneruso’s extraordinary pointe work early in the evening, but ideas often feel choreographically underbaked resulting in too great a reliance on individual mugging where humorous ideas should more substantially underpin the choreography and performance. A prime example involved the company parading in full-length pastel dresses each flicking long-haired wigs. Why? I had no idea when it started and even less by the time it finished.

My favourite moment of the evening came while watching a thinly-veiled spoof of Strictly Come Dancing where the first couple danced a cha-cha-cha but to a reworking of the Blue Danube Waltz. Clever, musically unexpected and amusingly executed. But in truth, there weren’t enough such moments.

Those not mentioned above who also performed as part of the group, included: Marc Behra, David Guasgua, Julien Mercier and Vincent Simon.

TUTU which had originally been scheduled to appear at Peacock Theatre is now playing at Sadler’s Wells East at Stratford and continues until 15th February.