This week, dance fans can see everything from a lavish fairytale to a show that puts theatre technicians centre stage.

It’s autumn! The leaves are starting to fall, and dance companies are back on stage for the new season.

There’s more dance and performance from Watch This Space, the National Theatre’s outdoor performance festival, on London’s South Bank this week.

The Guangdong Acrobatic Troupe of China return to the UK this week. The company's unique view of Swan Lake (pictured) is at the London Coliseum from Tuesday 9 until Sunday, August 14, with further performances at the  Wales Millennium Centre, Cardiff and Birmingham Hippodrome next week. The company use the ballet as a framework for impossible feats. In the most spectacular, already a hit on YouTube, the heroine dances, on pointe, on top of her partner’s head. Yes, really. I’ve seen it. She does.

Watch This Space, the festival of free performance held outside London’s National Theatre, celebrates juggling with The Gandinis this week, from August 3–7. In the past, the company have regularly created works with dance artists, including Gill Clarke of Siobhan Davies dance.

Dive into the past, present and future with Dear Lido, a playful site-specific work based on and around the splendour of the much-loved outdoor pool.

We welcome The Maryinsky Ballet, whose London summer season opens at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden tonight.