English National Ballet (ENB) has announced plans for the 2013–14 season, including new works by Akram Khan, Liam Scarlett and Russell Maliphant, the company’s first performances at London’s Barbican Theatre and a guest appearance by Carlos Acosta.

Since 2008, ballerina Alina Cojocaru (pictured) has been raising funds for the Bucharest Hospice Appeal, holding galas for Hospices of Hope. She returns to Sadler’s Wells on Sunday, May 12, with a varied repertory and plenty of starry friends.

Ivan Putrov will appear as a guest artist with English National Ballet next week. Putrov, formerly of The Royal Ballet, will make his debut performance in Roland Petit’s Le Jeune homme et la Mort, partnering Jia Zhang. He replaces ENB’s Yonah Acosta, and will alternate as the Young Man with Nicolas Le Riche of the Paris Opéra Ballet and ENB soloist Fabian Reimair, who is also making his debut in the role.

After 21 years with The Royal Ballet, Leanne Benjamin will retire in July 2013, at the end of the current season. Her last performance will be on July 10, in A Gala Evening with The Royal Ballet at the Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo as part of the company’s summer tour. Her final UK performance will be in Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling, at the Royal Opera House on June 15. She will dance Mary Vetsera – the role in which she made her debut with the company.

English National Ballet will be the first UK company to present a full-length production of Le Corsaire, opening on tour in October 2013. The production, by Anna-Marie Holmes, was originally created for Boston Ballet in 1997, and will be revised for English National Ballet.

English National Ballet has teamed up with Dancing Times to offer its readers the chance to win four tickets in a private box for a performance of its Ecstasy and Death programme at the London Coliseum in April. The programme includes a rare chance to see the Paris Opéra Ballet étoile Nicolas Le Riche appearing opposite Tamara Rojo in Roland Petit’s Le Jeune homme et la Mort.

Tamara Rojo danced her farewell performance with The Royal Ballet in the current run of Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand last night, partnered by Sergei Polunin.

The Critics’ Circle National Dance Awards for 2012 were held at The Place on Monday, January 28. Hosted by Gary Avis of The Royal Ballet and KennethTharp of The Place, the awards celebrated a broad spread of dance performances in Britain, from hip hop – with a spectacular double win for ZooNation – to narrative ballet. Tharp and Avis opened with a touch of showbiz, dancing on with a flourish. This year’s awards were dedicated to the memory of critics John Percival, Charles Hedges and Freda Pitt.

Nominations for the 13th National Dance Awards were announced today, at a reception held at The Place. The awards are for dance performances given between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012, and are chosen by the dance section of the Critics’ Circle.

Nominations for the 13th National Dance Awards were announced today, at a reception held at The Place. The awards are for dance performances given between September 1, 2011 and August 31, 2012, and are chosen by the dance section of the Critics’ Circle.