The Guardian reviews The McRae/Vassilev Project, a Royal Ballet production at the Linbury theatre pairing Royal Opera House dancer Steven McRae with violinist Vasko Vassilev, directed by Natalie Abrahami and choreographed by Loughlan Prior. The critic finds it an uneven but engaging hybrid of dance, music and biography, praising the calibre of the performers even where the staging concept feels stitched together rather than seamless.

The first half blends a polished pas de deux from McRae and Sarah Lamb with a semi-improvised, documentary-style segment tracing McRae and Vassilev's contrasting backgrounds, which the reviewer finds charming but occasionally stilted in its scripted naturalism. The second half transforms the cast into devilish incarnations of virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini, showcasing McRae's tap-influenced footwork and Vassilev's intense stage presence, though the review criticises overly busy visual effects such as projections, smoke and animation as distracting from the performers' skill. The production runs at the Linbury theatre, London, until 19 September.