The Royal Ballet's newest commission débuts at the Royal Opera House tonight: Christopher Wheeldon's full-length ballet, The Winter's Tale.
An exciting cast features Edward Watson and Lauren Cuthbertson as Leontes and Hermione, Steven McRae and Sarah Lamb as Florizel and Perdita and Federico Bonelli and Zenaida Yanowksy as Polixenes and Paulina.
The London run is almost all sold out, before anyone has had the chance to see it, which says something for the audience's faith in the Royal Ballet, their dancers, and Mr Wheeldon. Ballet lovers world-wide will get a chance to see the ballet on Monday 28 April. In the meantime, here is a first glimpse of The Winter's Tale.

Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano') about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman's Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia' column for Dancing Times magazine.