On 22 November, at 19.15 local time, The Royal Ballet will live stream The Sleeping Beauty rehearsals from the Clore Studio. It is one of the ROH Insight events, the Paul Hamlyn Education Fund sponsored series which gives precious glimpses of the work that goes into preparing a production for the stage, comments from the artists and creators working on stage and behind the scenes at The Royal Opera House. The series includes open rehearsals, in conversations, pre-performance talks, beginners guides, behind the scenes demonstrations and participatory workshops. Dr Jenny Bavidge, Academic Director for English Literature at University of Cambridge, will explain the ballet's fairytale origins, and its history and choreography will also be discussed, in addition to spying on a rehearsal. The full ballet will be relayed live to cinemas around the world on 28 February 2017, and the Insight event can be seen on the Royal Opera House's YouTube channel.

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.