Last night, 8 June 2019, The Royal Ballet celebrated the centenary of the birth of its most famous ballerina, Dame Margot Fonteyn, who was born on 18 May 1919.

A performance of The Firebird, currently in a triple bill, was followed by a gala of extracts from ballets representing some of Fonteyn’s most celebrated roles.

Another dame, Dame Darcey Bussell, also appeared on stage last night for the first time since her retirement, 12 years ago.

The Royal Ballet Director, Kevin O’Hare said,

The full Company has come together to celebrate the legacy of our Prima Ballerina Assoluta, Dame Margot Fonteyn, born a century ago on 18 May. We are delighted to welcome back another cherished Dame for this important occasion, Dame Darcey Bussell.

Darcey gave her retirement performance as a Principal dancer on the Royal Opera House stage 12 years ago to the very day which makes her appearance this evening all the more touching. She was partnered then in Kenneth MacMillan‘s Song of the Earth by Principal Character Artist Gary Avis and they appear together again this evening in Frederick Ashton’s Tango from Façade.  Fonteyn gave a wonderful account of this witty number for her 60th birthday gala with Robert Helpmann so it’s very special to revive it for this event that has resonance for both Company ballerinas.

THE ROYAL BALLET

MARGOT FONTEYN

A CELEBRATION

SATURDAY 8 JUNE 2019

THE FIREBIRD

THE FIREBIRD – ITZIAR MENDIZABAL

IVAN TSAREVICH – NEHEMIAH KISH

THE BEAUTIFUL TSAREVNA – CLAIRE CALVERT

THE IMMORTAL KOSTCHEÏ – CHRISTOPHER SAUNDERS

THE ENCHANTED PRINCESSES

TARA-BRIGITTE BHAVNANI, MICA BRADBURY, ANNETTE BUVOLI, YUHUI CHOE, HELEN CRAWFORD, LETICIA DIAS, HANNAH GRENNELL, ISABEL LUBACH, KRISTEN MCNALLY, ROMANY PAJDAK, GINA STORM-JENSEN, LARA TURK

INDIANS, KOSTCHEÏ’S WIVES, YOUTHS, KIKIMORAS, THE BOLIBOTCHKI, MONSTERS, ATTENDANTS, PAGES, CAVALIERS

ARTISTS OF THE ROYAL BALLET, STUDENTS OF THE ROYAL BALLET SCHOOL

INTERVAL

THE SLEEPING BEAUTY

THE ROSE ADAGE

PRINCESS AURORA – MARIANELA NUÑEZ

ENGLISH PRINCE – GARY AVIS

FRENCH PRINCE – NICOL EDMONDS

INDIAN PRINCE – NEHEMIAH KISH

RUSSIAN PRINCE – THOMAS WHITEHEAD

KING FLORESTAN – ALASTAIR MARRIOTT

HIS QUEEN – CHRISTINA ARESTIS

NOCTURNE

BEATRIZ STIX-BRUNELL

THE WISE VIRGINS

ROMANY PAJDAK

BIRTHDAY OFFERING

VARIATION

FUMI KANEKO

PAS DE DEUX

SARAH LAMB, RYOICHI HIRANO

ONDINE

FRANCESCA HAYWARD, EDWARD WATSON

SYLVIA

MAYARA MAGRI

ANNETTE BUVOLI, CLAIRE CALVERT, YUHUI CHOE, LETICIA DIAS, HANNAH GRENNELL, CHISATO KATSURA, GINA STORM-JENSEN, LARA TURK

DAPHNIS AND CHLOË

ANNA ROSE O’SULLIVAN, ALEXANDER CAMPBELL

ROMEO AND JULIET

NATALIA OSIPOVA, DAVID HALLBERG

FAÇADE

TANGO

DARCEY BUSSELL, GARY AVIS

LE CORSAIRE

YASMINE NAGHDI, VADIM MUNTAGIROV

APPARITIONS

LAUREN CUTHBERTSON, MATTHEW BALL

MICA BRADBURY, ANNETTE BUVOLI, ISABEL LUBACH, JULIA ROSCOE, LETICIA STOCK, GINA STORM-JENSEN, LARA TURK, YU HANG, DAVID DONNELLY, TÉO DUBREUIL, KEVIN EMERTON, TOMAS MOCK, ERICO MONTES, AIDEN O’BRIEN, FRANCISCO SERRANO, JOSEPH SISSENS

Gramilano Editor

Graham Spicer, aka ‘Gramilano’, is a writer, director and photographer based in Milan. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy. His articles have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the Danza in Italia column for Dancing Times magazine. Graham was the historical advisor on Codice Carla, the 2023 documentary on Italian ballerina Carla Fracci.

Graham also works as a dance photographer, and his photos have appeared in many books, theatre programmes, and magazines, including Dancing Times, Dance Spirit and Ballet2000, as well as all the major Italian newspapers.

He is a member of the Dance Section of The Critics’ Circle.