Tonight, 22 October 2019, is opening night at The Royal Opera House for a Petipa/Ashton/MacMillan triple bill.
The Royal Ballet will be dancing Concerto, Enigma Variations and Raymonda Act III until 20 December. From The Royal Ballet's classical origins in the works of Petipa, to the home-grown choreographers who put British ballet on the world stage, this mixed programme highlights the versatility of the Company.
Concerto, MacMillan's fusion of classical technique with a contemporary mind, completes a programme that shows the breadth of the Company's heritage.
Ashton's Enigma Variations is quintessentially British in every way – from its score by Elgar and period designs by Julia Trevelyan Oman, to Ashton's signature style, the essence of British ballet.
Petipa's Raymonda Act III is Russian classical ballet summarized in one act, full of sparkle and precise technique.
Conducted by Pavel Sorokin
Cast – Lauren Cuthbertson, Fumi Kaneko, Marcellino Sambé, Reece Clarke
Conducted by Pavel Sorokin
Cast – Laura Morera, Christopher Saunders, Bennet Gartside, Francesca Hayward, Matthew Ball
Conducted by Pavel Sorokin
Cast – Sarah Lamb, Vadim Muntagirov
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.
Enigma Variations!! Ashton at his best….wish I could be there and see this very attractive program.
The Concerto cast announced on your website is wrong! The 2nd Movement will be danced by Principal ballerina Yasmine Naghdi and Ryoichi Hirano.
This is the first night cast on 22 October 2019 (the images were posted as the ballet was on stage at the Royal Opera House) and the photos are from the dress rehearsal, taken a couple of days previously. The cinema cast is on the ROH website.