Photo Album – First look at The Royal Ballet’s triple bill Concerto/Enigma Variations/Raymonda Act III
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, 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.
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.