The Royal Ballet opens its 2026/27 season with Manon and a live cinema relay
Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon opens The Royal Ballet’s 2026/27 season, with performances from 13 October and a live cinema relay on 27 October.
Anthony Dowell
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American Ballet Theatre announces 2026 Fall Season and 2027 Spring Season at The David H. Koch Theater
American Ballet Theatre’s two seasons at the David H. Koch Theater in 2026-2027 were announced by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe.
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dance | interviews | top dance
Interview: Jacopo Tissi is keeping it simple – finding balance in a fast-paced world
Graham Spicer talks to Jacopo Tissi on life after the Bolshoi and being a Principal Dancer with the Dutch National Ballet.
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Interview: The Royal Ballet’s Mariko Sasaki and Giacomo Rovero on preparing for the Sugar Plum Fairy and her Prince
I talked to Mariko Sasaki and Giacomo Rovero about preparing to dance The Sugar Plum Fairy and The Prince in The Royal Ballet’s The Nutcracker.
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Review: The Royal Ballet School Summer Performance – the stars of tomorrow step into the spotlight today
Georgina Butler sees The Royal Ballet School Summer Performance 2025 celebrating tradition, innovation and passion and danced by remarkable students.
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Interview: The Royal Ballet’s Giacomo Rovero on dancing among the vines – Rocchetta Grand Jeté
Royal Ballet Soloist Giacomo Rovero on his career and organising the upcoming Rocchetta Grand Jeté in an Italian vineyard.
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Interview: Roberto Bolle turns 50
Today is Roberto Bolle’s 50th birthday and for the occasion we have published online my interview with him for Dancing Times magazine.
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Voices of British Ballet’s new podcast and platform to celebrate the history of dance in Britain
Voices of British Ballet, the oral history project that began in 2002, will now be available online with podcasts from its vast library of interviews.
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[Review] The Royal Ballet in Ashton Celebrated – Les Rendezvous, The Dream, Rhapsody
Jonathan Gray sees The Royal Ballet in Ashton Celebrated – Les Rendezvous, The Dream, and Rhapsody – an evening of musicality and daring.
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[Review] Swan Lake with The Royal Ballet – Mayara Magri shows that “great dancing can overcome even the most banal production”
Jonathan Gray sees Liam Scarlett’s production of Swan Lake for The Royal Ballet – “in Scarlett’s hands the ballet becomes a confusing mess”.
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Kenneth MacMillan’s Manon returns to The Royal Ballet for its 50th Anniversary
The Royal Ballet presents MacMillan’s Manon, 50 years since its 1974 premiere, and 100 years since the death of its designer Nicholas Georgiadis.
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[Review] A new dance biography: “Dynamo, Michael Somes – A Life in the Royal Ballet”
Royal Ballet’s Michael Somes was an almost legendary figure as a danseur noble, glamorous partner of Margot Fonteyn, and ballet master with a ferocious temper.
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Dynamo – Sarah Woodcock’s new biography of The Royal Ballet star Michael Somes
Sarah Woodcock’s new biography of Royal Ballet star Michael Somes, the dynamo driving performances as partner to Margot Fonteyn and overseer of performances.
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Casting announced for American Ballet Theatre’s 2023 Fall Season
Casting for American Ballet Theatre’s 2023 Fall Season at the David H. Koch Theater from October 18–29 was announced today by Artistic Director Susan Jaffe.
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American Ballet Theatre announces 2023 Fall Season in New York
Artistic Director Susan Jaffe announced American Ballet Theatre’s Fall season programming today. The season will run from 18–29 October with three programmes.
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[Review] The Royal Ballet’s Cinderella – not quite top drawer?
Akane Takada with Nicol Edmonds and Laura Morera with Matthew Ball head two debut casts in The Royal Ballet’s new production of Ashton’s Cinderella.
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Alessandra Ferri and Massimo Murru give Manon masterclasses from La Scala
Before the gala from La Scala that includes a pas de deux from Manon, Ferri and Murru coach the roles of Manon and Des Grieux.
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dance | featured | interviews | top dance | top interviews
In conversation with Marianela Nuñez
The Royal Ballet’s Argentinian principal dancer, Marianela Nuñez, is in lockdown in Buenos Aires. She went there to be near her family and partner, because now home, for Nela, is London, which also happens to be home to her beloved company at The Royal Opera House.
We caught up via Skype in June: I was in my office in Milan, and Nela was 11,000 km away, sitting against an orange wall which steadily turned maroon then almost black as the day drew in.
Lockdown in Argentina! How’s that working out?
It’s very strict here. We started lockdown at the same time as England, pretty much – I know you in Italy started earlier. There were only a few cases, but obviously here there are more difficulties compared to Europe, and they were worried that the health system would collapse.
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dance | music & opera | news
#OurHouseToYourHouse: tonight’s Royal Opera House’s 2nd live concert and next week’s programme
Tonight is the second of the Live from Covent Garden concerts at 7.30pm BST which will be broadcast via the Royal Opera House website from Covent Garden. These are the first live performances at the Royal Opera House since the building closed its doors to the public on 17 March.
Tonight’s concert includes a performance of Albert Schönberg’s reduction of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde with tenor David Butt Philip, mezzo-soprano Sarah Connolly and soloists of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House. Principal dancer of The Royal Ballet Vadim Muntagirov will perform Frederick Ashton’s Dance of the Blessed Spirits. The solo was initially created in 1978 for Anthony Dowell and is a showcase of balance and poise.
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dance | featured | interviews | top dance | top interviews
Interview with The Royal Ballet’s Lauren Cuthbertson – so much passion
On 14 March 2020, The Royal Ballet’s principal dancer Lauren Cuthbertson was dancing Aurora in The Sleeping Beauty on the stage of the Mariinsky Theatre… two days later a message arrived: The Royal Opera House was closing.
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dance | featured | interviews | top dance | top interviews
Interview: The Royal Ballet’s Ballet Master, Christopher Carr, on mounting Coppélia, the company’s dancers and technique
Everyone who has followed The Royal Ballet in rehearsal during World Ballet Day or watched the interval clips and interviews during the intervals of the company’s live cinema relays will know Christopher Carr. The Royal Ballet’s Guest Principal Ballet Master isn’t afraid of raising his voice, clapping his hands loudly and stamping the floor with…
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Rome Opera Ballet announces 2019-2020 season
Five different programmes make up Rome Opera Ballet‘s new season, 2019-2020. Benjamin Pech’s successful Swan Lake will be remounted to open the season. This will be followed by an evening dedicated to Jerome Robbins; a new work by José Carlos Martínez telling the tale of Lord Byron’s Il Corsaro (The Corsair); a triple bill featuring…
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Photo Album: first look at The Royal Ballet’s new triple bill
The Firebird / A Month in the Country / Symphony in C The curtain has just gone up on The Royal Ballet‘s latest triple bill and here are the first photos. The flash of a firebird, a family sent into a spin and a classical ballet explosion. Michel Fokine’s The Firebird with Igor Stravinsky‘s music is a…
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Lescaut almost steals the show among excellent performances in Manon at La Scala
I wonder how many reviews of Manon start by appraising the portrayal of Lescaut. A very important character of course, but certainly he has less plot points or stage time than Des Grieux and the eponymous heroine. At La Scala, in the cast of 27 October, Lescaut was played, quite brilliantly, by Walter Madau. Madau…
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James Hobley, Britain’s Got Talent’s autistic dancer, now 19 leaves ENB’s school to join Scottish Ballet
James Hobley, first known to the general public as a Britain’s Got Talent finalist in 2011, has graduated from English National Ballet School and has a contract to start his professional career with Scottish Ballet. I wrote about his story three years ago, because it is extraordinary and reads like a fable. Here is the…
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Photo Album: preview of tonight’s opening cast of Manon with Francesca Hayward and Federico Bonelli
Kenneth MacMillan‘s Manon is revived at Covent Garden as part of continuing celebrations of MacMillan’s profound impact on British ballet, to mark the 25th anniversary of his death. Tonight’s opening cast features Francesca Hayward, Federico Bonelli and Alexander Campbell. Production Credits Choreography Kenneth MacMillan Music Jules Massenet Orchestration Martin Yates Designer Nicholas Georgiadis Lighting designer John…
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Zenaida Yanowsky’s final curtain call
After 23 years with The Royal Ballet, last night Zenaida Yanowsky gave her final curtain call on the Covent Garden stage. Her final performance at the Royal Opera House was in Marguerite and Armand where she danced alongside Roberto Bolle. Her last performance with the Company, however, will be in Australia in July, performing Paulina in The…
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Sergei Polunin returns to dance with Natalia Osipova at The Royal Ballet
Former Royal Ballet Principal Sergei Polunin will partner Natalia Osipova in June, when he returns to dance in Frederick Ashton’s Marguerite and Armand. Other casting sees another former Royal Ballet Principal, Alessandra Ferri, together with her fellow Italian Federico Bonelli, and the third Italian in the lineup is Roberto Bolle who will be partnering Zenaida…
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Photos of the first night cast of The Royal Ballet’s The Sleeping Beauty with Sarah Lamb and Vadim Muntagirov
The Sleeping Beauty holds a special place in The Royal Ballet’s repertory. It was the ballet with which the Company reopened the Royal Opera House in 1946 after World War II, its first production at its new home in Covent Garden. To celebrate its 70th anniversary with the Company, from tomorrow night, 21 December,…
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Royal Ballet’s 70th anniversary revival of The Sleeping Beauty – casting and photos
The Sleeping Beauty reopened the Royal Opera House after the war in February 1946 when the Company first took up residence in Covent Garden with Margot Fonteyn dancing the role of Princess Aurora. Now, 70 years later, The Royal Ballet will be performing their signature piece from Wednesday 21 December 2016 until Tuesday 14 March 2017. The 70th anniversary…
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