Thiago Soares becomes Royal Ballet guest Principal for the 2019/20 SeasonAfter 16 years with The Royal Ballet, Thiago Soares has decided to make this Season his last as a Principal dancer with the Comapny in order to focus on new projects in dance and the performing arts. He will return as a guest Principal in the 2019/20 Season.Soares said,I’m so grateful to The Royal … [Read more...] about After 16 years, Thiago Soares leaves as Principal dancer with The Royal Ballet
Mayerling
Matthew Ball in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Luke Jennings – The ObserverFrom the moment of his first entrance, it’s Ball’s show. As well as being an assured technician, he’s a dance actor of real charisma. As the Swan, he’s dangerous and commanding, all sinew and hissing aggression; and as the Stranger he’s as disdainful as he is sexually predatory, cutting a ruthless swath through the female courtiers before finally, … [Read more...] about Matthew Ball in Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake
Photo Album – 40th anniversary performances of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling
Kenneth MacMillan’s darkly dramatic masterpiece, Mayerling, opens The Royal Ballet’s 2018/19 Season.Featuring one of the most technically demanding male roles in classical ballet, Mayerling is based on the true story of the deaths of Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and his teenage mistress Mary Vetsera which shocked the world in 1889.Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal … [Read more...] about Photo Album – 40th anniversary performances of Kenneth MacMillan’s Mayerling
Exclusive photo from Royal Opera House archives to remember Kenneth MacMillan
Kenneth MacMillan died of a heart attack on 29 October 1992. It happened during a performance of his 1978 ballet Mayerling. Jeremy Isaacs, then general director of the Royal Opera House, announced his death from the stage after the performance and asked the audience to "rise and bow your heads and leave the theatre in silence".In March of the same year he had … [Read more...] about Exclusive photo from Royal Opera House archives to remember Kenneth MacMillan
Interview with The Royal Ballet’s Merle Park in 1979: Green Park, Hyde Park or Merle Park?
Merle Park, the engine driver’s daughter from Rhodesia (modern Zimbabwe), ended up being one of The Royal Ballet’s brightest stars. She says that she first realised she’d become famous when she heard a question on a quiz game on the radio: “Which is the odd name out: Green Park, Hyde Park or Merle Park?” I thought, Goodness, I must have arrived! In 1979, she was contemplating … [Read more...] about Interview with The Royal Ballet’s Merle Park in 1979: Green Park, Hyde Park or Merle Park?