The Royal Ballet Launches the Beauty Mixed Programme This Month

Following the recent presentation of works by Crystal Pite and Kyle Abraham, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, The Royal Ballet continues to share a broad range of classics and new work across this Season and into the next, shining a light on the Company's rich history and vibrant future as it turns 90.

In honour of the Company's founder Dame Ninette de Valois who created the company we know now as The Royal Ballet, and whose vision was to 'respect the past, herald the future but concentrate on the present', the Beauty Mixed Programme features work across the generations from Madam's third act of The Sleeping Beauty to a world premiere by one of the Company's choreographers.

The programme opens with the world premiere of Anemoi by First Soloist Valentino Zucchetti who develops his joyous ballet Scherzo created especially for the youngest members of the Company and streamed to critical acclaim last autumn. Inspired by Greek mythology where Anemoi gods rule over the winds, this uplifting creation ushers in brighter times with positive winds of change and the warm arrival of spring.

The central section of the programme comprises a series of evocative duets from the two choreographers who shaped the Company's early history, Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan, and current voices in dance today. Ashton's effervescent Voices of Spring and the poignant 'farewell' pas de deux from MacMillan's Winter Dreams are joined by works by The Royal Ballet's Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, Royal Ballet Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and internationally renowned choreographer Mats Ek.

Wayne McGregor's Morgen premiered amid the pandemic last June as part of the Royal Opera House Live from Covent Garden digital stream, a touching moment of hope for better times conveyed in Richard Strauss's setting of John Henry Mackay's poem. This revival will be its first performance with a live audience. Christopher Wheeldon's beautiful pas de deux from After the Rain created for New York City Ballet in 2005 makes a welcome return to the stage.

The programme also includes the UK premiere of woman with water, a work new to The Royal Ballet by Mats Ek. The opportunity to work with such a distinctive force of dance history came as great creative inspiration for the dancers involved during what has been a challenging time with the pandemic. woman with water was originally created for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 2020, inspired by Ek's 30 years as a choreographer.

In tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois, the programme culminates with the third act of The Sleeping Beauty, a signature classic for The Royal Ballet and the production she selected for the reopening of the Royal Opera House when the Company its home there 75 years ago after the war. The burst of colour and optimism in the final act of this revival, restaged by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton, marks not only the production's 75th anniversary but also the exuberant mood of the Company's return to the stage in 2021.a??

The event will be broadcast live via the Royal Opera House website on Friday 9 July at 7.30pm, priced at £16.00 per household and will be available to watch on demand until 10 July.a??

Further details here Beauty Mixed Programme - Beauty Mixed Programme - Royal Opera House Stream (roh.org.uk)