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The Royal Ballet

The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois.[1] It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946, and has purpose-built facilities within these premises.[1] It was granted a royal charter in 1956, becoming recognised as Britain's flagship ballet company.

The Royal Ballet
General information
NameThe Royal Ballet
Previous names
  • Vic-Wells Ballet
  • Sadler's Wells Ballet
Year founded1931
FounderDame Ninette de Valois
PatronHM The King
Principal venueRoyal Opera House, London, UK
Websitewww.roh.org.uk
Senior staff
Director
Artistic staff
Music Director
Resident Choreographers
Other
Sister companyBirmingham Royal Ballet
Associated schoolsRoyal Ballet School

The Royal Ballet was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century, and continues to be one of the world's most famous ballet companies to this day, generally noted for its artistic and creative values. The company employs approximately 100 dancers. The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School, and it also has a sister company, the Birmingham Royal Ballet, which operates independently. The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet is the late Dame Margot Fonteyn.

History edit

Ninette de Valois, an Irish-born dancer founded the Academy of Choreographic Art, in 1926, a dance school for girls.[2] Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school, leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis. Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler's Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues.

Sadler's Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic-Wells Ballet and Vic-Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre. These would become the predecessors of today's Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School. Prior to her return to Britain, Ninette de Valois had been a member of the Ballets Russes, one of the most renowned and influential ballet companies of the 20th century. The company disbanded in 1929 following the death of its founder Serge Diaghilev. When de Valois formed the Vic-Wells Ballet, she employed some of the company's former stars, including Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin, who joined as Principal dancers, and Tamara Karsavina, who worked with the company as an advisor. The Founder Musical Director was the conductor and composer Constant Lambert who had considerable artistic as well as musical influence over the early years of the company.[3]

After losing the link with the Old Vic theatre, in 1939 the company was renamed Sadler's Wells Ballet and the school became Sadler's Wells Ballet School.[4] Both continued at Sadler's Wells Theatre until 1946, when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re-opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, under the direction of David Webster. The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946, with their first production at the venue being The Sleeping Beauty.

Following the relocation of the company, the school moved to its own premises in 1947. A sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler's Wells, called the Sadler's Wells Theatre Ballet, under the direction of John Field. In 1955, the sister company temporarily lost its link with Sadler's Wells and returned to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company.

In 1956, a Royal Charter was granted for both companies and the school; they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet, Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School.[5]

The Sadler's Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1970, while continuing to tour the country. In 1987, however, the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome. It relocated to Birmingham in 1990, being renamed Birmingham Royal Ballet and it ceased to be part of the Royal Ballet in 1997 when it was made independent of the Royal Opera House, with Sir Peter Wright as artistic director. Birmingham Royal Ballet retains close relationships with both the Royal Ballet and The Royal Ballet School, which is the official school of the company.

In 1964 the Royal Ballet established "Ballet for All" under the direction of Peter Brinson. Between 1964 and 1979 "Ballet for All" toured throughout the country, presenting around 150 performances per annum and reaching around 70,000 people each year. In 1976 the Royal Opera House established its schools' matinee programme.

Today the Royal Ballet remains the resident ballet company at the Royal Opera House, conducting its own tours internationally, and it continues to be the parent company of the Royal Ballet School, which is now based at White Lodge, Richmond Park and premises in Floral Street, which are adjacent to and have direct access to the Royal Opera House.

Sergeyev edit

During its formative years, the Sadler's Wells Ballet would become one of the first ballet companies outside the Soviet Union to stage full productions of ballets by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, which were central to the repertory of the Imperial Russian Ballet. To stage these ballets with her newly formed company, de Valois employed Nicholas Sergeyev, a former régisseur of the Imperial. He staged productions of Petipa's The Sleeping Beauty; Petipa and Ivanov's Swan Lake and The Nutcracker; Petipa and Cecchetti's production of Coppélia; and Petipa's Giselle. Created with the aid of choreographic notation written in St Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century, these works have been included in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet ever since. The company now uses Peter Wright's 1984 production of The Nutcracker, which uses some of Sergeyev's notation. Sergeyev's revivals of these ballets in London are regarded as the foundation point of the traditional classical ballet repertoire, and led to their being restaged throughout the world. Sergeyev is considered to have made one of the most significant contributions to the popularity of ballet worldwide. His choreographic notation and other materials relating to it have been preserved in the Sergeyev Collection, part of the theatre collection of the Harvard University Library.

Prima ballerina assoluta edit

The Royal Ballet is one of the few ballet companies in the world to have employed four dancers considered to be prima ballerina assoluta, including three who studied at the Royal Ballet School.

The first was Alicia Markova who, having been mentored by Ninette de Valois as a member of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes, was invited to become one of the founder dancers of the Royal Ballet. She was designated the company's first Prima ballerina, and was later recognised as a Prima ballerina assoluta.

Margot Fonteyn trained at the Royal Ballet School and spent her entire career with the company. As a gift for her 60th birthday, she was appointed Prima ballerina assoluta by Queen Elizabeth II.

Phyllis Spira joined the Royal Ballet School in 1959, graduating into the Royal Ballet touring company. She later returned to her native South Africa, where she was appointed Prima ballerina assoluta by the President in 1984.

The most recent is Alessandra Ferri, who completed her training at the Royal Ballet Upper School and began her career with the Royal Ballet. After dancing with the company for four years, she was later appointed prima ballerina assoluta of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan.

Other prima ballerina assoluta have also appeared with the Royal Ballet as guest dancers, including: the French ballerina Yvette Chauvire[6] and the Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili.[7]

Structure edit

The Royal Ballet has six ranks of dancers:

  • Artist: the lowest rank in the company. Together with the First Artists, dancers at this level form the Corps de ballet. Ballet school graduates entering the company usually do so at this level.
  • First Artist: Dancers at this level have the opportunity to perform some of the Corps de Ballet's more featured rôles, such as the Dance of the Cygnets in Swan Lake. First Artists will occasionally be cast in minor Soloist rôles if they are being considered for promotion.
  • Soloist: a rank normally occupied by 15–20 dancers in the company, who perform most of the solo and minor rôles, such as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet or one of the Fairies in The Sleeping Beauty.
  • First soloist: the rank at which dancers are being considered for promotion to Principal. A dancer at this rank will dance a varied repertoire of the most featured soloist rôles, whilst understudying principals and so performing leading rôles when a Principal dancer is injured or unavailable.
  • Principal character artist: the rank given to members of the company who perform important character rôles in a ballet. These rôles are normally very theatrical and often include character dance and ballet mime. Examples include Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty or Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker. Most Principal Character Artists in the Royal Ballet are older, long-serving members of the company who are no longer able to dance the more physically challenging roles.
  • Principal: the highest rank in the Royal Ballet. Dancers at this level are the leading dancers in the company, and generally perform the most demanding and prominent rôles in a ballet. Many of the world's most celebrated dancers have been principals with the company.

The Royal Ballet also has the special ranks of "guest artist" and "principal guest artist". The title of guest artist is given to a visiting dancer who has been cast in a role for a specific ballet or limited season. The title of principal guest artist is sometimes given to guest artists who perform with the company on a longer-term basis.

The company edit

The Royal Ballet employs approximately 100 dancers and a complete list as of 2013 is shown below.[8] The company also has an Executive, Artistic and Music staff, including the following:[9]

  • Director – Kevin O'Hare, a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former dancer with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet[10]
  • Music Director – Koen Kessels, a Belgian conductor
  • Resident Choreographer – Wayne McGregor CBE, an award-winning choreographer, most noted in the field of contemporary dance and as artistic director of Random Dance company[11]
  • Artistic Associate – Christopher Wheeldon OBE

Principal dancers edit

Name Nationality Training Other companies
(inc. guest performances)
Matthew Ball   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
William Bracewell   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Birmingham Royal Ballet
Alexander Campbell   Australia Academy Ballet
Royal Ballet School
Birmingham Royal Ballet
Reece Clarke   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
Cesar Corrales   Cuba
  Canada
Canada's National Ballet School
ABT Studio Company
English National Ballet
Lauren Cuthbertson   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
Francesca Hayward   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
Ryoichi Hirano   Japan Setsuko Hirano Ballet School  
Fumi Kaneko   Japan Jinushi Kaoru Ballet School Jinushi Kaoru Ballet Company
Sarah Lamb   United States Boston Ballet School Boston Ballet
Mayara Magri   Brazil Petite Danse School
Royal Ballet School
 
Steven McRae[12]   Australia Hilary Kaplan
Royal Ballet School
 
Vadim Muntagirov   Russia Royal Ballet School English National Ballet
Yasmine Naghdi   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
Marianela Núñez   Argentina Colón Theatre Ballet School
Royal Ballet School
American Ballet Theatre
La Scala Theatre Ballet
Anna Rose O'Sullivan   United Kingdom Royal Ballet School  
Natalia Osipova
  Russia Moscow State Academy of Choreography Bolshoi Ballet
American Ballet Theatre
Mikhaylovsky Theatre
Marcelino Sambé   Portugal National Conservatory of Lisbon
Royal Ballet School
 
Akane Takada   Japan Hiromi Takahashi Ballet Studio
Bolshoi Ballet Academy
 

Principal character artists edit

First soloists edit

Soloists edit

  • Mica Bradbury
  • Lukas B. Brændsrød
  • Annette Buvoli
  • Olivia Cowley
  • Ashley Dean
  • Leticia Dias
  • Leo Dixon
  • David Donnelly
  • Téo Dubreuil
  • Tristan Dyer
  • Benjamin Ella
  • Hannah Grennell
  • Joonhyuk Jun
  • Sae Maeda
  • Taisuke Nakao
  • Romany Pajdak
  • Mariko Sasaki
  • Gina Storm-Jensen
  • David Yudes

First artists edit

  • Sophie Allnatt
  • Harris Bell
  • Liam Boswell
  • Harry Churches
  • Kevin Emerton
  • Daichi Ikarashi
  • Joshua Junker
  • Chisato Katsura
  • Bomin Kim
  • Harrison Lee
  • Isabel Lubach
  • Marco Masciari
  • Erico Montes
  • Nadia Mullova-Barley
  • Katharina Nikelski
  • Aiden O’Brien
  • Julia Roscoe
  • Giacomo Rovero
  • Leticia Stock
  • Charlotte Tonkinson
  • Amelia Townsend
  • Lara Turk
  • Yu Hang

Artists edit

  • Denilson Almeida
  • Madison Bailey
  • Martin Diaz
  • Olivia Findlay
  • Luc Foskett
  • Poppy Frankel
  • Brayden Gallucci
  • Scarlett Harvey
  • James Large
  • Ella Newton Severgnini
  • Viola Pantuso
  • Hanna Park
  • Maddison Pritchard
  • Grace Reid
  • Sumina Sasaki
  • Francisco Serrano
  • Marianna Tsembenhoi
  • Stanisław Węgrzyn
  • Ginevra Zambon

Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme edit

  • Bethany Bartlett
  • Sierra Glasheen
  • Seung Hee Han
  • Caspar Lench
  • Isabella Shaker
  • Blake Smith

Prix de Lausanne dancer edit

  • Julie Ann Joyner

Repertoire edit

Sir Frederick Ashton edit

Sir Frederick Ashton was the founder choreographer of the Royal Ballet. Previously a dancer with the Ballet Rambert, Ashton started his career as a choreographer under the direction of Dame Marie Rambert, before joining the Royal Ballet as its associate choreographer when the company was founded in 1931. He created the majority of the company's early works and staged their first performance at the Royal Opera House, a production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1946. Ashton was appointed artistic director of the Royal Ballet from 1963 to 1970, when he retired from the post. He continued to work as a choreographer internationally, with his final work being the Nursery Suite, for a gala performance by the Royal Ballet School at the Royal Opera House in 1986. His numerous ballets have since been staged by leading dance companies worldwide and feature strongly in the programming of the Royal Ballet today.

Works choreographed edit

Ashton created over 100 original ballet works and numerous other productions, some of the most notable including:

Sir Kenneth MacMillan edit

Sir Kenneth MacMillan (11 December 1929 – 29 October 1992) was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977. Although a talented dancer, MacMillan is best known for his choreography, and particularly for his work with the Royal Ballet. He also worked with the American Ballet Theatre (1956–7) and the Deutsche Oper, Berlin (1966–69). He succeeded Frederick Ashton as Director of the Royal Ballet in 1970 and resigned after seven years, frustrated at balancing the conflicting demands of creating ballets with administration. He continued as Principal Choreographer to the Royal Ballet until his death in 1992.

Works choreographed edit

His full-length works include:

MacMillan's one-act ballets include:

Wayne McGregor edit

Prior to his appointment as Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet, Wayne McGregor has already established himself as an award-winning dancer, choreographer and director. His first choreography for the Royal Ballet, was Fleur de Peux, a solo work created in 2000 on Viviana Durante. This led to further commissions by the Royal Ballet, including Symbiont(s) in 2001, Qualia in 2003 and Engram in 2005. He also created the ballet brainstate in 2001, as a collaboration between the Royal Ballet and his own company, Random Dance. McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet in 2006, the first person to hold the post in sixteen years, and the first to be selected from the world of contemporary dance.

Works choreographed edit

McGregor's works for the Royal Ballet include:

  • Fleur de Peux
  • Symbiont(s)
  • Qualia
  • Engram
  • Chroma
  • Limen
  • Nimbus
  • Infra
  • Live Fire Exercise
  • Carbon Life
  • Woolf Works
  • The Dante Project

Fonteyn-Nureyev edit

First performing together with the Royal Ballet in Giselle on 21 February 1962, Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev would form what has been called the greatest ballet partnership of all time. The partnership would lead to both dancers being noted amongst the most famous ballet dancers of all time and came at the peak of what is now widely regarded as the most successful period in the Royal Ballet's history.

On 12 March 1963, the couple premiered Sir Frederick Ashton's Marguerite and Armand, the first ballet created for them and one that become their signature piece. Performed to a piece of piano music by Franz Liszt, the ballet starts with Marguerite on her deathbed, and the story is told in flashback until the moment Armand arrives to hold her for the last time before she dies. Ashton had planned the piece specifically for Fonteyn, and it was critically acclaimed as Fonteyn's dramatic peak, with fifty photographers attending the dress rehearsal and twenty-one curtain calls at the premiere performance. The final performance of the ballet starring Fonteyn and Nureyev was staged at a gala at the London Coliseum in 1977 and it was not performed again until 2003. Against the wishes of Frederick Ashton that it not be performed by any other dancers than Fonteyn and Nureyev, it was revived as part of a Royal Ballet triple-bill, starring Nureyev's protegee Sylvie Guillem and the Royal Ballet star Jonathan Cope.

The Fonteyn-Nureyev partnership lasted for many years until Fonteyn's retirement from the Royal Ballet in 1979, aged 60. In 1970 after Frederick Ashton retired as artistic director of the Royal Ballet, there were many calls for Nureyev to be announced as his successor. However, Kenneth MacMillan was given the position, and Nureyev left the Royal Ballet as a Principal soon after to be a guest dancer internationally, later becoming artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1983. Fonteyn and Nureyev had a lifelong relationship both on and offstage and were close friends until Fonteyn's death in 1991. Nureyev is quoted as saying of the partnership that they danced with "one body, one soul".


Notable people edit

Dancers edit

Guest dancers edit

Choreographers edit

Artistic directors edit

Ross Stretton edit

Born in Canberra, Australia, in 1952, Ross Stretton trained at the Australian Ballet School, later becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet company. He then moved to America, where he danced with the Joffrey Ballet and as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre before retiring as a dancer in 1990. He was appointed regisseur of American Ballet Theatre, becoming assistant director of the company in 1993. After returning to Australia, he was artistic director of the Australian Ballet from 1997 to 2001.

Following Sir Anthony Dowell's retirement as artistic director of the Royal Ballet in 2001, the board of the Royal Opera House announced Stretton as his successor, with a three-year contract; however, he resigned the post after 13 months, in September 2002. Stretton's appointment and subsequent departure from the Royal Ballet generated an unprecedented level of media attention for the Royal Ballet in recent years, due to controversy caused by his management of the company. Following his resignation, Stretton returned to Australia where he worked as a teacher and consultant until his death from cancer in 2005.

A number of controversial issues and allegations as well as resistance to organisational change lead to Stretton's departure from the Royal Ballet:

  • Principal dancer Sarah Wildor quit the company after a dispute over casting.[15] Stretton had both historically and during his tenure with The Royal Ballet favoured athletic, speedy dancers as opposed to those with a more lyrical style, such as Wildor.
  • Lady MacMillan threatened to withdraw performing rights to works by her late husband Sir Kenneth MacMillan.[16]
  • Stretton's programming was badly received by critics.[17]
  • Dancers let it be known they were considering strike action; however, talks between Equity, the dancers' union, and the Royal Opera House's executive director Tony Hall, averted industrial action.[17]
  • Rumours and allegations were made that Stretton engaged in sexual liaisons and affairs with various dancers. Royal Opera House spokesman Christopher Millard said "there have been no informal or formal complaints to management of Royal Opera House about this."[18]

Kevin O'Hare edit

Former Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal dancer and Royal Ballet Administrative Director Kevin O'Hare succeeded Monica Mason as Director of The Royal Ballet in August 2012. Administrative Director of the company since 2009, O'Hare retired from dancing in 2000 and subsequently worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and as Company Manager of Birmingham Royal Ballet.

This is a great honour for me. Under Monica Mason's inspired leadership The Royal Ballet has had a great ten years. I am equally ambitious for the Company and dance in general. I plan to bring together the most talented artists of the 21st century to collaborate on the same stage – world class dancers, choreographers, designers, and musicians. I will aim to use all the traditional and new platforms now available to engage our audiences in our classic repertoire, and The Royal Ballet's unique heritage. I want to continue to invigorate audiences with new work and emerging talents and I am thrilled that Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon – two of the world’s leading choreographers – have agreed to join me and Jeanetta Laurence, Associate Director to become part of the senior artistic team. Both Wayne and Christopher share my exciting ambitions for the Company."[19]

Royal Opera House, Manchester edit

In 2008 the Royal Opera House and Manchester City Council began the planning stages of a new development known as Royal Opera House, Manchester. The proposal would have seen the Palace Theatre in Manchester receiving an £80 million refurbishment, to allow it to receive productions by both the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera. The proposals would have established the Palace Theatre as a designated base for the Royal Opera House companies in the North of England.[20][21][22]

The proposals were approved by the then Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport, Andy Burnham MP, and was accepted by a number of public bodies. An independent report suggested that the cost of the project would be £100 million with another £16 million needed annually for running costs of the new site.[23] In 2010 it was announced that the project was being shelved as part of larger arts-funding cuts.[23][24][25]

Laurence Olivier Awards edit

The Royal Ballet company is a multiple Laurence Olivier Award winning company. The following is a complete list of awards won by the company and its staff since the awards were established in 1978. These include awards presented to the company for a production of a particular ballet, to individual dancers for their performance in a specific rôle, to designers for their work on a specific production and to other members of the Royal Ballet staff for achievements in dance.

  • 1978 – Production of the Year in Ballet, for a production of Sir Frederick Ashton's A Month in the Country
  • 1980 – Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Ballet, for a production of Gloria
  • 1981 – Outstanding First Achievement of the Year in Ballet, awarded to Bryony Brind for her performance in The Royal Ballet's Dances of Albion
  • 1983 – Outstanding Individual Performance of the Year in a New Dance Production, awarded to Alessandra Ferri for her performance in the Royal Ballet's Valley of Shadows
  • 1983 – Outstanding New Dance Production of the Year, for a production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's Requiem
  • 1992 – Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Dance, for a production of William Forsythe's In The Middle, Somewhat Elevated
  • 1992 – Society of London Theatre Special Award, awarded to the Royal Ballet's founder and director Dame Ninette de Valois in recognition of her achievements in dance
  • 1993 – Best New Dance Production, for a production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan's The Judas Tree
  • 1995 – Best New Dance Production, for their production of Fearful Symmetries
  • 1995 – Outstanding Achievement in Dance, awarded to lighting designer Peter Mumford for the Royal Ballet's Fearful Symmetries
  • 2007 – Best New Dance Production, for their new production Chroma, choreographed by Wayne McGregor
  • 2008 – Best New Dance Production, for the company premiere of George Balanchine's ballet Jewels
  • 2008 – Outstanding Achievement in Dance, for the company premiere of George Balanchine's ballet Jewels
  • 2010 – Best New Dance Production, awarded to the Brandstrup-Rojo Project, Goldberg (a collaboration between choreographer Kim Brandstrup and dancer Tamara Rojo)
  • 2013 - Outstanding Achievement in Dance, awarded to principal dancer Marianela Núñez
  • 2016 - Best New Dance Production, for their new production Woolf Works, choreographed by Wayne McGregor
  • 2016 - Outstanding Achievement in Dance, for her performances in Chéri and Woolf Works, guest dancer Alessandra Ferri
  • 2018 – Best New Dance Production, for their new production Flight Pattern, choreographed by Crystal Pite

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Royal Opera House Collections Online". rohcollections.org.uk. from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  2. ^ Lynn Garafola (2005). Legacies of twentieth-century dance. Wesleyan University Press. ISBN 0-8195-6674-8.
  3. ^ Vaughan D. Frederick Ashton and his Ballets. A & C Black Ltd, London, 1977.
  4. ^ . 2009. Archived from the original on 4 September 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  5. ^ "Royal Ballet –British ballet company". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 22 August 2009.
  6. ^ "Yvette Chauviré : France's Prima Ballerina Assoluta - 48900". russiandvd.com.
  7. ^ "Happy Birthday Nina Ananiashvili". DanceTabs. 28 March 2013.
  8. ^ "The Royal Ballet: Artists". Royal Opera House. from the original on 31 January 2013. Retrieved 21 November 2017.
  9. ^ "The Royal Ballet: Staff". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  10. ^ on ballet.co.uk 26 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 December 2009
  11. ^ "Wayne McGregor To Become Resident Choreographer at the Royal Opera House". Huliq News. 3 December 2006. Retrieved 19 September 2009.
  12. ^ "The Royal Ballet's Steven McRae gives a ballet masterclass". Ballet News. 13 November 2012.
  13. ^ "No. 60728". The London Gazette (Supplement). 31 December 2013. p. 9.
  14. ^ "No. 62150". The London Gazette (Supplement). 30 December 2017. p. N8.
  15. ^ Reynolds, Nigel (26 September 2001). "Royal Ballet shocked as Wildor quits". Daily Telegraph, 26 September 2001. London. Retrieved 25 May 2010.[dead link]
  16. ^ Brown, Ismene (27 September 2002). . Daily Telegraph, 27 September 2002. London. Archived from the original on 6 September 2003. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  17. ^ a b . Daily Telegraph, 17 June 2005. London. Archived from the original on 20 March 2021. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
  18. ^ "Ross Stretton's royal downfall". The Age. 27 September 2002.
  19. ^ Royal Opera House. "Kevin O'Hare appointed new Director of The Royal Ballet". Royal Opera House. Retrieved 9 January 2012.
  20. ^ Higgins, Charlotte (28 October 2008). "Disharmony over Royal Opera's plan to go north". The Guardian.
  21. ^ Staff writer (31 October 2008). "Northern opera proposal evaluated". BBC News. BBC.
  22. ^ McKeegan, Alice (9 December 2009). "Deal over Royal Opera move". Manchester Evening News. Reach plc. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  23. ^ a b Staff writer (3 November 2010). "ROH shelves its plans to move north". The Stage. The Stage Media Company Ltd. from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2016.
  24. ^ Sharp, Rob (27 October 2010). "Royal Opera House shelves move north". The Independent. Independent Print Ltd.
  25. ^ Staff writer (29 October 2010). "Royal Opera House shelves move North". Place North West. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

External links edit

  Media related to Royal Ballet at Wikimedia Commons

  • The Royal Ballet – Royal Opera House website
  • Royal Ballet School website
  • Royal Ballet Cuba Pics photos by Caridad, Havana Times, 17 July 2009
  • Birmingham Royal Ballet website
  • History of the Royal Ballet School

royal, ballet, british, internationally, renowned, classical, ballet, company, based, royal, opera, house, covent, garden, london, england, largest, five, major, ballet, companies, great, britain, royal, ballet, founded, 1931, dame, ninette, valois, became, re. The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden London England The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain the Royal Ballet was founded in 1931 by Dame Ninette de Valois 1 It became the resident ballet company of the Royal Opera House in 1946 and has purpose built facilities within these premises 1 It was granted a royal charter in 1956 becoming recognised as Britain s flagship ballet company The Royal BalletGeneral informationNameThe Royal BalletPrevious namesVic Wells BalletSadler s Wells BalletYear founded1931FounderDame Ninette de ValoisPatronHM The KingPrincipal venueRoyal Opera House London UKWebsitewww roh org ukSenior staffDirectorKevin O HareArtistic staffMusic DirectorKoen KesselsBarry Wordsworth Principal Guest Conductor Resident ChoreographersWayne McGregorChristopher WheeldonOtherSister companyBirmingham Royal BalletAssociated schoolsRoyal Ballet SchoolThe Royal Ballet was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century and continues to be one of the world s most famous ballet companies to this day generally noted for its artistic and creative values The company employs approximately 100 dancers The official associate school of the company is the Royal Ballet School and it also has a sister company the Birmingham Royal Ballet which operates independently The Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet is the late Dame Margot Fonteyn Contents 1 History 1 1 Sergeyev 1 2 Prima ballerina assoluta 2 Structure 3 The company 3 1 Principal dancers 3 2 Principal character artists 3 3 First soloists 3 4 Soloists 3 5 First artists 3 6 Artists 3 7 Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme 3 8 Prix de Lausanne dancer 4 Repertoire 5 Sir Frederick Ashton 5 1 Works choreographed 6 Sir Kenneth MacMillan 6 1 Works choreographed 7 Wayne McGregor 7 1 Works choreographed 8 Fonteyn Nureyev 9 Notable people 9 1 Dancers 9 2 Guest dancers 9 3 Choreographers 9 4 Artistic directors 10 Ross Stretton 11 Kevin O Hare 12 Royal Opera House Manchester 13 Laurence Olivier Awards 14 See also 15 References 16 External linksHistory editNinette de Valois an Irish born dancer founded the Academy of Choreographic Art in 1926 a dance school for girls 2 Her intention was to form a repertory ballet company and school leading her to collaborate with the English theatrical producer and theatre owner Lilian Baylis Baylis owned the Old Vic and Sadler s Wells theatres and in 1925 she engaged de Valois to stage dance performances at both venues Sadler s Wells reopened in 1931 and the Vic Wells Ballet and Vic Wells Ballet School were established in premises at the theatre These would become the predecessors of today s Royal Ballet Birmingham Royal Ballet and Royal Ballet School Prior to her return to Britain Ninette de Valois had been a member of the Ballets Russes one of the most renowned and influential ballet companies of the 20th century The company disbanded in 1929 following the death of its founder Serge Diaghilev When de Valois formed the Vic Wells Ballet she employed some of the company s former stars including Alicia Markova and Anton Dolin who joined as Principal dancers and Tamara Karsavina who worked with the company as an advisor The Founder Musical Director was the conductor and composer Constant Lambert who had considerable artistic as well as musical influence over the early years of the company 3 After losing the link with the Old Vic theatre in 1939 the company was renamed Sadler s Wells Ballet and the school became Sadler s Wells Ballet School 4 Both continued at Sadler s Wells Theatre until 1946 when the company was invited to become the resident ballet company of the newly re opened Royal Opera House in Covent Garden under the direction of David Webster The company relocated to the opera house the same year in 1946 with their first production at the venue being The Sleeping Beauty Following the relocation of the company the school moved to its own premises in 1947 A sister company was established to continue performances at Sadler s Wells called the Sadler s Wells Theatre Ballet under the direction of John Field In 1955 the sister company temporarily lost its link with Sadler s Wells and returned to the Royal Opera House as a touring unit of the main company In 1956 a Royal Charter was granted for both companies and the school they were subsequently renamed the Royal Ballet Sadler s Wells Royal Ballet and the Royal Ballet School 5 The Sadler s Wells Royal Ballet returned to Sadler s Wells Theatre in 1970 while continuing to tour the country In 1987 however the company was invited to become the resident ballet company at the Birmingham Hippodrome It relocated to Birmingham in 1990 being renamed Birmingham Royal Ballet and it ceased to be part of the Royal Ballet in 1997 when it was made independent of the Royal Opera House with Sir Peter Wright as artistic director Birmingham Royal Ballet retains close relationships with both the Royal Ballet and The Royal Ballet School which is the official school of the company In 1964 the Royal Ballet established Ballet for All under the direction of Peter Brinson Between 1964 and 1979 Ballet for All toured throughout the country presenting around 150 performances per annum and reaching around 70 000 people each year In 1976 the Royal Opera House established its schools matinee programme Today the Royal Ballet remains the resident ballet company at the Royal Opera House conducting its own tours internationally and it continues to be the parent company of the Royal Ballet School which is now based at White Lodge Richmond Park and premises in Floral Street which are adjacent to and have direct access to the Royal Opera House Sergeyev edit During its formative years the Sadler s Wells Ballet would become one of the first ballet companies outside the Soviet Union to stage full productions of ballets by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov which were central to the repertory of the Imperial Russian Ballet To stage these ballets with her newly formed company de Valois employed Nicholas Sergeyev a former regisseur of the Imperial He staged productions of Petipa s The Sleeping Beauty Petipa and Ivanov s Swan Lake and The Nutcracker Petipa and Cecchetti s production of Coppelia and Petipa s Giselle Created with the aid of choreographic notation written in St Petersburg at the turn of the 20th century these works have been included in the repertoire of the Royal Ballet ever since The company now uses Peter Wright s 1984 production of The Nutcracker which uses some of Sergeyev s notation Sergeyev s revivals of these ballets in London are regarded as the foundation point of the traditional classical ballet repertoire and led to their being restaged throughout the world Sergeyev is considered to have made one of the most significant contributions to the popularity of ballet worldwide His choreographic notation and other materials relating to it have been preserved in the Sergeyev Collection part of the theatre collection of the Harvard University Library Prima ballerina assoluta edit The Royal Ballet is one of the few ballet companies in the world to have employed four dancers considered to be prima ballerina assoluta including three who studied at the Royal Ballet School The first was Alicia Markova who having been mentored by Ninette de Valois as a member of Serge Diaghilev s Ballets Russes was invited to become one of the founder dancers of the Royal Ballet She was designated the company s first Prima ballerina and was later recognised as a Prima ballerina assoluta Margot Fonteyn trained at the Royal Ballet School and spent her entire career with the company As a gift for her 60th birthday she was appointed Prima ballerina assoluta by Queen Elizabeth II Phyllis Spira joined the Royal Ballet School in 1959 graduating into the Royal Ballet touring company She later returned to her native South Africa where she was appointed Prima ballerina assoluta by the President in 1984 The most recent is Alessandra Ferri who completed her training at the Royal Ballet Upper School and began her career with the Royal Ballet After dancing with the company for four years she was later appointed prima ballerina assoluta of La Scala Theatre Ballet in Milan Other prima ballerina assoluta have also appeared with the Royal Ballet as guest dancers including the French ballerina Yvette Chauvire 6 and the Georgian ballerina Nina Ananiashvili 7 Structure editThe Royal Ballet has six ranks of dancers Artist the lowest rank in the company Together with the First Artists dancers at this level form the Corps de ballet Ballet school graduates entering the company usually do so at this level First Artist Dancers at this level have the opportunity to perform some of the Corps de Ballet s more featured roles such as the Dance of the Cygnets in Swan Lake First Artists will occasionally be cast in minor Soloist roles if they are being considered for promotion Soloist a rank normally occupied by 15 20 dancers in the company who perform most of the solo and minor roles such as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet or one of the Fairies in The Sleeping Beauty First soloist the rank at which dancers are being considered for promotion to Principal A dancer at this rank will dance a varied repertoire of the most featured soloist roles whilst understudying principals and so performing leading roles when a Principal dancer is injured or unavailable Principal character artist the rank given to members of the company who perform important character roles in a ballet These roles are normally very theatrical and often include character dance and ballet mime Examples include Carabosse in The Sleeping Beauty or Drosselmeyer in The Nutcracker Most Principal Character Artists in the Royal Ballet are older long serving members of the company who are no longer able to dance the more physically challenging roles Principal the highest rank in the Royal Ballet Dancers at this level are the leading dancers in the company and generally perform the most demanding and prominent roles in a ballet Many of the world s most celebrated dancers have been principals with the company The Royal Ballet also has the special ranks of guest artist and principal guest artist The title of guest artist is given to a visiting dancer who has been cast in a role for a specific ballet or limited season The title of principal guest artist is sometimes given to guest artists who perform with the company on a longer term basis The company editSee also Category Dancers of The Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet employs approximately 100 dancers and a complete list as of 2013 is shown below 8 The company also has an Executive Artistic and Music staff including the following 9 Director Kevin O Hare a graduate of the Royal Ballet School and former dancer with The Royal Ballet and Birmingham Royal Ballet 10 Music Director Koen Kessels a Belgian conductor Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor CBE an award winning choreographer most noted in the field of contemporary dance and as artistic director of Random Dance company 11 Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon OBEPrincipal dancers edit Name Nationality Training Other companies inc guest performances Matthew Ball nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School William Bracewell nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Birmingham Royal BalletAlexander Campbell nbsp Australia Academy Ballet Royal Ballet School Birmingham Royal BalletReece Clarke nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Cesar Corrales nbsp Cuba nbsp Canada Canada s National Ballet School ABT Studio Company English National BalletLauren Cuthbertson nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Francesca Hayward nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Ryoichi Hirano nbsp Japan Setsuko Hirano Ballet School Fumi Kaneko nbsp Japan Jinushi Kaoru Ballet School Jinushi Kaoru Ballet CompanySarah Lamb nbsp United States Boston Ballet School Boston BalletMayara Magri nbsp Brazil Petite Danse School Royal Ballet School Steven McRae 12 nbsp Australia Hilary Kaplan Royal Ballet School Vadim Muntagirov nbsp Russia Royal Ballet School English National BalletYasmine Naghdi nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Marianela Nunez nbsp Argentina Colon Theatre Ballet School Royal Ballet School American Ballet Theatre La Scala Theatre BalletAnna Rose O Sullivan nbsp United Kingdom Royal Ballet School Natalia Osipova nbsp Russia Moscow State Academy of Choreography Bolshoi Ballet American Ballet Theatre Mikhaylovsky TheatreMarcelino Sambe nbsp Portugal National Conservatory of Lisbon Royal Ballet School Akane Takada nbsp Japan Hiromi Takahashi Ballet Studio Bolshoi Ballet Academy Principal character artists edit Christina Arestis Gary Avis Ballet Master Bennet Gartside Alastair Marriott Elizabeth McGorian Kristen McNally Christopher Saunders Senior Ballet Master Thomas Whitehead First soloists edit Luca Acri Claire Calvert Yuhui Choe Nicol Edmonds Isabella Gasparini Melissa Hamilton James Hay Meaghan Grace Hinkis Itziar Mendizabal Calvin Richardson Joseph Sissens Valentino Zucchetti Soloists edit Mica Bradbury Lukas B Braendsrod Annette Buvoli Olivia Cowley Ashley Dean Leticia Dias Leo Dixon David Donnelly Teo Dubreuil Tristan Dyer Benjamin Ella Hannah Grennell Joonhyuk Jun Sae Maeda Taisuke Nakao Romany Pajdak Mariko Sasaki Gina Storm Jensen David Yudes First artists edit Sophie Allnatt Harris Bell Liam Boswell Harry Churches Kevin Emerton Daichi Ikarashi Joshua Junker Chisato Katsura Bomin Kim Harrison Lee Isabel Lubach Marco Masciari Erico Montes Nadia Mullova Barley Katharina Nikelski Aiden O Brien Julia Roscoe Giacomo Rovero Leticia Stock Charlotte Tonkinson Amelia Townsend Lara Turk Yu Hang Artists edit Denilson Almeida Madison Bailey Martin Diaz Olivia Findlay Luc Foskett Poppy Frankel Brayden Gallucci Scarlett Harvey James Large Ella Newton Severgnini Viola Pantuso Hanna Park Maddison Pritchard Grace Reid Sumina Sasaki Francisco Serrano Marianna Tsembenhoi Stanislaw Wegrzyn Ginevra Zambon Aud Jebsen Young Dancers Programme edit Bethany Bartlett Sierra Glasheen Seung Hee Han Caspar Lench Isabella Shaker Blake Smith Prix de Lausanne dancer edit Julie Ann JoynerRepertoire editMain article List of works performed by The Royal Ballet Swan Lake Giselle La fille mal gardee Onegin Sylvia The Sleeping Beauty Cinderella Manon Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet MacMillan Mayerling The Prince of the Pagodas A Month in the Country Winter Dreams The Tales of Beatrix Potter Peter and the Wolf The Nutcracker Les Patineurs La Valse Theme and Variations Invitus Invitam Rhapsody Sensorium The Rite of Spring Ballo della Regina DGV Danse a Grande Vitesse Scenes de ballet Ashton Voluntaries Still Life at the Penguin Cafe Alice s Adventures in Wonderland La Bayadere The Firebird Agon Symphony in C Ondine Concerto Elite Syncopations The Judas Tree Carmen Limen Chroma Asphodel Meadows Sphinx As One Electric Counterpoint Tryst Song of the Earth Anastasia The Dream Sweet Violets Carbon Life The Winter s Tale FrankensteinSir Frederick Ashton editMain article Frederick Ashton See also List of ballets choreographed by Frederick Ashton Sir Frederick Ashton was the founder choreographer of the Royal Ballet Previously a dancer with the Ballet Rambert Ashton started his career as a choreographer under the direction of Dame Marie Rambert before joining the Royal Ballet as its associate choreographer when the company was founded in 1931 He created the majority of the company s early works and staged their first performance at the Royal Opera House a production of The Sleeping Beauty in 1946 Ashton was appointed artistic director of the Royal Ballet from 1963 to 1970 when he retired from the post He continued to work as a choreographer internationally with his final work being the Nursery Suite for a gala performance by the Royal Ballet School at the Royal Opera House in 1986 His numerous ballets have since been staged by leading dance companies worldwide and feature strongly in the programming of the Royal Ballet today Works choreographed edit Ashton created over 100 original ballet works and numerous other productions some of the most notable including A Month in the Country Birthday Offering Cinderella Dante Sonata Daphnis and Chloe Facade La fille mal gardee Les Patineurs Les Rendezvous Marguerite and Armand Nocturne Ondine Regatta Rhapsody Romeo and Juliet Symphonic Variations The Dream Varii capricciSir Kenneth MacMillan editMain article Kenneth MacMillan Sir Kenneth MacMillan 11 December 1929 29 October 1992 was a British ballet dancer and choreographer He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977 Although a talented dancer MacMillan is best known for his choreography and particularly for his work with the Royal Ballet He also worked with the American Ballet Theatre 1956 7 and the Deutsche Oper Berlin 1966 69 He succeeded Frederick Ashton as Director of the Royal Ballet in 1970 and resigned after seven years frustrated at balancing the conflicting demands of creating ballets with administration He continued as Principal Choreographer to the Royal Ballet until his death in 1992 Works choreographed edit His full length works include Romeo and Juliet 1965 made on Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable but the premiere was danced by Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev Anastasia made on Lynn Seymour Manon made on Antoinette Sibley Anthony Dowell and Jennifer Penney Mayerling Isadora The Prince of the Pagodas 1989 made on Darcey Bussell and Jonathan Cope MacMillan s one act ballets include Danses Concertantes commissioned by Dame Ninette de Valois in 1955 Different Drummer The Invitation made on Lynn Seymour and Christopher Gable 1960 The Rite of Spring made on Monica Mason Elite Syncopations My Brother My Sisters La Fin du Jour Valley of Shadows made on Alessandra Ferri Gloria Noctambules Song of the Earth Solitaire Requiem Winter Dreams based on Anton Chekhov s Three Sisters The Judas Tree 1992 his last ballet made on Viviana Durante and Irek Mukhamedov Wayne McGregor editMain article Wayne McGregor Prior to his appointment as Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet Wayne McGregor has already established himself as an award winning dancer choreographer and director His first choreography for the Royal Ballet was Fleur de Peux a solo work created in 2000 on Viviana Durante This led to further commissions by the Royal Ballet including Symbiont s in 2001 Qualia in 2003 and Engram in 2005 He also created the ballet brainstate in 2001 as a collaboration between the Royal Ballet and his own company Random Dance McGregor was appointed Resident Choreographer of the Royal Ballet in 2006 the first person to hold the post in sixteen years and the first to be selected from the world of contemporary dance Works choreographed edit McGregor s works for the Royal Ballet include Fleur de Peux Symbiont s Qualia Engram Chroma Limen Nimbus Infra Live Fire Exercise Carbon Life Woolf Works The Dante ProjectFonteyn Nureyev editMain articles Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev First performing together with the Royal Ballet in Giselle on 21 February 1962 Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev would form what has been called the greatest ballet partnership of all time The partnership would lead to both dancers being noted amongst the most famous ballet dancers of all time and came at the peak of what is now widely regarded as the most successful period in the Royal Ballet s history On 12 March 1963 the couple premiered Sir Frederick Ashton s Marguerite and Armand the first ballet created for them and one that become their signature piece Performed to a piece of piano music by Franz Liszt the ballet starts with Marguerite on her deathbed and the story is told in flashback until the moment Armand arrives to hold her for the last time before she dies Ashton had planned the piece specifically for Fonteyn and it was critically acclaimed as Fonteyn s dramatic peak with fifty photographers attending the dress rehearsal and twenty one curtain calls at the premiere performance The final performance of the ballet starring Fonteyn and Nureyev was staged at a gala at the London Coliseum in 1977 and it was not performed again until 2003 Against the wishes of Frederick Ashton that it not be performed by any other dancers than Fonteyn and Nureyev it was revived as part of a Royal Ballet triple bill starring Nureyev s protegee Sylvie Guillem and the Royal Ballet star Jonathan Cope The Fonteyn Nureyev partnership lasted for many years until Fonteyn s retirement from the Royal Ballet in 1979 aged 60 In 1970 after Frederick Ashton retired as artistic director of the Royal Ballet there were many calls for Nureyev to be announced as his successor However Kenneth MacMillan was given the position and Nureyev left the Royal Ballet as a Principal soon after to be a guest dancer internationally later becoming artistic director of the Paris Opera Ballet in 1983 Fonteyn and Nureyev had a lifelong relationship both on and offstage and were close friends until Fonteyn s death in 1991 Nureyev is quoted as saying of the partnership that they danced with one body one soul Notable people editDancers edit See also Category Dancers of The Royal Ballet Carlos Acosta CBE 13 Leanne Benjamin OBE Svetlana Beriosova David Blair Federico Bonelli Dame Darcey Bussell DBE 14 Jose Manuel Carreno Alina Cojocaru Lesley Collier CBE Michael Coleman Jonathan Cope CBE John Cranko Lauren Cuthbertson Henry Danton Sir Anton Dolin Sir Anthony Dowell CBE Viviana Durante Alessandra Ferri John Field Dame Margot Fonteyn DBE Christopher Gable Mara Galeazzi John Gilpin Alexander Grant Dame Beryl Grey DBE Sylvie Guillem CBE Francesca Hayward Sir Robert Helpmann CBE Rowena Jackson MBE Colin Jones Johan Kobborg Tetsuya Kumakawa Sarah Lamb Gillian Lynne CBE Natalia Makarova David Makhateli Dame Alicia Markova DBE Roberta Marquez Dame Monica Mason DBE Steven McRae Laura Morera Irek Mukhamedov Vadim Muntagirov Nadia Nerina Marianela Nunez Rudolf Nureyev Natalia Osipova Dame Merle Park DBE Georgina Parkinson Rupert Pennefather Sergei Polunin Ivan Putrov Samantha Raine Tamara Rojo Lynn Seymour Dame Antoinette Sibley DBE Moira Shearer Lady Kennedy Wayne Sleep OBE Thiago Soares Zoltan Solymosi Michael Somes CBE David Wall CBE Edward Watson MBE Miyako Yoshida Zenaida Yanowsky Guest dancers edit Roberto Bolle Ethan Stiefel Igor Zelensky Yvette Chauvire Nina Ananiashvili Choreographers edit Sir Frederick Ashton founder choreographer David Bintley CBE John Cranko Sir Robert Helpmann Sir Kenneth MacMillan Wayne McGregor Christopher Wheeldon Liam Scarlett Artistic directors edit 1931 1963 Dame Ninette de Valois 1963 1970 Sir Frederick Ashton 1970 1977 Sir Kenneth MacMillan 1970 1971 John Field co director 1977 1986 Norman Morrice 1986 2001 Sir Anthony Dowell 2001 2002 Ross Stretton 2002 2012 Dame Monica Mason 2012 present Kevin O HareRoss Stretton editMain article Ross Stretton Born in Canberra Australia in 1952 Ross Stretton trained at the Australian Ballet School later becoming a principal dancer with the Australian Ballet company He then moved to America where he danced with the Joffrey Ballet and as a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre before retiring as a dancer in 1990 He was appointed regisseur of American Ballet Theatre becoming assistant director of the company in 1993 After returning to Australia he was artistic director of the Australian Ballet from 1997 to 2001 Following Sir Anthony Dowell s retirement as artistic director of the Royal Ballet in 2001 the board of the Royal Opera House announced Stretton as his successor with a three year contract however he resigned the post after 13 months in September 2002 Stretton s appointment and subsequent departure from the Royal Ballet generated an unprecedented level of media attention for the Royal Ballet in recent years due to controversy caused by his management of the company Following his resignation Stretton returned to Australia where he worked as a teacher and consultant until his death from cancer in 2005 A number of controversial issues and allegations as well as resistance to organisational change lead to Stretton s departure from the Royal Ballet Principal dancer Sarah Wildor quit the company after a dispute over casting 15 Stretton had both historically and during his tenure with The Royal Ballet favoured athletic speedy dancers as opposed to those with a more lyrical style such as Wildor Lady MacMillan threatened to withdraw performing rights to works by her late husband Sir Kenneth MacMillan 16 Stretton s programming was badly received by critics 17 Dancers let it be known they were considering strike action however talks between Equity the dancers union and the Royal Opera House s executive director Tony Hall averted industrial action 17 Rumours and allegations were made that Stretton engaged in sexual liaisons and affairs with various dancers Royal Opera House spokesman Christopher Millard said there have been no informal or formal complaints to management of Royal Opera House about this 18 Kevin O Hare editFormer Birmingham Royal Ballet Principal dancer and Royal Ballet Administrative Director Kevin O Hare succeeded Monica Mason as Director of The Royal Ballet in August 2012 Administrative Director of the company since 2009 O Hare retired from dancing in 2000 and subsequently worked with the Royal Shakespeare Company and as Company Manager of Birmingham Royal Ballet This is a great honour for me Under Monica Mason s inspired leadership The Royal Ballet has had a great ten years I am equally ambitious for the Company and dance in general I plan to bring together the most talented artists of the 21st century to collaborate on the same stage world class dancers choreographers designers and musicians I will aim to use all the traditional and new platforms now available to engage our audiences in our classic repertoire and The Royal Ballet s unique heritage I want to continue to invigorate audiences with new work and emerging talents and I am thrilled that Wayne McGregor and Christopher Wheeldon two of the world s leading choreographers have agreed to join me and Jeanetta Laurence Associate Director to become part of the senior artistic team Both Wayne and Christopher share my exciting ambitions for the Company 19 Royal Opera House Manchester editIn 2008 the Royal Opera House and Manchester City Council began the planning stages of a new development known as Royal Opera House Manchester The proposal would have seen the Palace Theatre in Manchester receiving an 80 million refurbishment to allow it to receive productions by both the Royal Ballet and Royal Opera The proposals would have established the Palace Theatre as a designated base for the Royal Opera House companies in the North of England 20 21 22 The proposals were approved by the then Secretary of State for Culture Olympics Media and Sport Andy Burnham MP and was accepted by a number of public bodies An independent report suggested that the cost of the project would be 100 million with another 16 million needed annually for running costs of the new site 23 In 2010 it was announced that the project was being shelved as part of larger arts funding cuts 23 24 25 Laurence Olivier Awards editThe Royal Ballet company is a multiple Laurence Olivier Award winning company The following is a complete list of awards won by the company and its staff since the awards were established in 1978 These include awards presented to the company for a production of a particular ballet to individual dancers for their performance in a specific role to designers for their work on a specific production and to other members of the Royal Ballet staff for achievements in dance 1978 Production of the Year in Ballet for a production of Sir Frederick Ashton s A Month in the Country 1980 Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Ballet for a production of Gloria 1981 Outstanding First Achievement of the Year in Ballet awarded to Bryony Brind for her performance in The Royal Ballet s Dances of Albion 1983 Outstanding Individual Performance of the Year in a New Dance Production awarded to Alessandra Ferri for her performance in the Royal Ballet s Valley of Shadows 1983 Outstanding New Dance Production of the Year for a production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan s Requiem 1992 Outstanding Achievement of the Year in Dance for a production of William Forsythe s In The Middle Somewhat Elevated 1992 Society of London Theatre Special Award awarded to the Royal Ballet s founder and director Dame Ninette de Valois in recognition of her achievements in dance 1993 Best New Dance Production for a production of Sir Kenneth MacMillan s The Judas Tree 1995 Best New Dance Production for their production of Fearful Symmetries 1995 Outstanding Achievement in Dance awarded to lighting designer Peter Mumford for the Royal Ballet s Fearful Symmetries 2007 Best New Dance Production for their new production Chroma choreographed by Wayne McGregor 2008 Best New Dance Production for the company premiere of George Balanchine s ballet Jewels 2008 Outstanding Achievement in Dance for the company premiere of George Balanchine s ballet Jewels 2010 Best New Dance Production awarded to the Brandstrup Rojo Project Goldberg a collaboration between choreographer Kim Brandstrup and dancer Tamara Rojo 2013 Outstanding Achievement in Dance awarded to principal dancer Marianela Nunez 2016 Best New Dance Production for their new production Woolf Works choreographed by Wayne McGregor 2016 Outstanding Achievement in Dance for her performances in Cheri and Woolf Works guest dancer Alessandra Ferri 2018 Best New Dance Production for their new production Flight Pattern choreographed by Crystal PiteSee also editEnglish National Ballet School the associate school of English National Ballet List of productions of Swan Lake derived from its 1895 revival Northern Ballet a Leeds based ballet company Rambert Dance Company a ballet company contemporaneous to the Royal Ballet during the latter s formative years now a modern dance company Royal Ballet of Flanders the royal ballet company of Belgium Royal Danish Ballet the royal ballet company of Denmark Royal Swedish Ballet the royal ballet company of Sweden Scottish Ballet the national ballet company of ScotlandReferences edit a b Royal Opera House Collections Online rohcollections org uk Archived from the original on 7 April 2012 Retrieved 17 July 2010 Lynn Garafola 2005 Legacies of twentieth century dance Wesleyan University Press ISBN 0 8195 6674 8 Vaughan D Frederick Ashton and his Ballets A amp C Black Ltd London 1977 The Royal Ballet School a brief history 2009 Archived from the original on 4 September 2009 Retrieved 22 August 2009 Royal Ballet British ballet company Encyclopaedia Britannica Retrieved 22 August 2009 Yvette Chauvire France s Prima Ballerina Assoluta 48900 russiandvd com Happy Birthday Nina Ananiashvili DanceTabs 28 March 2013 The Royal Ballet Artists Royal Opera House Archived from the original on 31 January 2013 Retrieved 21 November 2017 The Royal Ballet Staff Royal Opera House Retrieved 5 January 2017 on ballet co uk Archived 26 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 12 December 2009 Wayne McGregor To Become Resident Choreographer at the Royal Opera House Huliq News 3 December 2006 Retrieved 19 September 2009 The Royal Ballet s Steven McRae gives a ballet masterclass Ballet News 13 November 2012 No 60728 The London Gazette Supplement 31 December 2013 p 9 No 62150 The London Gazette Supplement 30 December 2017 p N8 Reynolds Nigel 26 September 2001 Royal Ballet shocked as Wildor quits Daily Telegraph 26 September 2001 London Retrieved 25 May 2010 dead link Brown Ismene 27 September 2002 Double whammy that toppled ballet boss Daily Telegraph 27 September 2002 London Archived from the original on 6 September 2003 Retrieved 25 May 2010 a b Ross Stretton Daily Telegraph 17 June 2005 London Archived from the original on 20 March 2021 Retrieved 25 May 2010 Ross Stretton s royal downfall The Age 27 September 2002 Royal Opera House Kevin O Hare appointed new Director of The Royal Ballet Royal Opera House Retrieved 9 January 2012 Higgins Charlotte 28 October 2008 Disharmony over Royal Opera s plan to go north The Guardian Staff writer 31 October 2008 Northern opera proposal evaluated BBC News BBC McKeegan Alice 9 December 2009 Deal over Royal Opera move Manchester Evening News Reach plc Retrieved 8 August 2021 a b Staff writer 3 November 2010 ROH shelves its plans to move north The Stage The Stage Media Company Ltd Archived from the original on 9 October 2016 Retrieved 6 August 2016 Sharp Rob 27 October 2010 Royal Opera House shelves move north The Independent Independent Print Ltd Staff writer 29 October 2010 Royal Opera House shelves move North Place North West Retrieved 8 August 2021 External links edit nbsp Media related to Royal Ballet at Wikimedia Commons The Royal Ballet Royal Opera House website Royal Ballet School website Royal Ballet Cuba Pics photos by Caridad Havana Times 17 July 2009 Birmingham Royal Ballet website History of the Royal Ballet School Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title The Royal Ballet amp oldid 1197768901, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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