Royal Ballet School students return to the stage for post-Covid performances

The Royal Ballet School is a British institution renowned worldwide for nurturing talent and building dancers’ futures with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and other leading international dance companies. Students receive a holistic education (including an extensive academic programme) with a broad curriculum of exceptional training in ballet and other dance styles to support their classical training. During the year, all students get the chance to perform on world-renowned stages so they can develop the confidence and skills that will serve them as they graduate to become remarkable ballet dancers.

The school has historically offered its students many exciting performance opportunities in front of live audiences, but over the last couple of years these have been on hold due to the Covid-19 pandemic and restrictions that caused cancellations, much to the disappointment of dancers and audiences. Now, the school is once again holding performances and its students are returning to the stage.

Here is a rundown of recent and upcoming events, some of which are on again for the first time since 2019.

Future Talents: Ninette de Valois Emerging Choreographer 2022

Named after the founder of the Royal Ballet School, the Ninette de Valois Emerging Choreographer performances nurture young choreographic talent and celebrate students’ creative expression. This year, the performances returned on 30^th and 31^st March with 11 students from years seven, eight and nine at White Lodge (the school’s home for pupils aged 11-16) showcasing their dance creations over the two evenings. The young choreographers presented thoughtful and imaginative pieces, inspired by a wide range of themes (including nature, oppression and mental health) and performed by their peers.

Each young choreographer was offered useful feedback by a panel consisting of Valentino Zucchetti (a first soloist of the Royal Ballet), Joseph Toonga (recently appointed as the Royal Ballet’s Emerging Choreographer) and Dame Monica Mason, former ballet dancer, teacher and artistic director of The Royal Ballet.

Alongside choreographing a performance piece, the students selected the music and gave input on staging aspects such as lighting and costume design, gaining valuable experience in staging work and managing dancers.

Solos Evening 2022: From Swan Lake to Sleeping Beauty

The Royal Ballet School’s Solos Evening performances offer Upper School students the chance to perform in front of an audience of their parents, teachers and peers. Dancers from the school’s first, second and pre-professional years, aged 16-19, each perform solo variations that they have developed for their end-of-term assessments. This year, the performances took place on 24^th and 25^th March, and the dancers displayed their impressive pieces from a variety of classic ballets such as Sleeping Beauty, Swan Lake and Don Quixote.

At the request of the students, the school invited audiences to donate funds to support those affected by the recent events in Ukraine on both evenings.

Summer Performances

At the end of each academic year, the Royal Ballet School’s full-time students take part in the celebrated Summer Performances to showcase the skills they have learned throughout their training and gain further experience of performing live. Each year, the programme features a unique mix of classical, contemporary and brand-new ballet to delight audiences and exhibit the impressive range of skills the students have learned throughout their training.

The Summer Performances began in 1959, and the first event saw Graham Usher and Antoinette Sibley, students at the time, take the leads in act one of Coppélia. Generations of former and current ballet stars have featured in the annual event ever since, and it remains a fantastic way for ballet aficionados to witness the burgeoning talent of the next generation of stars.

Whilst the season usually begins with five performances in the Royal Opera House’s Linbury Studio Theatre and culminates with a matinée performance on the main stage, since 2016, the Summer Performances have returned to the elegant open-air venue of Opera Holland Park in West London.

Before and during the pandemic

Unlike the two-year hiatus in the Ninette de Valois Emerging Choreographer and Solo Evening performances, the Summer Performances were able to run in 2021. To accommodate restrictions put in place by the government during the pandemic, the school sectioned its year groups into bubbles so that students could dance separately. This meant a drastic change to the usual structure of the event. In total, 210 students danced in 32 performances instead of the usual five or seven.

These performances took place over 18 days at four venues: the Margot Fonteyn Theatre at White Lodge, the Linden Studio Theatre at Upper School, the Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House and, for the grand finale, the main stage at the Royal Opera House. The school staged a variety of classical favourites, contemporary pieces and new pieces of choreography, such as Swingle Stepping by Morgann Runacre-Temple, Mozart Suite by Mikaela Polley and Playfully So by Valentino Zucchetti. A live audience of over 5,000 viewed the performances, with 1,472 attending in-person and 4,145 watching from their homes over Zoom.

Despite cancellation in 2020 due to Covid-19, the Summer Performances remain a much-loved event of supporters of the Royal Ballet School. Prior to the pandemic, in 2019 the Summer Performances involved an expansive programme of works to demonstrate the talents of the school’s students, including repertoire from classic ballets La Valse and Paquita and more recent works by Alastair Marriott, Goyo Montero and Robert Binet. Ashley Page and Royal Ballet School teacher Petal Miller Ashmole also created new pieces. In honour of the then director of Birmingham Royal Ballet on his retirement, students performed the Scottish Dances, one part of David Bintley’s ballet inspired by Scottish history, Flowers of the Forest.

Summer programme 2022

This year, audiences can expect a rich programme of dance at Opera Holland Park from 6^th to 9^th July, ending with the Royal Opera House main stage event on 16^th July. Students of the Royal Ballet School will demonstrate their skills and artistry through a varied programme designed by artistic director Christopher Powney. Elements of classical, contemporary and character dance will be on display, featuring repertoire from Raymonda by Marius Petipa, Swan Lake by Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov (additional choreography by Frederick Ashton, one of the originators of the English Style), PreSENTIENT by the school’s resident choreographer, Wayne McGregor, and Yondering by John Neumeier. The young dancers will also bring new works to life, created especially for the Summer Performances by Joseph Toonga, Mikaela Polley and Jason Mabana.

Learn more about the upcoming Summer Performances.

About the Royal Ballet School

For decades, The Royal Ballet School has nurtured talented young performers and choreographers for futures with The Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet, and other world-class dance companies. Students at White Lodge and Upper School enjoy a holistic education with a broad curriculum of exceptional dance training in ballet and other dance styles to support their classical training. An extensive academic programme complements their ballet schooling, with close care and support from the school’s pastoral team and access to specialist guidance on mental and physical health through the school’s Healthy Dancer Programme. During the year, all students get the opportunity to perform on world-renowned stages so they can develop the confidence and skills that will serve them as they graduate to become remarkable ballet dancers.

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Photos: Courtesy of Royal Ballet School

For further information about the Royal Ballet School and the summer programme for 2022 visit here.