The ballet writer Gerald Dowler is joined in a special episode of Voices of British Ballet by Monica Mason (former Royal Ballet student, principal dancer and director), Jane Pritchard (curator of...
ballets » The Sleeping Beauty / The Sleeping Princess
THE SLEEPING BEAUTY ; Pamela May (as Princess Aurora) ; Sadler's Wells Ballet ; At the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London, UK ;
February 1946 ; Credit : Frank Sharman / Royal Opera House / ArenaPAL
Podcast » Antoinette Sibley
Antoinette Sibley talks with Alastair Macaulay. Her wonderful mix of enthusiasm, appreciation and practicality typify the glorious mercurial talent that has beguiled a generation of dancers and...
Serge Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes (1909-1929) That Serge Diaghilev believed in Russian art and its spirit can never be doubted. His company, the Ballets Russes, exploded every myth about dance. From...
Timeline Event » 1912 – Anna Pavlova buys Ivy House and settles in London
Anna Pavlova was born in St Petersburg in 1881, and entered the Imperial Ballet School in 1891. In 1897 she first danced on the Maryinsky stage, and graduated in 1899. She was accorded...
The Sleeping Beauty (also performed as The Sleeping Princess) Often considered Marius Petipa’s masterpiece, The Sleeping Beauty, to music composed by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, was first performed...
Timeline Event » 1922 – Formation of The Cecchetti Society
The Cecchetti Society was founded in 1922 to perpetuate the system of teaching established by the Italian dancer and ballet master Enrico Cecchetti (1851-1928). Based in Russia for many years,...
Timeline Event » 1926 – Ninette de Valois opens the Academy of Choreographic Art
Ninette de Valois (1898-2001) was an Irish dancer, choreographer and founding director of The Royal Ballet.In 1918 and 1919 she became principal dancer for the Beecham Opera at Covent Garden and...
First performance of The Sleeping Princess by the Vic-Wells Ballet, with choreography by Marius Petipa staged by Nicholas Sergeyev, music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky and designs by Nadia Benois. The...
In 1946 the Sadler’s Wells Ballet opened their first season at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, with a new production of The Sleeping Beauty. The scenery and costumes were designed by Oliver...
Timeline Event » 1970 – Kenneth MacMillan becomes director of The Royal Ballet
Frederick Ashton ceased being director of The Royal Ballet in 1970 under controversial circumstances. The new director, Kenneth MacMillan, was to have shared the job with John Field, but when it...
Timeline Event » 1986 – Anthony Dowell becomes director of The Royal Ballet
In 1986, principal dancer Anthony Dowell succeeded Norman Morrice as director of The Royal Ballet. During his tenure Dowell produced new productions of Swan Lake, The Sleeping Beauty and Don Quixote...
Timeline Event » 1991 – Galina Samsova becomes director of Scottish Ballet
Galina Samsova was artistic director of Scottish Ballet from 1991 until 1997. There, she collaborated with choreographer Oleg Vinogradov of the Kirov Ballet, mounted new productions of Swan Lake and...
Timeline Event » 1997 – The first Royal Albert Hall ballet-in-the-round mounted
Now a regular fixture in Britain’s dance calendar, English National Ballet staged its first in-the-round production at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 1997 with Derek Deane’s staging of Swan...
Timeline Event » 2002 – Monica Mason becomes director of The Royal Ballet
Following the departure of Ross Stretton, Monica Mason was appointed director of The Royal Ballet in 2002, staying in post until 2012. During her tenure, she staged major revivals of Frederick...
Timeline Event » 2002 – Ashley Page becomes director of Scottish Ballet
In 2002, Scottish Ballet was searching for a new artistic director who would help revitalise the company. They appointed choreographer and former Royal Ballet principal Ashley Page, who remained in...
In his own training Petipa combined elements of both French and Italian traditions. From this heritage he did much not only to create the Russian school from which his great ballets flowed, but also...