Podcast » Gillian Lynne
The great choreographer and director Gillian Lynne tells Lynn Wallis how it was a giant, but ultimately rewarding step, to leave Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1951. We have a ten-minute…
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Podcast » Rowena Fayre
Born in 1921 Rowena Fayre combined a career in ballet with a very different sort of life. After boarding school in Hertfordshire, and daily lessons at Sadler’s Wells School with…
Podcast » Lucette Aldous
You can hear in her voice how much Lucette Aldous appreciated and revelled in every step of her way from Ballet Rambert to Festival Ballet and The Royal Ballet. With…
Podcast » Pamela May
This ‘voice’ of British Ballet is that of Pamela May. She was born in 1917 and after retiring as a ballerina with The Royal Ballet became the teacher par excellence…
Podcast » Romayne Grigorova
Romayne Grigorova had a long, distinguished career in ballet and the theatre. Here, in conversation with Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, she focuses on her…
Podcast » Violetta Elvin
Violetta Elvin was one of Frederick Ashton’s favourite ballerinas. She was born Violetta Prokhorova in Russia. Here, in this interview with Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British…
Danced by Sadler’s Wells Ballet in 1948 to music by Serge Prokofiev in designs by Jean-Denis Malclès, Cinderella was the first full-evening ballet made by a British choreographer. It shows…
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…
Timeline Event » 1946 – Premiere of Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations for Sadler’s Wells Ballet
Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations was something of a blueprint for British ballet after the narrative-heavy works of the war years. It remains a touchstone for the lyrical and musical ‘British’…
Timeline Event » 1940 – Premiere of Ninette de Valois’ The Prospect Before Us by the Vic-Wells Ballet
In July 1940, Ninette de Valois created a comedy character ballet called The Prospect Before Us. Full of wit and finely drawn characterisations, it required a full range of acting,…
Podcast » Jean Bedells
Jean Bedells talks about the 1930s as if it was yesterday. Full of detail and feats of memory, we are given an idea of the sense of foreboding that descended…
Checkmate is one of the only two ballets by Ninette de Valois to survive in the repertoire. It makes allegorical use of a chess game to represent a battle between…
Frederick Ashton choreographed Les Patineurs for the Vic-Wells Ballet in 1937. A group of 15 dancers ‘skate’ their way through this exuberant one-act ballet. An icy pond on the edge…
Podcast » Celebrating Ninette de Valois: Checkmate
The second in a series of special episodes celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of Ninette de Valois’ Academy for Choregraphic Art in March 1926, and marking 25 years…
In 2026 Voices of British Ballet is celebrating the life of Ninette de Valois, to mark the centenary of the Royal Ballet School, with a series of interviews and special…