Podcast » Mark Morris
American dancer, choreographer and director Mark Morris is one of the most successful and influential of contemporary modern choreographers. Interviewed by Gerald Dowler, he talks frankly about the role of…
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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 public alike. Sibley…
The dance writer, and former dancer, Deborah Weiss is joined in the studio for a special Voices of British Ballet round table discussion. Anita Landa, Pamela Hart, Joyce Lyndon and…
Podcast » David Wall
David Wall was one of the greatest male dancers of his era, with an extraordinary stage charisma, range, theatricality and honesty. In this interview he talks to Frank Freeman, a…
Podcast » Beryl Grey
Beryl Grey talks to Frank Freeman about her early training, first with Madeleine Sharp and then with Phyllis Bedells before going to the Sadler’s Wells School at the age of…
Podcast » Dudley Simpson
This self-effacing, straightforward man with a twinkle in his eye is known for his compositions for many TV dramas in the 1960s and 70s, including Doctor Who. Perhaps surprisingly, this…
Podcast » Lynn Seymour
In any history of The Royal Ballet, a special place must be reserved for Lynn Seymour, as the dance actress par excellence. Here she tells Alastair Macaulay about her initial…
Podcast » Lilian Hochhauser
For decades the Hochhauser name has been synonymous with the visits to London of the greatest Russian ballet companies and musicians. In conversation with Hilary Condron, Lilian Hochhauser explains how…
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 » Marcia Haydée
In April 2017, Marcia Haydée was in Stuttgart for a week to celebrate her 80th birthday. Patricia Linton, founder and director of Voices of British Ballet, knew this was her…
Podcast » David Vaughan
David Vaughan – unparalleled writer on the choreography of Frederick Ashton – catches moments and movements from The Royal Ballet’s history. In this interview for Voices of British Ballet, which…
Podcast » Richard Alston
The distinguished choreographer and director Richard Alston explains how, as a teenager, he was entranced by watching ballet. After studying fine art, he began working on the Martha Graham technique…
Podcast » Janette Mulligan
The energy in Janette Mulligan’s voice reveals what a vibrant dancer she was. Her enthusiasm for the whole gamut of performing shines through, from correct hair styles and clean shoes…
Timeline Event » 1961 – Rudolf Nureyev defects in Paris
Following his defection from the Soviet Union in Paris earlier that year, Rudolf Nureyev gives his first performance in the Britain in 1961 in Poème tragique at the Royal Academy…
Kenneth MacMillan was eager to give ballet its ‘new wave’, and though his earlier one-act works revealed a unique perspective and command of ballet’s expressive potential, it was his first…
Timeline Event » 1966 – The Royal Ballet Touring Company dances Act III of Marius Petipa’s Raymonda for the first time
Marius Petipa’s Raymonda was originally performed by the Imperial Russian Ballet in St Petersburg in 1898 to music by Alexander Glazunov. Rudolf Nureyev staged the full-length Raymonda for The Royal…
Timeline Event » 1968 – Beryl Grey becomes director of London Festival Ballet
After a period of instability, London Festival Ballet appointed Beryl Grey as the company’s new artistic director. She commissioned a number of important productions for the company, including Mary Skeaping’s…
Timeline Event » 1970 – The Royal Ballet dances Jerome Robbins’ Dances at a Gathering for the first time
Dances at a Gathering, which had been created for New York City Ballet in 1969, represented the first work by Jerome Robbins to enter The Royal Ballet’s repertoire. Danced to…
Rudolf Nureyev’s version of Romeo and Juliet for London Festival Ballet is highly cinematic, sumptuous and colourful, and emphasises the inevitability of the couple’s tragic fate while also making Juliet…
Timeline Event » 1963 – The Royal Ballet dances the ‘Kingdom of the Shades’ scene from Marius Petipa’s La Bayadère for the first time
This mysteriously beautiful ballet, originally in four Acts, was created in 1877 by Marius Petipa, ballet master of the Imperial Ballet in St Petersburg. This typically Romantic tale has undergone…