Bolshoi Ballet: The Sleeping Beauty

Stravinsky: The Firebird and Les Noces

October 2002 •English

London's Royal Ballet performs two of Igor Stravinsky's classic works in this pair of performances choreographed by dance legend Nijinska. Zenaida Yanowsky and David Pickering star in "Les Noces," the stark, percussion-centric tale of a Russian peasant wedding that incorporates traditional folk music into its score. "The Firebird" stars Leanne Benjamin as the mythical creature who brings both a blessing and a curse upon her captors.

Kouzla králů

December 2008 •Czech

In a land of two kingdoms - one ruthless under King Vladan’s conquests, the other hidden behind a magical lake and ruled by kindly King Dobromil - Queen of Fire enchants Princess Mariana in living flame to force Dobromil’s hand in ceding the kingdom’s fabled Ruby Heart. Desperate, Dobromil uses a magic ring to summon the ever-jovial Tadeáš from Vladan’s realm; Tadeáš braves the flames, rescues Mariana, and wins her heart, only for their triumph to be threatened once more.

Ať přiletí čáp, královno!

December 1989 •Czech

In the loose sequel to the fairy-tale comedy "How about a wedding, prince?" you will meet again with Prince David and his wife Běla. Both are looking forward to the baby that is about to be born to them. Prince David wants a son, the heir to the throne, and when a little girl purrs in the cradle, he cannot accept it. It will take him a while to take his daughter under his wing.

Tajemství staré bambitky

December 2011 •Czech

In a small kingdom where King William and Queen Olivia are perpetually away, corrupt councilors Ferenc and Lorenc exploit their power by piling on ever-higher taxes, only to have their unjust levies thwarted by the noble robber Karaba, who ambushes the tax collectors and returns the stolen money to the people. After the birth of his daughter Anička, Karaba retires his highwayman’s tools and resumes life as a humble potter, even as the royal couple welcomes a son, Jakub, and the ministers’ greed threatens to draw him back into defending the common folk.

Peer Gynt

November 1974 •Czech

The Daydreamer

June 1966 •English

A young Hans Christian Andersen goes in search of knowledge in the Garden of Paradise in order to make his studies easier. Each time he falls asleep, he experiences in his dreams the different characters he would later write about in fairy tales including The Little Mermaid, Thumbelina, and The Emperor's New Clothes.

Lisa and Elise

December 1996 •Russian

A princess falls in love with a musician and separates from her husband, for which she is separated from her daughter Eliza and expelled from home. In her new marriage, she has a second daughter, Liza, and the sisters do not yet know about each other's existence. One fine day the royal family comes to the city where they live...

The Mother

Invalid date •English

The Mother is a powerfil, narrative dance production choreographed and directed by Archar Pita a master storyteller: Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen's dark tale, The Story of a Mother, this sumptuously designed production stars international dance superstar Natalia Osipova and multi-award winning dancer Jonathan Goddard. This inventive new production conjures up a dangerous, kaleidoscopic world. combining narrative dance and drama. In setting out to save her sick child, a young mother journeys into the unknown to face life and death. Will she succumb to the forces of evil, or will the power of motherhood prevail?

Swan Lake

January 1982 •English

The Royal Ballet's 1980 production of Tchaikovsky's classic ballet.

Cinderella

December 1970 •English

Cinderella is helped to the ball by her fairy godmother in The Royal Ballet's version of the classic fairy tale, using Sergei Prokofiev's music and Frederick Ashton's choreography in a comic ballet.

The Merry Widow

December 1983 •English

The Merry Widow, a beguiling, romantic ballet starring Patricia McBride and Peter Martins.

Hypothetically Murdered

May 2015 •English

In 1931 Shostakovich wrote a full-length score for the Leningrad Music Hall, for a show that involved many of the leading entertainers of the day, as well as dancing girls, a jazz band, a dancing dog, sequences of silent film, simulated air-raids and gas attacks, a lorry, a storm, waiters and waitresses in a luxury restaurant, river nymphs and even a scene in Heaven with the Devil, the Twelve Apostles, the Archangel Gabriel and all the other angels doing a blasphemous knees-up. The show was naturally a momentary scandal and the score soon disappeared. In 1991 Gerard McBurney reconstructed from the surviving sketches a sequence of 21 of the orchestral numbers to make a hilarious sequence of gallops, saucy polkas, marches and schmoozy waltzes.

The Sleeping Beauty

December 2011 •English

Lauren Cuthbertson, Sergei Polunin and Claire Calvert star in this true gem from the classical ballet repertory, set to Tchaikovsky's glorious music.

Them/Us

March 2019 •English

BalletBoyz are back with two new works. Set to contrasting scores by Charlotte Harding and Keaton Henson, Them/Us is an inventive double bill asking where we see ourselves in relation to the “other,” and explores the fine balance between them and us.

The Phantom of the Opera at the Royal Albert Hall

September 2011 •English

A disfigured musical genius, hidden away in the Paris Opera House, terrorises the opera company for the unwitting benefit of a young protégée whom he trains and loves. The 25th anniversary of the first public performance of Phantom of the Opera was celebrated with a grand performance at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The Winter's Tale (The Royal Ballet)

April 2014 •English

The story follows the destruction of a marriage through consuming jealousy, the abandonment of a child and a seemingly hopeless love. Yet, through remorse and regret – and after a statue comes miraculously to life – the ending is one of forgiveness and reconciliation. Wheeldon continues his highly successful collaboration with designer Bob Crowley and composer Joby Talbot, the team behind Alice, in one of the highlights of The Royal Ballet Season.

The Unfinished Dance

September 1947 •English

A young dance student accidentally cripples a teacher she doesn't like.

The Toy Castle: Nutcracker Sweet

February 2006 •English

Storytelling through dance is an effective way to make dance accessible and exciting to young children. In The Toy Castle collections, members of the Royal Winnipeg Ballet comprise a brightly costumed cast of girl and boy storybook characters including Ballerina, Soldier, China Doll and Rag Doll who live in a toy dollhouse and come to life at night when the children are sleeping. Nutcracker Sweet presents twelve short dance stories that include themes from famous classical ballets like the "Nutcracker Suite," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Petrouchka" and holiday motifs such as "Twelve Days of Christmas," "Waiting for Santa," and "I Believe." (Ages 3 to 10)

Seven Beauties

September 1982 •Russian

Based on the music of the famous Azerbaijani composer Kara Karayev. The ballet libretto is based on the poem “Seven Beauties” (Khamsa) by Nizami Ganjavi, created in 1197.

Snow White: The Sacrifice

September 2025 •English

This ballet production tells a dark version of the story of Snow White, as a vain and desperate aging queen attempts to have her beautiful daughter murdered.