In honour of the Royal Ballet founder Dame Ninette de Valois, the Beauty Mixed Programme features work across the generations from the third act of The Sleeping Beauty to a world première.
The programme opens with the world première of Anemoi by Valentino Zucchetti whose ballet Scherzo was created for the youngest members of the company and streamed last autumn, inspired by Greek mythology where Anemoi gods rule over the winds.
A series of duets from the two choreographers who shaped the company’s early history, Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan, and current voices in dance include Ashton’s Voices of Spring and the ‘farewell’ pas de deux from MacMillan’s Winter Dreams with works by Wayne McGregor, Christopher Wheeldon and Mats Ek.
McGregor’s Morgen premièred last June as part of the Royal Opera House Live from Covent Garden digital stream to Richard Strauss’s setting of John Henry Mackay’s poem. Wheeldon’s pas de deux from After the Rain created for New York City Ballet in 2005 returns.
woman with water, a work new to The Royal Ballet by Mats Ek, was originally created for the Royal Swedish Ballet in 2020, inspired by Ek’s 30 years as a choreographer.
In tribute to Dame Ninette de Valois, the programme culminates with the third act of The Sleeping Beauty, the production she selected for the reopening of the Royal Opera House when the company made its home there 75 years ago, restaged by Monica Mason and Christopher Newton.
The event will be broadcast live via the Royal Opera House web site on Friday 9 July and available on demand until 10 July.