English National Ballet celebrates 70th Anniversary London Coliseum

As part of its 70th anniversary season, English National Ballet celebrates its history with three specially curated gala performances at the London Coliseum on 17 and 18 January 2020.

Showcasing the world-class talent of the entire Company, alongside the future stars of the ballet world from English National Ballet School, these performances include some of the most important and ground-breaking works that make up English National Ballet’s diverse repertoire. The full repertoire is announced today.

The gala performances will begin with a blend of film and performance. Using archive footage of English National Ballet, Dominic Best, who directed BBC documentaries Good Swan, Bad Swan: Dancing Swan Lake and Giselle: Belle of the Ballet, will create a special film which will dissolve into live performance on stage, with extracts from the following works to be performed:

Apollo, George Balanchine
Who Cares?, George Balanchine
La Sylphide, August Bournonville
Swansong, Christopher Bruce
Strictly Gershwin, Derek Deane
Playlist (Track 2), William Forsythe
Coppélia, Ronald Hynd
Dust, Akram Khan
Giselle, Akram Khan
Broken Wings, Annabelle Lopez Ochoa
The Sleeping Beauty, Kenneth MacMillan
Romeo & Juliet, Rudolf Nureyev
Carmen, Roland Petit
Three Preludes, Ben Stevenson

ENBYouthCo will also perform a short piece choreographed by their Creative Director, Richard Bermange.

The Gala performances conclude with a nod to English National Ballet’s early years, with a performance of one if its signature pieces, Etudes by Harald Lander, first performed by the Company in 1955.

The 70th Anniversary comes as English National Ballet marks a new chapter in its history with its move into a new purpose-built state-of-the-art home in East London, where rehearsals for the Gala performances have commenced. This transformational move will allow English National Ballet to continue to develop world-class artists, create ground- breaking new works, and honour the Company’s rich repertoire for years to come. With dedicated engagement, learning and public spaces, the Company will be able to connect with, and provide opportunities to, local communities like never before.

For further information visit: www.ballet.org.uk