Last Updated on July 20, 2026
A Glowing Centenary Performance by the UK’s Premier Ballet School
5.0 out of 5.0 starsWhat a year 1926 was! It witnessed the births of Sir Peter Wright, dancer, choreographer and director extraordinaire, Glen Tetley, the American choreographer who first married classical ballet and contemporary dance, and (not forgetting naturalist and UK national treasure David Attenborough and Queen Elizabeth II) it also witnessed the creation of the Royal Ballet School by the visionary Ninette de Valois. All had an incalculable impact on their respective fields; and the Royal Ballet School’s crucial role in forming generations of outstanding ballet dancers was there for all to see in this year’s Summer Performance, a worthy celebration of its centenary.
Held at Royal Ballet and Opera, just across the street from The Royal Ballet Upper School, the three-hour-long performance showcased the very best of the school: talent, showmanship, impeccable discipline. No wonder director Iain MacKay, himself a product of the school, was visibly bursting with pride in his brief, but passionate and highly emotional front curtain speech, where he praised the students, who were “brave enough to pursue a dream”, for their “patience, discipline and good old-fashioned hard work.”
The performance started with Act III of Swan Lake in Sir Peter Wright’s immaculate production for Birmingham Royal Ballet, which we will be able to see in its entirety when BRB brings it to London in the Autumn. It brought to the fore an impressive group of soloists, with the famous Black Swan pas de deux split between two pairs: Sophie Schulten and Ivan Malaguti danced the pas de deux with tremendous confidence and mutual understanding, and Samantha Striplin and Fabrizzio Ulloa Cornejo danced the solos and coda.
All impressed, but Ulloa Cornejo was particularly thrilling, because he made every step tell the story of a man in the grip of overwhelming infatuation. The four dancers are part of the graduating group of 30, all of whom have secured employment, be it with The Royal Ballet or with a variety of companies worldwide.
There followed a number of shorter pieces, performed by students from the earlier years at White Lodge all the way through the pre-professional cohort. Kristen McNally’s Proceedings, for the younger years 7, 8 and 9, marshalled large groups of youngsters, each and every one going beyond the steps to put on a performance.
David Bintley’s Beauchamp’s Garden, a neo-classical piece for corps de ballet and two lead couples – Emma Lucano and Ivan Malaguti and Alecsia Maria Lazarescu and Millán de Benito – highlighted musicality and harmonious lines.
Cathy Marston’s A Line in Reflection, an extract from which had been presented at the Next Generation Festival, was set in a ballet studio, and brought to the stage former Royal Ballet principal Deborah, now Baroness, Bull, seeing in the students’ endeavours echoes of her days as an aspiring ballet student.
Of particular interest was Checkmate, a 1937 piece by de Valois herself, now sadly rarely seen. Set to a score by Arthur Bliss, and danced against a geometric backdrop reminiscent of a Kandinsky painting, it reflects expressionist influences and was performed with aplomb by a group of young red pawns, four older Knights and vibrant soloists Wendel Vieira Teles dos Santos as the Red Knight and Anna Nouvenne as the perfidious Black Queen.
After the interval there were three especially commissioned pieces: Of Strength and Grace, on music by Grieg, which featured choreographer Andrew McNicol’s characteristically flowing, unbroken movement, and was danced by years 10 and 11; Jessica Lang’s The First Voice, a contemporary piece about love, loss and loneliness, set to Ninette de Valois’s own poems read on voiceover by ballet luminaries Kevin O’Hare, Monica Mason and Darcey Bussell, with music by Beethoven. This required a change of mood and an ability to use the body to convey concepts – the students did it full justice.
Christopher Wheeldon’s Christening Suite was a buoyant, neo-classical piece of pure dance, at times reminiscent of Balanchine’s Symphony in C. Set for a principal couple, Sophia Koo and Millán de Benito, and four demi-soloists, alongside a corps of 12 couples, it was difficult and demanding, but the dancers sailed through it.
Finally, the moment that always gives me goosebumps: the Grand Defilé, where the stage is flooded with the full complement of the year’s Royal Ballet School students.
I left the RBO with soaring soul and the conviction that British ballet couldn’t be in better hands. Happy Birthday, Royal Ballet School, and here’s to the next 100 years.
The Royal Ballet School Performance was at RBO on 18 July at 12 noon.
Duration: 3 hours, including two intervals
RBO
Bow Street
London WC2E 9DD
Check out our London Dance Previews – July to December 2026
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