Royal Ballet and Opera, London.
12 July 2025.
The show took place at midday on a sweltering summer’s day in London’s Covent Garden. Inside the Royal Opera House auditorium, it was thankfully cooler, and an excited audience awaited the start of The Royal Ballet School’s Summer Performance.
Artistic Director Iain Mackay welcomed the audience, thanking parents and families for entrusting The Royal Ballet School to train their children, and he introduced the show, revealing that there were 212 young people desperate to come out and share their artistry with everyone!
Aurora’s Wedding by Upper School 1st, 2nd and Pre-professional Years opened Act One with a pleasing promenade to present all dancers and characters. Costuming was exquisite. Bright, engaged and determined expressions, this ballet offered many opportunities to showcase individual’s strengths. LilySophia Dashwood gave a strong performance as the Lilac Fairy, with assured presentation, joyful balon and expression. Her attendants were eye-catching with some very attractive lines in their choreography. White Cat and Puss in Boots were audience pleasers, with a cheer as he carried her off stage on his shoulder! Princess Florine danced by Yasemin Kayabay was precise with strong, clean lines and immaculately sustained presentation. A well-matched partnership with her Bluebird, Amos Child, who also had beautiful sharp lines and a light but powerful quality in his jumps.
Sharing the Bluebird role and performing the Bluebird solo was Yusuke Otake, who flew through the air with phenomenal strength in his opening faille and assemblé sequence. Aurora in sparkling white tutu and her Prince entered with a beautifully controlled start – she in supported backbend and he, a confident and secure partner. Pre-professional Year dancers Aurora Chinchilla and Joe Parkinson, showed great trust in one another. Fabrizzio Ulloa Cornejo thrilled with his dynamic jeté turns in the Prince Florimund solo. And of course, the lively Three Ivans – Matteo Curley-Bynoe, Joe Parker and Julian Pecoraro – were breathtakingly entertaining to watch. Aurora’s Wedding Scene drew to an atmospheric finish with a group folk dance and presentation of the royal couple.
As the curtain rose on Act Two, a very attractive set design was revealed. Wintry woodland trees; their bare branches swooping overhead, were adorned with an array of lanterns. Central was an ice rink, framed by a succession of white archways which dancers continually entered and excited from. Frederick Ashton’s Les Patineurs is an extraordinarily appealing ballet.
Dancers wore fur-trimmed ankle socks to give the appearance of ice skates. They also ‘skated’ everywhere rather than running or walking, which kept the ice-skating illusion humorous yet believable. Temps levé shunts forward, and ‘pulling’ dancers on pointe in arabesque across the ice, there were plenty of characteristic Ashton audience-pleasing moments, slips and trips on the ice, and comical partner lifts. Humour coupled with technical brilliance. Highly engaging drama and characterisation without a narrative and not needing one either!
Toward the end, atmospheric glittery snow began to fall through the tree branches, embodying a cosy and community-spirited seasonal feel, in spite of the contrasting soaring temperatures outside! A thoroughly enjoyable and well-delivered piece, which ended with a very charismatic Wendel Vieira Teles Dos Santos – a 2nd Year Upper School Student, fouetté turning to cheers and applause as the curtain fell.
Act Three was opened by White Lodge’s youngest students in Years 7, 8 and 9 presenting Garden Suite, choreographed by Ruth Brill. A charming and engaging freezeframe was admired audibly by the audience as the curtain lifted; the stage was filled with bugs and insects in various poses, framed by scenery boards of over-sized flowers. They sleepily awakened to the soft lyrical music, which soon gave way to Stravinsky’s signature quirky style. This lent itself very well to the constant activity on stage and the spritely and character-filled movements of the different creatures. An effective end with all dancers on stage for the final section of the dance.
Sweet Morning Blooms, by Jessica Lang for Upper School 1st Year, started dark and shadowy – in rows on the floor, with compelling lighting as they began to ‘grow’ in gorgeous rippling waves. Girls on pointe in simple white dresses and boys in white with one pastel-coloured leg, excelled in presenting innovative partner choreography. Picturesque shapes and lines were important in this constantly fluid, attention-grabbing piece.
Tracks Uniting, in collaboration with Dutch National Ballet Academy was performed by White Lodge students in Years 10 and 11. This varied piece was choreographed by Iva Lešić and demonstrated some fantastic, challenging rhythmical work for dancers who entered from stage right in effective block-colour costuming of blue, red, white and black, emulating the movement of a train. Girls in character shoes and boys in boots, enabled percussive sound and movement through the feet as well as using hands and legs, and fittingly incorporated a lively Spanish element, which looked particularly enjoyable to dance!
The last dance before the Grand Défilé was Culmination. A fast and fiercely stylised new creation by Arielle Smith, showcasing students from the pre-professional year. Dressed in red mesh trousers and tops over black leotards, this was rapid; there were hips, shoulders, flicky wrists, lots of travel, lots of solos and small group moments, with boundless energy and enjoyment.
There were several times throughout the production where it was easy to forget that the performers were students, so high was their technical prowess and artistry on stage. Hugely inspiring for younger students – a glimpse to where their training is leading them.
The Grand Défilé was such an emotive buildup of the years of training laid out before our eyes in a mere couple of moments. Each year group in their class uniform ran on to perform a short combination before the next appeared. Fast and tightly choreographed and leading to a powerful line up for the end position, the whole school on stage in vertical year group rows. The audience erupted on that last note. Quite rightly so. A fantastic spectacle packed with promise for the future of dance.
By Louise Ryrie of Dance Informa.
