A world premiere from Wayne McGregor, with designs by Julian Opie, makes this programme of three short works an especially exciting event of this Royal Ballet Season. McGregor, The Royal Ballet’s Resident Choreographer, continues his imaginative collaborations with creative figures at the forefront of today’s arts, this time with Opie, the leading British contemporary artist known for his figurative reductions and memorable imagery.

McGregor’s dynamic explorations of the nature of perception have been instant audience hits, most recently at the Royal Opera House with the award-winning Chroma, and in this new work he once more pushes dance technique to its limits.

In contrast, the free-flowing virtuosity of Voluntaries is perfect for discovering Glen Tetley’s fusion of raw emotion and classical lyricism. His unique balance of the expressive and the technically demanding has made his work some of the greatest in the modern repertory, and Voluntaries is one of his most popular ballets.

Starkly different is Flemming Flindt’s vision in The Lesson: dark and unsettling in its psychological portrayal of a predatory dance teacher who steps beyond the borders of sanity with an unfortunate student.

World premiere and revival, abstract and narrative, soloists and ensemble: a Royal Ballet programme of exciting contrasts.

CREDITS
Voluntaries
Music: Francis Poulenc
Choreography: Glen Tetley
Designs: Rouben Ter-Arutunian
Lighting Design: John B. Read

The Lesson
Music: Georges Delerue
Choreography: Flemming Flindt (Based on the play by Eugene Ionesco)
Set Designs: Flemming Flindt after Bernard Dayde
Costume Designs: Flemming Flindt and Tina Sander
Lighting Design: Simon Bennison

New McGregor
Music: Max Richter
Choreography: Wayne McGregor
Set Designs: Julian Opie
Costume Designs: Moritz Junge
Lighting Design: Lucy Carter
Sound Design: Chris Ekers

PERFORMERS
Conductor
Barry Wordsworth
Daniel Capps

Voluntaries
George Benjamin
Federico Bonelli
Leanne Benjamin
Lauren Cuthbertson
Marianela Nuñez
Rupert Pennefather
Valeri Hristov
Mara Galeazzi
Bennet Gartside
Thiago Soares
Sergei Polunin

The Lesson
Yuhui Choe
Edward Watson
Roberta Marquez
Johan Kobborg

New McGregor
Leanne Benjamin
Lauren Cuthbertson
Mara Galeazzi
Marianela Nuñez
Edward Watson
Eric Underwood