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The Royal Ballet is Back on Stage and returns for a special live-streamed celebration performance on Friday 9 October at 7.30pm BST.

After an absence of seven months, the full Company will be reunited on their home stage with the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House in a spectacular collection of ballet highlights from the Company’s repertory.

Broadcast live from the stage in Covent Garden and available to view from wherever you are in the world online, this much anticipated performance promises to be an event not to be missed.

The celebration, curated by Royal Ballet Director Kevin O’Hare, will shine a light on the acclaimed artistry and virtuosity of the dancers, the dazzling breadth of its distinctive repertory and the visionary brilliance of the Royal Opera House creative and production teams.

Royal Ballet Principals Matthew Ball, Federico Bonelli, Alexander Campbell, Francesca Hayward, Ryoichi Hirano, Sarah Lamb, Laura Morera, Vadim Muntagirov, Yasmine Naghdi, Marianela Nuñez, Natalia Osipova, Marcelino Sambé, Akane Takada and Edward Watson return to the stage with the full Company, joined by the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House and conducted by Jonathan Lo.

The Royal Ballet: Back on Stage will demonstrate what has fired the imagination of dance fans around the world for centuries. Much loved traditional and 20th century classics will include pas de deux and ballet excerpts by Marius Petipa, Lev Ivanov, Frederick Ashton, Kenneth MacMillan and George Balanchine. The evening's display of contemporary creativity will include work by Resident Choreographer Wayne McGregor, Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon, Cathy Marston, Hofesh Shechter and Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui.

This milestone performance follows one of the most challenging periods for the Royal Opera House and will be treated as an important pilot on the road back to public performances adhering to government guidelines. A specially, socially distanced audience, including student and health workers, will join us in a first live performance with an audience since the beginning of lockdown.

The event will be broadcast live via Vimeo, priced at £16 per household and will be available for 30 days.

In order to ensure the safety of the dancers and prevent the spread of the Coronavirus, mitigations have included strict socially distancing in the studio alongside testing, for those dancers in physical contact during rehearsal, administered privately at no expense to the NHS.

Kevin O’Hare comments:

‘We are so excited about the full Company returning to their home stage. The dancers have sorely missed performing and connecting with their audiences these past few months and I have been deeply impressed by the grace and tenacity they have shown during these challenging circumstances. I hope this performance will be a chance for everyone to be reminded of all that makes The Royal Ballet and the amazing teams at the Royal Opera House so special.’

Watch The Royal Ballet: Back on Stage from 9 October 2020 at 7.30pm BST