Cesar Corrales

Clara is given an enchanted Nutcracker doll on Christmas Eve. As midnight strikes, she creeps downstairs to find a magical adventure awaiting her and her Nutcracker. The magician Drosselmeyer transforms the drawing room into a battle between mice and toy soldiers. During the battle, Clara saves the Nutcracker’s life – so breaking a magical spell that turned him from a boy to a toy – and the Mouse King is defeated. In celebration, Drosselmeyer sweeps Clara and the Nutcracker off to the Kingdom of Sweets, where they meet the Sugar Plum Fairy and take part in a wonderful display of dances. The next morning, Clara’s adventures seem to have been more than just a dream.

Live from Covent Garden will celebrate ballet and opera in programmes of dance and music, curated by artistic directors of the Royal Opera House: Antonio Pappano, Music Director of The Royal Opera, Oliver Mears, Director of Opera, and Kevin O’Hare, Director of The Royal Ballet.

Viaja con el Royal Ballet a un mundo encantado de princesas y hadas madrinas en la histórica producción de Marius Petipa con música de Tchaikovski. Esta producción de la Bella Durmiente lleva deleitando al público de Covent Garden desde 1946. Un clásico del ballet ruso que coronó al Royal Ballet en su nueva sede, tras la Segunda Guerra Mundial, como gran compañía a nivel mundial. Sesenta años después, en 2006, se ha rescatado la puesta en escena original, volviendo a los magníficos diseños de Oliver Messel y a los deslumbrantes trajes. La gran partitura de Pyotr Il’Yich Tchaikovski y la coreografía original de Marius Petipa combinan a la perfección con las variaciones creadas para The Royal Ballet por Frederick Ashton, Anthony Dowell y Christopher Wheeldon. Un ballet que hechiza a todo aquel que lo ve.

CONCERTO ENIGMA variaciones raymonda

Tamara Rojo, dancer and artistic director of English National Ballet, explores Giselle - the first great Romantic ballet, and a defining role for any ballerina. Through two radically contrasting 2016 productions - a traditional 19th-century recreation, and a gritty reimagining of the work by celebrated Anglo-Bangladeshi choreographer Akram Khan - Rojo examines the cultural and social background to the ballet’s genesis in 1840s Paris, and the spiritual themes that have fuelled its success over the last 175 years. Giselle is the story of a young peasant girl who personifies all that is good in life, and ultimately forgives the aristocrat who has seduced and betrayed her. With Giselle, the look and emotional heart of ballet was transformed forever, from mime-based storytelling to a fusion of emotion, music and movement, formulating a tradition that has inspired audiences, dancers and choreographers ever since.

Shakespeare's heartbreaking tale, Nureyev's blazing ballet. Sumptuous costumes and sets transport you to Renaissance Verona, its piazza bustling with market traders, street entertainers and the restless factions of the Capulet and Montague families. Amidst the grandeur of the Capulet’s ball, our star-crossed lovers – Alina Cojocaru and Isaac Hernández – meet, unleashing a fateful sequence of events, from the romantic bedroom scene to their tragic final embrace.

The Royal Ballet’s dazzling Principals lead an evening not to be missed, their sparkling talents a perfect fit for a diamond anniversary. Celebrating the 60th anniversary of The Friends of Covent Garden, this programme recognises the amazing support of all ROH Friends past and present. The showcase will demonstrate the breadth and diversity of The Royal Ballet’s repertory in classical, contemporary and heritage works. It will also include world premieres by Pam Tanowitz, Joseph Toonga and Valentino Zucchetti plus the Company’s first performance of For Four by Artistic Associate Christopher Wheeldon and a performance of George Balanchine’s Diamonds.