Presented at the iconic Royal Opera House, BBC presenter Katie Derham weaves the history of ballet through carefully curated excerpts from the past decade of Royal Ballet performances and goes behind the scenes to see what it takes to be a dancer in the company of The Royal Ballet as they prepare to take to the stage.
From the great classics of The Sleeping Beauty and The Nutcracker to the exciting frontiers of contemporary dance, Katie takes us on a tour through the repertory, showcasing the diversity of the UK’s biggest ballet company. With stunning solos, passionate pas de deux and jaw-dropping numbers for the corps de ballet, it is a chance to see your favourite dancers up close, including Carlos Acosta, Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov, Natalia Osipova and Steven McRae, alongside rising stars like Francesca Hayward and Matthew Ball, who will introduce their favourite ballets and share stories of their life on the stage.
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Highlights include:
Giselle - Act II Pas de deux: Natalia Osipova, Carlos Acosta
La Bayadère - Kingdom of the Shades: Artists of The Royal Ballet
Don Quixote - Espada solo: Ryoichi Hirano
Swan Lake - Act III Pas de deux: Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov
The Nutcracker - Waltz of the Flowers: Yuhui Choe, Francesca Hayward, Artists of The Royal Ballet
The Nutcracker - Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy: Lauren Cuthbertson
Symphonic Variations - Extract: Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov
La fille mal gardée - Clog Dance: William Tuckett
The Dream - Titania and Oberon Pas de deux: Akane Takada, Steven McRae
Romeo and Juliet - Dance of the Knights: Artists of The Royal Ballet
Romeo and Juliet - Balcony Pas de deux: Matthew Ball and Yasmine Naghdi
Mayerling - Bedroom Pas de deux: Edward Watson, Natalia Osipova
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - Mad Hatter’s Tea Party: Lauren Cuthbertson, Steven McRae, Artists of The Royal Ballet
Viscera - Excerpt: Artists of The Royal Ballet
Infra - Excerpt: Artists of The Royal Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty - The Rose Adage: Sarah Lamb, Artists of The Royal Ballet
The Sleeping Beauty - Act III Finale: Marianela Nuñez, Vadim Muntagirov, Artists of The Royal Ballet
Also Includes: Interviews and introductions to selected clips by the stars of The Royal Ballet
Picture: 16:9
Sound: LPCM 2.0 & DTS-HD MasterAudio
Format: Blu-ray
Region code: 0 (worldwide)
Duration: 105 mins
Subtitles: EN, FR, DE, JP, KO