Royal Ballet and Opera Will Host Three International Companies in a Showcase of the Best of Contemporary Dance

This Spring, the Royal Ballet and Opera, alongside Sadler's Wells, Tate Modern and Southbank Centre, will present Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels. Showcasing the best and most innovative voices of modern and contemporary dance across four leading cultural venues in London, Dance Reflections celebrates contemporary choreographic art. With works by Pam Tanowitz, François Gremaud, and Noé Soulier, and a programme of works by George Balanchine, the Royal Ballet and Opera will explore the future of ballet, where it takes its influence and inspiration from, and what the future of the artform might look like.

Van Cleef & Arpels has been a devotee of dance since its foundation and the Royal Opera House has enjoyed a close partnership with the Maison since 2006. Dance Reflections by Van Cleef & Arpels was inaugurated in London in 2022 with the Royal Ballet and Opera as a primary partner alongside Sadler's Wells and Tate Modern. The festival has since taken place in Hong Kong, New York, and Japan.  

To open the 2025 festival at the Royal Ballet and Opera, François Gremaud presents Giselle..., a theatrical, musical and choreographic piece about the figure of Giselle in Romantic ballet. This is the second work in Gremaud's triptych focusing upon tragic female figures from the classical performing arts, and this interpretation sees the ballet's heroine, main character, and performer separated and examined. Luca Antignani's score re-instrumentalises the original by Adolphe Adam for violin, harp, flute and saxophone, performed live by musicians onstage. Gremaud's work will be performed in the Linbury Theatre on 15 and 16 March. 

Noé Soulier's Close Up will also be performed in the Linbury Theatre on 20 and 21 March. Based on Johann Sebastian Bach's The Art of Fugue, Close Up is an inventive choreographic work that uses video to reveal the different dimensions of body and movement. The work will be performed by six dancers and five musicians from the baroque ensemble Il Convito, directed by Maude Gratton. 

Groundbreaking choreographer Pam Tanowitz will also present a London premiere as part of the festival entitled Neither Drums nor Trumpets. Following on from her previous acclaimed work with The Royal Ballet, Dispatch Duet, Tanowitz this time brings her own company of dancers to perform in the Paul Hamlyn Hall. Taking inspiration from the hall and its history as a flower market, dance hall, storage for theatre scenery, and now as a gathering and hospitality space, Neither Drums nor Trumpets explores performing rituals and techniques to create a layered contemporary collage of dance. 

To close the festival, The Royal Ballet will present a mixed programme of works by George Balanchine, one of the most influential American choreographers of all time, on the Main Stage. In Balanchine: Three Signature Works, the Company will show the breadth and artistry of his choreographic talent performing Serenade, Prodigal Son, and Symphony in C.   

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