The Duke And Duchess Of Sussex Attend Cirque du Soleil's TOTEM

Their Royal Highnesses The Duke and Duchess of Sussex tonight attended Cirque du Soleil's premiere of TOTEM at the Royal Albert Hall to raise vital funds and awareness for The Duke's charity, Sentebale which helps youth affected by HIV in southern Africa.

The very special evening saw guests grace the red carpet and enjoy an awe-inspiring performance from the cast of TOTEM. Attendees included Sir David Jason, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Dame Kelly Holmes, Dame Esther Rantzen, Katherine Jenkins, Edith Bowman, Amber Le Bon, Danny Dyer, Claude Littner, Didi Conn, Jon Culshaw, Julia Davis, Kara Tointon, Hannah Tointon, Joe Thomas, Kelly Brook, Fiona Bruce, Rachel Riley, Victoria Pendelton, Christopher Dean, Alistair Petrie, Beverley Knight, Candice Brown, Sentebale ambassadors Laura Main and George The Poet, alongside Sentebale supporters Victoria Yeates and Laura Wright, and many more.

Since its Montreal World Premiere on April 22, 2010, TOTEM has been performed over 2,800 times in more than 45 cities. Approaching its 10th successful year of touring, to date, more than 5 million audience members have been mesmerised by the production. Written and directed by Robert Lepage, TOTEM features a cast comprised of 46 acrobats, actors, musicians and singers hailing from 19 countries: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, France, Finland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mongolia, Russia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom and United States.

Book tickets for TOTEM here!

This evening's premiere, presented in partnership with Sentebale, marked the second event in a series of 'Sentebale Nights', building on the success of the charity's first production with the hit musical HAMILTON in August 2018. Founded in 2006 by The Duke of Sussex and Prince Seeiso, Sentebale helps the most vulnerable children in Lesotho, Botswana and Malawi - the victims of extreme poverty and the HIV/AIDS epidemic - get the support, tools and education they need to lead long, healthy and productive lives.

Lesotho and Botswana have the second and third highest prevalence rates of HIV in the world respectively. Sentebale works in these two countries delivering youth-appropriate HIV prevention solutions and weeklong residential camps and monthly Saturday clubs for those coming to terms with living with HIV. Sentebale reaches over 4,200 children and young people each month in Lesotho and Botswana through clubs, and last year delivered comprehensive sexuality education to 100,000 adolescents through school and community outreach projects.

In October 2018, Sentebale expanded into Malawi with the pilot programme 'Mawa Girls' in partnership with the Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA). In southern Africa, three out of four new HIV infections in 15-19-year-olds occur among young women, and seven in ten young women lack knowledge about HIV (UNAIDS, 2018). Keeping girls in school is a proven protective factor against HIV; when girls stay in school, they have lower rates of early marriage, pregnancy and HIV infection. Mawa Girls, the word 'mawa' meaning 'tomorrow', builds on GAIA's secondary school bursary programme by incorporating our model of psychosocial support through camps and clubs. The curriculum focuses on life skills training, include encouraging girls and young women to stay in school, HIV prevention and sexual health and wellbeing. Sentebale currently reaches 360 girls each month in clubs and plans to run four camps in 2019 for 120 of those clubbers.

Tickets are on sale now, and for a truly unforgettable Cirque du Soleil experience a collection of premium and VIP experiences for all the family are also available. Tickets can be purchased through the Cirque du Soleil website or www.royalalberthall.com or 020 7589 8212. In support of Sentebale, donations can be made at sentebalenights.org/cirquedusoleil

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