Visit to Royal Ballet Upper School 2026

Photo credit: Royal Ballet Upper School’s ‘Bridge of Aspirations’ from https://www.chriskarlson.com/blog/2011/8/15/rotch-case-study-royal-opera-house.html

Visit to Royal Ballet Upper School 2026

Royal Ballet Upper School

Wednesday 29th April 2026

The annual visit to the Royal Ballet School is eagerly anticipated by members of London Ballet Circle and their friends at Ballet Association. The opportunity to spend a day watching the talented young students from the Upper School in action is a privilege appreciated by all. The 2026 visit on April 29th did not disappoint!

The day began with Jessica Clarke teaching the Pre-professional (3rd year) ladies. Accompanied by pianist Tracey Renwick, the students went through a set barre. Before moving to the centre, the dancers executed the exercises with Jessica gently correcting and encouraging the students to use the floor, to concentrate on their port de bras and stressing the use of the upper back. Donning pointe shoes and moving to the centre, the ladies continued to build on the exercises from the barre.

Following on from the Pre-professional ladies, Kevin Emerton led class with the Pre-Professional (3rd year) men. The RBS Summer Performances will include the third act of Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake. With Liz Sulman at the piano, the dancers worked in pairs. Kevin spent time with each pair making corrections, explaining the motivation behind the steps and encouraging the gentlemen. It is early days yet in the rehearsal process, but it is quite clear that the men will be up to the challenge.

Following a short break, Artistic Manager of the Upper School Jessica Clarke officially welcomed us on behalf of Iain Mackay and conveyed his thanks for our support of the school. She then gave a brief outline of the repertoire for the Summer Performances. In addition to Sir Peter Wright’s Swan Lake, Sir David Bintley is creating a piece using music by Poulenc, and other contributors are Christopher Wheeldon, Jessica Lang and Cathy Marston. Andrew McNicol and Kristen McNally are creating new works for Years 10 & 11 and years 7, 8 & 9 respectively at White Lodge. This promises to be an exciting rep to celebrate 100 years of the Royal Ballet School and also the 100th birthday of Sir Peter Wright.

Next up, the 2nd year ladies showed off their talent in a class led by Itziar Mendizabal. Using a set barre, choreographed by Itziar and accompanied on the piano by Elvira Gavrilova, the dancers impressed us with their dedication. The rapport between the dancers and Itziar was obvious and made for a very enjoyable 90 minutes.

After a short lunch break, the final class of the day provided a terrific close to a tremendous day. Itziar and Ricardo Cervera worked as a team on a repertoire class with the 2nd year students. We were treated to a rehearsal of Jessica Lang’s new work. This is an ensemble piece featuring poetry and music, Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F major, Op. 24: II. Even though this work is in the early stages, the audience could see what an interesting piece it’s going to be and is very much looking forward to seeing the finished work at the summer performances. The dancers were fully engaged, took in all that Itziar and Ricardo shared with them and showed us just how much they were enjoying the piece.

And so, the annual visit to the Royal Ballet School ended on a high. Listening to the attendees chattering as they left the school, there was no question that everyone had a marvellous time!!

Susan Dalgetty Ezra

May 3rd, 2026