About this Event
These three events will explore the past, present and future of The Royal Ballet School and its place in the wider cultural landscape through performance, student demonstrations and varied presentations.
8 March 2026
🕑: 10:00 AM - 10:30 AM
Coffee and register
🕑: 10:30 AM - 10:45 AM
Welcome and introduction
Host: Iain Mackay, Artistic Director
🕑: 10:45 AM - 11:30 AM
The cultural contexts of De Valois' original School
Host: Professor Susan Jones, guest speaker
Info: Professor Susan Jones, Emeritus Professor of Modern Literature at St. Hilda’s, Oxford and a former member of Scottish Ballet, sets the historical and cultural context of de Valois’ original School, founded during the inter-war modernist period.
🕑: 11:30 AM - 01:00 PM
Learning by doing: re-creating Ninette de Valois' The Arts of the Theatre
Host: Pre-professional students
Info: Dr Anna Meadmore, Manager of Special Collections and a teacher of dance history at the School, presents a performance of her 2021 re-creation of de Valois’ early ballet, The Arts of the Theatre (1925), revived in collaboration with Upper School students as part of their final-year degree dissertation and accompanied by Domenica Cardullo.
🕑: 01:00 PM - 02:15 PM
Lunch
Info: Please bring your own packed lunch. Tea and coffee will be provided.
🕑: 02:15 PM - 02:50 PM
The ballet student as a critical enquirer
Host: Andy Granville, Head of the Degree Programme
Info: Andy Granville, Head of the Degree Programme, explains how the School encourages students to consider all aspects of their profession including dance history, analysis and healthy practice.
🕑: 02:55 PM - 03:25 PM
Scripted reading of letters from founding members of de Valois' School
Host: Heloise Spring, theatre-writer
Info: Theatre-writer Heloise Spring presents professional actors in a scripted reading of original letters written by members of the Academy of Choreographic Art, in which they describe the life and work of de Valois’ School in its earliest days
🕑: 03:30 PM - 04:20 PM
Panel Discussion: De Valois’ Academy of Choreographic Art: what’s in a name?
Host: Professor Susan Jones, guest speaker
Info: Panel participants consider the productive tension between academic classicism and modern innovation suggested by the title of de Valois’ studio.
🕑: 04:20 PM - 04:30 PM
Closing remarks and thanks
Host: Iain Mackay, Artistic Director
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
The Royal Ballet School (White Lodge), White Lodge, Richmond, United Kingdom
GBP 0.00 to GBP 60.00
