Celebrating International Choreographers’ Day with our Next Generation student choreographers 

To celebrate International Choreographers’ Day, we are reflecting on our 2025 Next Generation Festival at the Linbury Theatre, which featured eleven of our talented student choreographers. 

These student works were selected from our Ninette de Valois Choreographic Programme. This programme, comprising three performances throughout the year across all year groups, provides an opportunity for emerging artists to experiment and develop their creative processes alongside their training. Many of the ballet industry’s most influential choreographers started their creative journeys in this programme, including Christopher Wheeldon and Cathy Marston. 

Hear from four of these student choreographers on the inspiration behind their work below. 

Year 10 student Filippa on her piece, Underground: 

My choreography focuses on the relationship between a train and its passengers. My goal was to represent the motion and mechanics of a train through the dancers’ movement. Through this process, both unite and show the crowded, chaotic, and often fatalistic nature of the train and of life. I was heavily inspired by the music as its unusual instruments have their own independent melodies. Together, they create a chaotic atmosphere, which reminded me of the crowded aspects of a train. 

Year 9 student Mirabelle on her piece, Synapse: 

A synapse is the gap between two nerve cells where messages are passed, helping with actions, thoughts, feelings, and muscle memory, which is especially important for dancers. There are trillions of synapses in our body, allowing the brain to communicate with all parts of us which I found fascinating as they are always working, but we don’t know it! In this choreography, I used neoclassical lines and sharp but soft movements to represent the connections between nerves, capturing the flow and transfer of communication. I enjoyed experimenting with the intricate rhythms and layers of the music and developing the idea by using contact between dancers. 

Pre-professional student Millán on his piece, Anima Mea: 

Anima Mea explores the evolution of a love story. Through a pas de deux, two animas (souls) move together and apart, feeling a connection they don’t yet understand. Set to Luca Sestak’s playful take on Bach’s Solfeggietto, the piece follows the music’s rhythm of questions and answers, leading the characters closer to their fate. 

Anima Mea was also later selected to be performed at the YGP Japan Gala in October. 

Pre-professional student Fabrizzio on his piece, alecsolis 334: 

alecsolis 334 is inspired by the idea of abnormal alien species and the combination of different exoplanets merged together, giving birth to new planetary life and ecosystems; representing the cosmic force of space and its depth. 

Header image: La Lutte by Pre-professional choreographer Layla at the Linbury Theatre .