A female dancer in a light pink leotard and matching short skirt piques on her left leg with her right leg back in arabesque croise. Her arms fling out, her right arm up and her left to the side, and she smiles brightly towards the audience. A young male dancer lunges towards her, his left leg bent in the front and downstage with his right leg extended in tendu back. His arms mirror hers, and he smiles towards her. The backdrop is illuminated with vibrant purple light.
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Students share their highlights performing at Opera Holland Park 

Our students completed a brilliant week of shows at Opera Holland Park earlier this month, braving an intense heatwave with grace and lots of ice. The centenary Summer Performance programme, curated by Artistic Director Iain Mackay to showcase heritage works and new creations, was met with rousing applause from an audience of families, faculty and supporters. 

These performances are a highlight of the school year, marking the debuts of some students and the final bows of others. We went backstage to ask our Upper School students what they love most about Summer Performances and what makes Opera Holland Park so special. 

1st Years 

A wide angle shot of the entire opera holland park stage illuminated in blue with dancers posing in pairs across the stage.
David Bintley’s Beauchamp’s Garden, featuring 1st Year students and a Pre-professional Year couple centre stage

Hamish: I really like performing with the 2nd and Pre-professional Years. It’s quite inspirational to watch how they’ve come through the School, and the level they are performing at is so amazing to watch. 

Nico: Performing here is quite rewarding, because there have been so many months of rehearsals that have gone into this, and we’ve never seen the full pieces together until now. I really like the big pas de deux in Beauchamp’s Garden because I get to watch them from the wings. 

Kyubeen: This week, I’m in two pieces: David Bintley’s Beauchamp’s Garden and Swan Lake. I really love Mr. Bintley’s piece because the music is really beautiful, and it’s really rhythmic and technical. 

Annalise: My favourite part has been performing on the amazing stage in the beautiful atmosphere and dancing such amazing pieces with all my friends. 

Lewis: I think my favourite part of the week is watching everyone perform and seeing it all come together from the rehearsals. I like watching Black Swan, and I love Neapolitan in Swan Lake. 

Eight young ladies dressed in red bodysuits with red chess piece headpieces pose in 5th position on pointe with their arms crossed in a stylised way in front of their chests.
1st Year dancers in Ninette de Valois’s Checkmate Suite, including Annalise and Daisy

Felix: We had a few dress rehearsals, and seeing how it feels on stage is nice. Now, the best part comes actually performing it in front of the real audience. It’s definitely more difficult performing in the heat, but the healthcare team gives us a lot of ice and fans. 

Elton: The lead up to Summer Performances is very different compared to our normal weeks. It’s nice to be with our year group and just enjoy the last weeks of the term. During these long days, I prefer being on an outside stage, so you’re not inside all the time.  I’m very grateful for all the fans and the ice! 

Daisy: I like getting to see everything come together with the costumes and the set, and everyone being on stage together.  

Wilfred: I think my favorite part has been putting everything together with the set and costumes and being at Opera Holland Park because we’ve been working towards it for so many months. To see it all come together and be on stage with everyone is very refreshing. It’s nice to finally do what we’ve been waiting to do all year. The heat has been a challenge, but we’ve been able to mitigate it with spray bottles backstage, ice everywhere and fans. 

2nd Years 

Dancers dressed in beige leotards and skirts or brown unitards pose intricately on stage with a barre separating the groups. Baroness deborah bull stands behind one group in a long black dress, gazing at a dancer who looks through her.
2nd Year students with Baroness Deborah Bull in Cathy Marston’s A Line in Reflection. Jorge and Yasmim stand on the far left.

Yasmim: Being in this atmosphere with everyone, seeing each other’s works and how much effort we’ve been putting in and seeing the teacher’s reactions after everything that they’ve been working on with us is just amazing. Everything that I’m performing this year is very different. Each piece is special in different ways. A Line in Reflection is calmer because it’s more about tuning in to each other’s movement on stage – we’re literally mirroring our reflections. In Swan Lake, we’re doing Mazurka, which is amazing because we can watch the Pre-professional Years shining, which is really nice. 

Jorge: It’s so nice to have my family here. I’ve been working so hard here at the School. And especially since it’s the 100th anniversary, it’s really nice for them to see me perform today. I had so much fun here. 

Pre-professional Years

A young dancer poses in plie with her right leg tendu front and her arms crossed at the wrists and held out at chest level. She wears a sparkling black tutu and intricate silver headpiece that curves around her forehead and temples. Behind her, a young man dressed in all black stands proudly with his arms flung to the sides, presenting her to the stage.
Sophie as the Black Swan in Peter Wright’s Swan Lake Act III at the Royal Opera House. Swan Lake was not photographed in costume at Opera Holland Park due to extreme heat.
Four dancers pose in a lunge with their chests arched back, one arm curved in first position and the other raised in fifth. They look towards the audience. They wear white tights and black heeled shoes.
Marcus and Layla (first and second from left) pose in the Spanish divertissement from Swan Lake Act III at the Royal Opera House.

Layla: Opera Holland Park has so many memories because I’ve been dancing here since I was 11, and I’m turning 20 next week! I am also saying bye to it for the final time. In my next chapter, I’m looking forward to performing more regularly. For me, performing is the best part of doing what we do, so getting to do it more regularly and getting paid is exciting. 

Addison: The costumes have been so beautiful. It’s been so hot, but it’s always so much fun portraying a character and bringing it to life with the costumes. It’s also really special having my family here to watch. I’m American, and for them to come all the way over the sea to see me is so special. We work so hard all year for this, so it’s such a great feeling to see familiar faces all the way over here. 

Marcus: Performing Spanish in Swan Lake has been amazing. It’s so much fun, and hopefully I get to do it again someday. 

Henry: It’s been a really special year because it’s our graduating season, so it’s been beautiful to dance with each other for the last time. That’s been the best experience for me. 

Sophie: My favourite part is probably the transformation into Black Swan – putting the costume on for the first time and stepping on stage. 

Elliot: My favourite part of the week has been seeing Sophie performing Black Swan on stage.

Catja Christensen is the Marketing and Communications Executive at The Royal Ballet School and joined the School in 2025. She enjoys interviewing students, staff and guest artists for news stories and crafting eye-catching newsletters.  

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