100 stories: Dame Monica Mason As part of our centenary year, we are featuring 100 stories that make up The Royal Ballet School’s past, present and future, which will be released over the next 12 months. Today, we share the story of alum Dame Monica Mason DBE, former Principal dancer, Répétiteur and Director of The Royal Ballet. In 2023, Mason returned to […]
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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
100 stories: Dame Ninette de Valois To kick off our centenary year, we will be featuring the first of 100 stories that make up The Royal Ballet School’s past, present and future, which will be released over the next 12 months. Our story begins with Founder Dame Ninette de Valois. Dame Ninette was born Edris Stannus on 6 June 1898 in County Wicklow, Ireland. After training at the Lila Field Academy for Children in London,
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White Lodge students share how student council helps them feel confident and empowered The School offers many leadership opportunities for students in all years. From student council to head boys and girls, many of our students jump at the chance to make their voices heard and represent their respective years. Year 7 students Madeline and Rafferty joined student council just a few weeks into moving into White
Celebrating International Volunteer Day with Ray Wheaton To celebrate International Volunteer Day, we are shining the spotlight on Ray Wheaton, one of our beloved volunteers who has worked with the School for over 23 years. Our volunteers play an integral role in supporting our various events, off-campus trips and operational needs, and their kind support is incredibly valuable across all departments. Get to know Ray in this heartfelt interview.
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Like Water for Chocolate: student performance perspectives Several of our Pre-professional and Year 8 students performed in Christopher Wheeldon’s Like Water for Chocolate with The Royal Ballet this autumn. These professional performance opportunities offer our students invaluable exposure to the realities of company life while they pursue their studies. Students and alumni played an integral part in the creation of this work in 2022. Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon attended both White Lodge and Upper School before joining The Royal Ballet,
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Alum Kele Roberson returns to the School to share how contemporary dance feeds his creative curiosity Alum Kele Roberson recently returned to the School on 7 November 2026 to host a contemporary workshop with our Pre-professional students. Kele, who performed in Figures in Extinction with Nederlands Dans Theater (NDT) at Sadler’s Wells earlier this month, taught the students a solo he performs in part three
Physical Health Lead Erica Gethen Smith represents the School at the International Association for Dance Medicine & Science (IADMS) conference We recently marked RED-S (Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport) awareness week at the School from 10-14 November with a series of events. At Upper School, we hosted a seminar with former Head of Healthcare Karen
‘It felt like there was a subtitle in my heart.’ The School embraces radical accessibility for World Ballet Day 2025 Our 1st Year students took to the Royal Opera House Linbury stage on 12 December 2025 to participate in the World Ballet Day livestream. Curated and conceived by choreographer Robert Binet, the global celebration featured
The Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance 2025 Following an inspiring World Ballet Day livestreamed performance by our Upper School 1st Year students, our 2nd Year students took to the stage the next day for our annual Lynn Seymour Award for Expressive Dance. Each year, our 2nd Year students are invited to perform a solo
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