Her Majesty The Queen visits English National Ballet

The Queen is English National Ballet’s Royal Patron. During her visit, she watched our dancers in rehearsals, and met members of ENBEldersCo, our performance group for people over 55. She also had a special tour of our Costume Atelier. Finally, she exchanged a few words with some of our supporters and members of staff, before cutting our celebratory 75^th Season cake.

The Queen’s visit began with watching our dancers in rehearsals for the ballet Giselle (choreographed by Akram Khan). Her Majesty met Lead Principal dancer Erina Takahashi and First Soloist James Streeter. “It was such an honour to welcome Her Majesty The Queen into our rehearsals of Akram Khan’s Giselle”, they said. “This production has a very special place in our hearts, and we were so pleased to show The Queen a glimpse of what audiences can experience at Sadler’s Wells Theatre this September. After touring the world across 11 different countries, we’re looking forward to performing Giselle in London.”

Her Majesty also attended rehearsals for our new production of Nutcracker. Our Artistic Director, Aaron S. Watkin, who is choreographing Nutcracker with Arielle Smith, talked to her about the upcoming premiere later this year at the Mayflower Theatre in Southampton and the London Coliseum.

Watkin said “It was an honour to have our Royal Patron, visit us today. Our dancers and staff were delighted to meet Her Majesty and it was a joy to be able to share a day in the life of English National Ballet as we prepare for our 75th Season. We look forward to this exciting new chapter for the organisation with Her Majesty’s support.”

Her visit continued with watching a dance class for ENBEldersCo, our performance group for people over 55. Members of ENBEldersCo meet weekly for dance class, and perform at a range of events throughout the year, showing that there is no age limit when it comes to enjoying and benefiting from dancing.

Her behind the scenes tour concluded with time in our Costume Atelier where she met the craftspeople responsible for creating and maintaining some of our tutus and costumes. They are currently working on Nutcracker, so she enjoyed a close view of some of the new costumes being created.

Everyone really enjoyed meeting Her Majesty, and hearing about her passion for ballet and dance.

Sir Rupert Gavin, Chair of English National Ballet said “The Queen is a committed champion of the arts and dance in particular, and English National Ballet is delighted to have Her Majesty’s support in our continued mission to bring world class ballet to as many people as possible.”

In a short speech to members of staff, The Queen said “I love ballet […] I’m very excited now to be able to say that I am actually Patron [of English National Ballet]. […]Very happy 75^th birthday, and I hope I shall see a lot more of you in the future”.