I don't see the Pointe

Recorded while one host was rather hungover, a rather haphazard review of the new Royal Ballet and Opera Season so you know what to book in the year ahead.

This year there are sadly rather fewer big ballet productions on offer and we would like to take this moment to encourage you to continue supporting Royal Ballet and Opera, and other artistic institutions in your local areas by going to see productions, and by donating if you are able to.

Links for donating to support ballet:

Royal Ballet and Opera

English National Ballet

Birmingham Royal Ballet

Northern Ballet

Rambert

After an unintentional hiatus (again) we are back an episode all about the plot of Giselle, one of the greatest romantic classical ballets out there.

Giselle is in some ways the very definition of classical ballet, with two strong principal parts, a sweeping corps de ballet, romantic skirts, and choreography that really takes advantage of the innovation of pointe shoes from it's era. However, unlike the more structured 1880s and 1890s Russian ballets like Swan Lake and Sleeping Beauty, Giselle's simpler structure and plot from the 1840s allows the story the space to breathe.

The audience can become utterly lost in the light-hearted, jovial and sometimes comedic first act, before being confronted with a stark reality of preventable tragedy, consequences and parted lovers in the second. Giselle offers a glimpse into two sides of romantic love; a light yet consuming flirtation in the first act, contrasted with deeper affection marred by irreversible betrayal in the second.

We are finally delivering a Christmas episode about the Nutcracker. This week, Hermione and Kat delve into the Nutcracker in immense detail, discussing plot, history and reception across the years.

This week Hermione, Kat and (we've brought her back) Clara discuss the 2025/26 season at the Royal Ballet and Opera. We go through what ballets are on, when, and what they are all about.

In order & links:

A Single Man, September 2025

Like Water For Chocolate, October 2025

La Fille Mal Gardée, November 2025 & June 2026

Perspectives, Balanchine, Marston & Peck, November 2025

Nutcracker, November 2025: The Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House, full ballet

Woolf Works, January 2026

Giselle, February 2026

Mayerling, March 2026: Documentary on the making of Mayerling, Mayerling full ballet 2024, Paris Opera

Wayne McGregor, Alchemies, April 2026

This week Kat, Hermione ... and a special guest (!) Clara talk about the origins of ballet from the 1400s in mercantile Italy to the English 1600s and the king that brought back partying (and ballet). It turns out, ballet in these early periods is much like a Mamma Mia immersive experience where everyone got involved, there was dance, there was singing, there were outrageous costumes, and much more. This episode tells us how we get closer to the art form that we know and love, from the rigid structure of baroque dance.

This week Hermione and Kat are covering the classic ballet Romeo and Juliet, choreographed by Kenneth Macmillan in 1965. It's one of the most technically gruelling, emotionally cathartic and visually beautiful ballets out there, and is absolutely perfect if you have never seen any ballet before.

What we're talking about in this episode:

- Background and plot of Romeo & Juliet, its origins, adaptions, positives and negatives

- How Macmillan's version came to be, and the drama about casting

- The story behind the iconic pairing of Margot Fonteyn with Rudolf Nureyev

Links:

Young RBO

Margot Fonteyn & Rudolf Nureyev in Romeo and Juliet, full performance

This week Kat and Hermione discuss the ballet 'Onegin', choreogrpahed by John Cranko which first premiered in 1965 based on the Pushkin Novel in Verse which was first published in 1825. 2025 is therefore the 200th anniversary of the book's publication and 50th anniversary of the ballet first performance- a big year for Eugene Onegin!

We're talking about everything in this episode:

- The story of Eugene Onegin and the ballet (they're a bit different)

- Pushkin's life and death (it's a wild story)

- The fantastic Tchaikovksy music of the ballet

- Brief thoughts on Cinderella

Our recommendations:

The Stuttgart Ballet's version

ROH interview with Natalia Osipova

Kat's playlist of the Onegin ballet score

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland opens the Royal Ballet and Opera's 2024-25 season with an amazing series of casts in this now classic Christopher Wheeldon ballet.

Alice opened at the Royal Opera House for the first time in February 2011 and is a magically faithful representation of the classic book 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. It brings a 160 year old story into the world of classical ballet to create a wonderful showpiece, and a Royal Ballet classic.

With music by Joby Talbot, designs by Bob Crowley and choreography by Christopher Wheeldon, Alice was the Royal Ballet's very first full length commissioned ballet in more than 20 years and marked a new age of choreography in the company.

PSA: young RBO now has free access to RBO stream- so do sign up to watch this magical ballet, amongst countless other brilliant pieces.

Sadlers Wells has a fantastic program with Barclays called the Barclay's Dance Pass. If you are between 16-30 you can access £10 tickets to a variety of performances with the scheme.

This week Hermione & Kat are starting a multipart overview of ballet history with a general history. From Italian courtly ballet, ghostly Romantics, the elusive Ballet Russes and riot causing performances, to ballet defections from the USSR, Sylvie Guillem's world changing hypermobility and the French terms, everything is covered.

Stay tuned for more to come in our history of the art of ballet.

Do you not see the point of ballet? In this podcast we want to change your mind.

In this trailer Kat and Hermione share a story of how ballet brought them together and why they are striving for others to see the point of the ballet world.