2025 Programme
Ballet Central returns in 2025 with a brand-new programme of classical ballet and contemporary dance. The repertoire includes Frederick Ashton’s miniature masterpiece Foyer de danse (1932). Animating Edgar Degas’ iconic paintings and pastels of Paris Opera Ballet dancers, this will be the first staging of the ballet in over 90 years. Kristen McNally presents FEAST, a vibrant ballet with a glorious new musical composition. The audience will catch a glimpse of a colourful community where conversation is punctuated and interactions explode with character.
In contrast, Ballet Central presents Thick & Tight’s theatrical work Keeping Up with the Apocalypse. The piece is a meditation on greed, vanity and the absurdity of a species bringing about its own undoing. Dickson Mbi’s contemporary work Rise derives from the Earth’s vibrations and warmth, exploring the practices of ritual and shared human experience.
Foyer de danse
Choreographed by Frederick Ashton. Reconstructed and staged by Ursula Hageli in conjunction with the Frederick Ashton Foundation.
Foyer de danse, a miniature genre piece, animates Edgar Degas’ iconic paintings and pastels of Paris Opera Ballet dancers—a popular subject among choreographers, reflected in previous works including August Bournonville’s Le Conservatoire (1849). Ashton’s ballet opens on a group of dance students, the coryphées, who take a barre under the guidance of their Maître de ballet (originally danced by Ashton himself) before the arrival of L’Etoile (originally Alicia Markova) to the rehearsal and, later, intrusions from a lascivious patron. An ingenious caricature of the hierarchy and goings-on in the company, it charmed audiences and critics alike, described in one review as ‘a composition as graceful as it is true’, but subsequently fell from the repertory.
Following over 10 years of research by Ursula Hageli, Ballet Central’s performance will be the first time that the ballet has been seen in its entirety in over 90 years.
Foyer de danse is performed by arrangement with The Frederick Ashton Foundation, and is one of over 100 ballets created by Frederick Ashton (1904–1988). These performances are given as part of the Ashton Worldwide 2024–2028 festival. For further information, visit www.frederickashton.org.uk
Keeping Up with the Apocalypse
Choreographed by Thick & Tight
Years ahead in the future of planet Earth, only one species remains, thriving in a desolate post-apocalyptic landscape. The Kardashians! Famous for being famous and living on money alone, they dominate a decimated planet. They dance on and on in this grotesque ballet, desperate for attention from an audience that no longer exists.
This piece connects with a new body of work Thick & Tight are presenting this summer called Natural Behaviour, which explores what it means to be natural or unnatural within society and ecology. It looks at the essential role of queerness, diversity and difference within the natural world, including amongst humans, against the backdrop of climate disaster. Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a meditation on greed, vanity and the absurdity of a species bringing about its own undoing, and dragging everything else with it.
FEAST
Choreographed by Kristen McNally
Choreographed by Kristen McNally, Principal Character Artist of The Royal Ballet, FEAST allows us a glimpse through the window upon a colourful community where conversation is punctuated, interactions are characterful, and practices are precise. Whether electric or mundane, McNally draws inspiration from the ways in which we meet each other, share space, and continue with our lives. Who are we? How do we present ourselves? How do we navigate our daily thoughts and journeys?
This vibrant piece, which explores human connectivity and the joys of togetherness, has been set to a glorious new musical composition by Central’s Tabor Music Director, Philip Feeney.
Rise
Choreographed by Dickson Mbi
Presenting a new generation of dancers in this fast-evolving artistic world, Dickson Mbi’s innovative creation for Ballet Central depicts the energetic ambition and perseverance required to pave new pathways in dance theatre and performance. Drawing from the Earth’s vibrations and warmth, Rise explores the practices of ritual and shared human experience, striving to shine a light on what is next to come.
“In this young group of artists, I found the joy of dance and their support for one another really touching. So I wanted to make something that reflected that with a little bit of my feelings to support them rise up to this chapter in their lives.”
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About Ballet Central
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The Company
Meet the 2025 Ballet Central Company involving final year students at the Central School of Ballet.
The Creatives
Meet the 2025 creative team who will help bring the 2025 Ballet Central repertoire to life.
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On Film
Here you will be able to see excerpts of selected repertoire from Ballet Central, Central’s graduate touring company, and trailers and special dance performances captured on film.